Aston Martin V8 Vantage (2006–16)

From the Might 2021 challenge of Vehicle and Driver.

Aston Martin’s attractive Vantage could market on seems on your own if it weren’t these a persuasive car or truck to push too. Developed under Ford ownership, the entry-degree Aston borrowed a several apparent bits from the company pieces bin, this sort of as the spindly Jaguar crucial and the Volvo fob and navigation unit. However it however captures practically all the specialness of the twice-as-expensive DBS and Vanquish. Making just about every Vantage by hand took 200 hrs, and the attention to element shows in the magnificent leather interior, the swan doors that open up with a dignified 12-diploma upswing, and the machined-aluminum gauges. Aston Martin overhauled Jaguar’s AJ 4.2-liter V-8 for Vantage duty, providing it a more substantial bore and a shorter stroke, an supplemental 80 horses, and a 7300-rpm rev limiter (up from 6200 rpm). The 380-hp 4.3-liter V-8 grew to 4.7 liters and 420 horses for 2009. You want a single with the 6-pace guide transmission, due to the fact a ripping, by natural means aspirated V-8 only increases when you mix it with a stick.

“It’s a tungsten-colored slipstream carved from a solid billet of sex appeal. . . . How will house owners turn their backs, close their garage doorways?” —Aaron Robinson, C/D, March 2006

Benefit

Only a handful of manual-transmission cars are for sale at any presented time, and several continue to have extremely very low mileage. Determine on mid-$30,000s to small $40,000s for a 4.3-liter coupe or convertible with the six-velocity stick and 20K to 40K miles. Knock off a pair of grand for the extra common automated handbook. Later on products with the 4.7-liter go for 10 to 15 per cent more, which is about 50 % what the bonkers V12 Vantage expenditures.

Dilemma Parts

The factory clutch is notoriously weak, and the tall reverse equipment accelerates have on. Failures can happen in as several as 20,000 miles, but aftermarket replacements are much more resilient. Other difficulties are modest, this sort of as thermostats that demand extra frequent replacement than typical. Diy skills are proposed, as dealer service and pieces are exotically priced, with $650 oil modifications, $700 coolant flushes, and $1400 dampers.

An Owner’s Encounter

In 2008, though shopping for a then new E90-era BMW M3 with lots of possibilities, Abundant Seidlitz was astonished to obtain that a frivolously applied V8 Vantage charge significantly less than the Bimmer. He pulled the result in in 2011, shopping for a 2007 handbook coupe with 21,000 miles for $75,000. Just a number of months afterwards, another person backed into it, which experienced him scouring net community forums for suggestions. Stunned by the absence of Vantage neighborhood, Seidlitz started off producing Diy upkeep video clips, which ultimately led to his very own web site, Redpants.lol (an inside joke about a especially loud outfit he as soon as wore), exactly where he offers advice and sells sections. He’s discovered some sensible substitutions, such as employing fewer high-priced thermostats designed by Jaguar, and he’s also made modifications, these kinds of as a light-weight battery package and, for the monitor-working day group, a catch can to avoid oil having into the ingestion. A 10 years into Vantage possession and with 90,000 miles on his car, Seidlitz states his Aston universally receives optimistic notice, as opposed to the take in-the-loaded responses that Ferrari and Lamborghini proprietors from time to time endure.

Requirements

Technical specs

2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe

380-hp 4.3-liter V-8, 6-pace manual
C/D problem: March 2006
60 mph: 5.1 sec
100 mph: 12.3 sec
1/4 mile: 13.5 sec @ 106 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 175 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: .93 g
Acceleration occasions adhere to our old rollout rule of 3 mph.

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