Aston Martin's V8 Vantage has, at last, been given the power it deserves, reports Kevin Hackettfrom Germany's Nürburgring
ASTON MARTIN'S boss, Dr Ulrich Bez recently said: "I may be the CEO, but I also feel I'm Aston Martin's chief engineer. Whenever I drive one of our cars, I'm listening, feeling, thinking about how we can improve it." Looking at him wearing a Nomex race suit with a HANS device around his neck as he climbs into a green V8 Vantage, I don't doubt a word of it. The car is affectionately known as Kermit, and it's Bez's stint behind the wheel during the crazy Nürburgring 24 -hour endurance race.
Can you imagine Porsche's or Ferrari's top brass doing this?
Bez wants Aston Martin to be the best, you can hear it in the way he passionately speaks about the company, its recent triumphs and the independent future it has ahead of it. And by racing his own products he sees first hand where improvements need to be made. You could say it's seat-of-the-pants RD.
For the past two days I've been driving hundreds of miles on some of Germany's most challenging roads in a variety of V8 Vantages. These 2009 model year cars are the result of some of that RD: tweaked, refined, improved. Ask anyone who had experienced a Vantage what they thought, and the one criticism levelled against it was that it just didn't feel fast enough. Well now that particular box has been well and truly ticked.
A new, 4.7-litre engine now sits underneath that curvaceous bonnet; the result of increasing bore and stroke by fitting a new crankshaft and cylinder liners. Power is up by 11 per cent to 420bhp (from 380) and peak torque is improved by 15 per cent, but fuel efficiency and emissions are improved at the same time.
The automated manual transmission they call Sportshift is much improved, and great for use on the track but it's still a bit clunky out on the road and until they manage to perfect it, I'd stick with the excellent, beefy manual gearbox.
Those 40 extra horses under the bonnet make for proper mid-range punch, which is where the Vantage was always left wanting. It always sounded as though it was going faster than it felt, leaving you with the distinct impression you were being short-changed, as though the car was compromised, a bit breathless.
Now, drop into second or third, gun the throttle and there's a huge surge of torque, causing your neck muscles to strain as the revs pass 4,000rpm, which is when the exhaust baffles open, starting a power-rock soundtrack that will never leave you.
The welcome increase in poke has necessitated an improved suspension set-up. There are new damper mountings for the coupe (the Roadster had these anyway), stiffer spring rates (11 per cent up front and 5 per cent at the rear) and Bilstein dampers as standard. Suspension arm bushes are stiffened by 22 per cent, and there's new steering geometry too for improved feel, although I couldn't really tell the difference - it was fine to start with.
It's a very refined sports car and extremely comfortable, despite its diminutive stature. However, for the real enthusiast driver, there's now the option of specifying the Sports Pack - something that transformed the DB9 into the car it always should have been, a couple of years ago.
A comparative bargain at £2,495, this option comprises lighter (and better looking) alloy wheels, retuned dampers, up-rated springs and a revised anti-roll bar at the rear. It really does bring the Vantage to life and, when paired with the excellent manual gearbox, turns it into a true 911 rival.
It inspires huge amounts of confidence - confidence that's not unfounded, but justified because the Aston does exactly what you want it to. Turn-in is razor-sharp and the rear grips the tarmac like a boa constrictor at feeding time.
I drove it hard on some of the Eifel region's most challenging roads and it felt like a properly developed car; one that fulfils all those initial promises. It finally drives as well as it looks.
Inside, the cabin architecture remains essentially the same, except for a neater centre dash layout that was introduced with the DBS last year and the overdue demise of the low-rent Ford ignition key. In its stead is the embarrassingly named "Emotion Control Unit", which Aston's recent press material simply calls the "ECU" after all the flak the company rightly received when it debuted in the DBS.
There are improvements to the satnav with better graphics and faster route processing, but it's still the hateful Volvo system with its awful prison-officer voice commands and is best avoided - something that would save a couple of grand and could sensibly be offset against the Sports Pack suspension option.
Back to the Nürburgring, and after a gruelling 24 hours all four Astons cross the finish line. The three V8 Vantages come first, second and third in their class, which is the company's best result here and one of the cars (Kermit) is running the new 4.7-litre engine.
British journalist Richard Meaden is one of Dr Bez's co-drivers in it, so I ask what he thinks of the new motor. "The increase in torque is the single greatest improvement in a race like this," he says, confirming my suspicions. "Last year when I drove the 4.3, I had to keep the revs really high all the time to get the most out of it, but this time the engine has been less stressed.
"I was able to run at 1,000rpm less through a lot of the course and this meant less fuel was used, saving precious time by having to stop less."
This incredible place is the spiritual home of the V8 Vantage and competing in the world's most gruelling 24-hour race here is an important part of the model's evolution. The results are improving and so is the road car, which is one of the reasons people love Aston Martin: they're always trying their absolute best.
Factfile 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Engine:4735cc V8 putting out 420bhp and 470Nm of
torque
Transmission:Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Max speed:290 km/h
0-100km/h:4.8 seconds
Fuel economy:13.9 l/100km (20.4mpg)
CO2:328g/km