Aston Martin Vantage review

The new Aston Martin Vantage certainly isn’t a sports car for shy, retiring types – you can thank its thunderous V8 bellow and eye-popping styling for that. It’s not all show and no go however – It’s the first Aston Martin to use a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 developed by Mercedes-AMG – but has this German heart transplant spoiled a true British classic?

Well, it’s not just the engine that the Germans have had a hand in – inside, you’ll find Mercedes’ slightly old-fashioned infotainment system and plenty of fiddly buttons scattered across the dashboard. You can’t get it with Android Auto, either, but at least Apple CarPlay is standard and the central scroll wheel is much easier to use than a touchscreen when you’re storming down a country road.

The rest of the cabin is comfortable and spacious, and you can have it trimmed in plush leather or racey Alcantara. There’s plenty of room for two large adults, but, unlike in a Porsche 911, you can’t get the Vantage with two child-sized seats in the back. Rather bizarrely, there’s also no glovebox so you’ll have to leave your Bond-themes CD at home. You won’t miss it though – just put the window down and revel in that glorious Anglo-German V8 symphony instead!

You do get a reasonably generous boot with more than enough space for a couple of suitcases and even a set of golf clubs. Don’t expect to be moving any furniture, though – it’s still a sports car, after all.

The Vantage combines brutish Mercedes-AMG power with understated Aston Martin elegance

And a proper sports car at that! With 503hp to play with, this entry-level Aston hits 62mph from rest in just 3.6 seconds – that’s as fast as some supercars. It’s not just fast in a straight line, the precise steering lets you make the most of the Vantage’s sporty suspension and stable handling on a twisty country road.

When you’ve finished having fun, the whole car settles down at the touch of a button and becomes a comfortable long-distance cruiser. It is quite wide, but the steering is light around town so it’s reasonably easy to manoeuvre.

It really is a proper everyday sports car car then, but more than that – it’s a proper Aston Martin… Made possible with a little help from Mercedes, or course.