Vantage N400 at Frankfurt

[isuk]

From Rennteam:

The Vantage N400 includes a number of technical improvements as well as enhancements to its standard range of color and trim specifications. These include a power upgrade to the 4.3L V8 engine, lifting peak power to 400hp and peak torque to 420Nm . It also comes with a sports pack consisting of lightweight graphite-finished aluminum wheels, up-rated springs and dampers and a new rear anti-roll bar. There also a revised side sill design, new bonnet and side strake meshes, clear rear lamp lenses and a bright finish grille. Inside, the car picks up satnav, Bluetooth and heated seats.

[ThePusher]

Will wait for more information... hopefully there is a serious weight saving as well. Or this should be a very minor price increase because all you have is:

- New colors
- New body bits
- New wheels

So what...

- Minor suspension update
- About 5% more power

Very disappointing... Most car manufacturers would not even treat this as a model variant. It is just a mid-life update... Happens all the time and usually they have better updates than the above for same money.

[cardigankid]

Weight reduction is the way forward.

[Pugsey]

bogie said:

its just a warmed up version - the real deal hot version is about 1 year away..........

Correct.................this is just the slightly improved 'cooking version'.

Edited by Pugsey on Friday 7th September 22:55

[Grant3]

Still looks tasty, Aston have an official press release on their site, although no price!!!

http://www.astonmartin.com/thecompany/news?a=0c869...

[Ian67]

My dealer said £92,000, which includes quite a few extras that are options on the standard car. Not sure what the effective premium over the standard car is because I didn't ask which extras they were - I wasn't that interested after he mentioned the (minimal) power increase.

I do quite like the sills though.

[bogie]

you get Bluetooth phone, satnav, heated memory seats, premium audio, bright grille and HIDS from the std options list

then you get the sports pack wheels, revised suspension and ARB

+20bhp

the rest is cosmetic - individual sill plates, side strakes, colours, sills etc

its a £9k premium over list of a std car - I think its pretty good considering the "std" spec of it

If I was buying a new one now, id certainly be taking this one - most new buyers must spend close to £90K anyway, you may as well get another 20bhp thrown in there

[Murph7355]

bogie said:

...its a £9k premium over list of a std car ...

When you factor in options prices I reckon it's a sub-5k premium for which you get the power hike, suspension changes and cosmetic bits.

IMO, too much. Should be no premium for such minor changes (and effectively forcing you to take options you might not have bothered with).

[Pugsey]

Murph7355 said:

bogie said:

...its a £9k premium over list of a std car ...

When you factor in options prices I reckon it's a sub-5k premium for which you get the power hike, suspension changes and cosmetic bits.

IMO, too much. Should be no premium for such minor changes (and effectively forcing you to take options you might not have bothered with).

Completely agree. This is merely a refresh of the current model and shouldn't carry a premium. Ok, at this point most manufacturers will announce say a £2k price increase but that should be it. IMO.

[bogie]

well I guess they are only doing what other manufacturers do with "limited editions" etc - add a few bits, change some cosmetic stuff and charge you more

Porsche have to be the best at it - strip out the car, take lots of stuff off, call it an "RS" and charge a ton more dosh ..or put a roof onto a convertible car and add £5K etc LOL

[XXXAngelXXX]

i like it

[Grant3]

No doubt it will end up the same as the 05/06 Gallardo special edition, e.g. the changes from the special edition will filter down to the standard range with the next model year!

[yg649]

I've just specced a 08 model. Effectively 95k with options.

WRT the N400, I'm not sure about the wheels, or the shiny grill .. However, it does contain just about all options that I've gone for.

Boils down to a couple of basic questions:

a) Is a normal driver on normal roads going to appreciate \ notice an additional ~20bhp
b) Will there be any delta's in resale.

My punt is a) No. b) Yes. But order of magnitude of a couple of k.

[Murph7355]

yg649 said:

...My punt is a) No. b) Yes. But order of magnitude of a couple of k.

I suspect you're right.

Unless the 400bhp is genuine and not made up of the same Shetland ponies as the 380bhp

[jus]

When are the buggers going to release the proper pics/details?

My only concern is they will punt this to us, and then minutes later reveal the proper R/S Vantage...