RE: Aston Martin launches new 680hp Vantage S

RE: Aston Martin launches new 680hp Vantage S

Yesterday

Aston Martin launches new 680hp Vantage S

The current Vantage was already damn good - now Aston says more power and precision have made it better still


While the ‘S’ badge has been found on Aston Martins in one form or another for more than 70 years - all the way back to the 1953 DB3S, actually - in a modern context, the addition of an ‘S’ usually means a few key improvements. Think of the original V12 Vanquish S of the '00s, then the V8 and V12 Vantage S of the decade after. And the latest DBX S, for that matter. A seemingly minor moniker change actually brings big alterations, with more power, sharper styling and a keener chassis. Typically they become the Astons to buy in their respective line-ups. 

Much the same appears to be true for the new Vantage S, which makes the resulting 680hp car a formidable prospect.  The standard Vantage is already better than we dared hope for a ‘standard’ Aston sports car, so the idea of one enhanced and boasting ‘a thrilling appetite for corners backed up by steadfast stability’ is hugely appealing. We were promised more model variants by Adrian Hallmark, and boy are we getting them.

The power upgrade seems fairly inconsequential given what the Vantage was already packing - 665hp to 680hp isn’t very much of a gain, especially with torque unchanged at 590lb ft. The S is outputting the same as a DB12 now, basically, and the 0-62mph time is a tenth faster at 3.4 seconds. Likely to be more keenly felt are changes to the weight and response of the throttle pedal, with new calibrations for all the drive modes to deliver ‘an even greater sense of connection with all controls working in harmony.’

The really important changes for the Vantage S, though, are in the chassis. It’s a far more extensive overhaul than might be expected so soon after the launch of what is a brilliant Aston Martin, but does promise to create something very special. The fact that the modifications extend to removing all the bushes for the rear subframe, mounting it directly to the body instead, is a good sign of the intent. The modification ought to improve steering connection. 

And that’s just the start for the Vantage S revisions. The Bilstein DTX dampers that have impressed so much in the standard car now benefit from ‘hardware tuning and software calibration changes’, again with the front-end response in mind. But this isn’t the Vantage track special (that will surely follow soon), so the transmission mounts are a little softer and the rear spring aid stiffness reduced, to preserve some ride comfort. The tyres are unchanged, so the S will use the same Aston-specific Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 as the normal car; the 21-inch wheels seen here are unique to the S. 

Aston has stated that the aim for this car was to ‘extract more agility and front-end grip from the Vantage platform’, which is some ambition given how the regular car scored on those attributes. It’s said as well that those gains shouldn’t come ‘at the expense of compliance and refinement’; in truth, you probably wouldn’t want anything much more aggressive than the Vantage for frequent use, so that sounds like good news. 

While a weird job has been done of photographing the fact (a grey car in a tunnel guys? Really?) there are a few key changes to the exterior that mark it out as an S. The fresh aerokit with more prominent lip to the bootlid brings more downforce, now 111kg at the 202mph top speed; again the front end has been prioritised when balancing out the aero for ‘exceptional turn-in response.’

New bonnet blades evoke the special versions of the old naturally aspirated Vantage, while red accents run throughout the car - from the badges outside to the drive mode rotary dial. It seems like the red pinstriping seen here is optional; as standard both the Lower and Upper Body Packages are Gloss Black, with a body-coloured roof and smoked rear lights. 

The inside is decked out with plentiful Alcantara, with ‘S’ logos everywhere to remind you it’s the special Vantage. The embroidered emblems in the seat apparently each use 16 metres of thread and 2,500 individual stitches, so you best appreciate them. Options include full semi-aniline leather if the Alcantara is a bit too racy, or going full track car and ditching the standard electric chairs for the carbon seats seen here. Safe to say there’s going to be a Vantage S specification to suit; it might just require a good session spent on the configurator. 

Interestingly, the S is immediately available in both coupe and drop-top forms. A price hasn’t been formally announced, though we’d have to assume something in the region of £200k. The Vantage can be ordered now and seen in action at Goodwood this weekend; first examples should be with owners before the year is out. 


Author
Discussion

Stark999

Original Poster:

198 posts

21 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Granted it s a great car, but I don t personally feel there was a need for such a minor change of an additional 15 BHP. This isn t going to help sales. Do you know how many Vantages are at dealerships unsold, and adding £25,000 maybe to the price, isn t going to help sales.

Amazing cars but perhaps listening to your customers would be a better move


Edited by Stark999 on Wednesday 9th July 04:29

Mercutio

273 posts

177 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
I'm sure this article will get all the usual derision around Aston nudging up the BHP as a sales tool, but it doesn't matter because the car isn't as good looking as the VH platform ones...

But seriously -

Can someone please share on here, why are Aston "failing"? Why are there cars sitting in dealerships with a £25,000 markdown?

What should Aston do differently with this model, to ensure it has the same kind of healthy sales as its rivals?

Without practical advice, it then just becomes a matter of opinion. Yes we know 911s keep their value better and might be a better value for money proposition entirely. But I'd love someone to explain please what is the problem with Aston Martin today, and how it could fix it.

slopes

40,477 posts

202 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
It's a cost issue with luxury cars these days, £200k for a base model Aston is an awful lot of money and with the current administration pushing hard to make darn sure all cars are powered by elastictrickery in the next 5 years - or at least all brand new cars - most people are hedging their bets and shifting to EV's early.
The only people that are taking on cars like these in the UK at least, are footballers and Aston's are not as favoured as Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys at least that is how i see it anyway.

PRO5T

5,650 posts

40 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Isn’t it just that Aston simply can’t build these at a low enough cost for what the market dictates?

T1berious

2,503 posts

170 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
I was about to say that it's a lot of cash for a breathed on AMG engine, then I realised that Pagani has zero issues using AMG engines and creating works of automotive art.

I guess, it feels punchy when you go through the Aston Martin configurator and compare it to the competition.

Not helped by the Roma / Amalfi not being far away in cost.

Then again, no one looks at cars at this price point (circa 200k) and looks for the value proposition.

The low mile dealer ones with 25k off does look sobering though.


Stark999

Original Poster:

198 posts

21 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Slopes let me assure you - people are not shifting to EV’s early.

Their market is worse than anything.

Minglar

1,478 posts

138 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
It s a strange conundrum. The current range of cars is arguably the best it s ever been and in most comparison tests the cars do very well although they don t often win. Unfortunately Stroll has decided to adopt the ultra luxury brand tactic, and in order to achieve the target margin, circa 40%, retail prices have risen very sharply. That is a big reason why people who own previous generation cars don t trade up as the gain in performance and tech etc isn t worth the financial difference to get in to a current model. As a result the previous clutch of repeat customers is dwindling and they need to attract new buyers to the brand, many of whom have never owned one before. There is also the problem of deprecation which isn t AM specific of course, but for some reason AMs seem to suffer really badly. Whether Adrian Hallmark is the man to turn this all around we shall see. Q2 2025 and Half Year 2025 numbers are due at the end of July. It will be interesting to see what is released. As for this new model, I think it looks pretty good but imho I can t really see why anyone would want it over the standard car. It was a similar story with the recently released DBX S and I m sure it will be the same with with DB12 S. BRM.

Stark999

Original Poster:

198 posts

21 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Slopes let me assure you - people are not shifting to EV’s early.

Their market is worse than anything.

Stark999

Original Poster:

198 posts

21 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
But let’s not forget one thing, these are amazing cars and we are not slagging them off in the slightest and compared to the 911 Turbos and Roma’s, these will come out on top. Also Porsche are not far away on their costs of their Turbo S’s now. And Roma/Amalfi £225/250.

SDK

1,697 posts

268 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Minglar said:
It s a strange conundrum. The current range of cars is arguably the best it s ever been and in most comparison tests the cars do very well although they don t often win. Unfortunately Stroll has decided to adopt the ultra luxury brand tactic, and in order to achieve the target margin, circa 40%, retail prices have risen very sharply. That is a big reason why people who own previous generation cars don t trade up as the gain in performance and tech etc isn t worth the financial difference to get in to a current model. As a result the previous clutch of repeat customers is dwindling and they need to attract new buyers to the brand, many of whom have never owned one before. There is also the problem of deprecation which isn t AM specific of course, but for some reason AMs seem to suffer really badly. Whether Adrian Hallmark is the man to turn this all around we shall see. Q2 2025 and Half Year 2025 numbers are due at the end of July. It will be interesting to see what is released. As for this new model, I think it looks pretty good but imho I can t really see why anyone would want it over the standard car. It was a similar story with the recently released DBX S and I m sure it will be the same with with DB12 S. BRM.
When you include inflation, the Vantage price hasn't changed much over the years - increasing by just £10k (7%) in real terms over 20 years

-> 2004 V8 Vantage : £86k [now £155k with inflation]
-> 2018 V8 Vantage : £120k [Now £160k with inflation]
-> 2025 Vantage : £165k

Edited by SDK on Wednesday 9th July 08:30

Stark999

Original Poster:

198 posts

21 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Btw does anyone know if this is replacing the Vantage? Surely it must be and now only the S is on sale

SDK

1,697 posts

268 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Stark999 said:
Btw does anyone know if this is replacing the Vantage? Surely it must be and now only the S is on sale
Both are still listed separately on the their website

dpop

263 posts

147 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
They're not selling because Aston Martin has an image problem - the days of james bond are long gone and it's simply not cool anymore. No young(ish) person with money buys these while older people with money go for Bentleys etc.
Trying to occupy the middle ground between the full luxe end of the scale and the very sporty end of the scale is not working for AM, and the last time it did work was 20 years ago when the revised V8 Vantage came out in 2005.

smilo996

3,363 posts

185 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
very odd trend where automotive photography looks AI generated now images are photoshopped to within a micron of reality, an odd aesthetic. Having said that, the face lifted DB12 family design has made the whole range look so much better.
Cute and aggressive - quite a feat.


smilo996

3,363 posts

185 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
very odd trend where automotive photography looks AI generated now images are photoshopped to within a micron of reality, an odd aesthetic. Having said that, the face lifted DB12 family design has made the whole range look so much better.
the S is a niche and odd that people complain there is not enough space between levels will no doubt be fawning over the next 911 decal, paint and plaque job, celebrating another our de force of wafer management.

Cute and aggressive - quite a feat.


NJJ

480 posts

95 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Worth noting that Ferrari are having a hard time shifting their sports models too, they just manage to hide it better. Coupled with the fact that the prancing horse brand is that much stronger. On a general level the sports car market is dwindling too. SUVs rule the roost and those who are into sports cars know that the most evocative of that genre were built a long time ago.

Minglar

1,478 posts

138 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
SDK said:
When you include inflation, the Vantage price hasn't changed much over the years - increasing by just £10k (7%) in real terms over 20 years

-> 2006 V8 Vantage : £86k [now £155k with inflation]
-> 2018 V8 Vantage : £120k [Now £160k with inflation]
-> 2025 Vantage : £165k

Edited by SDK on Wednesday 9th July 08:27
Fair enough but the key difference nowadays is the options pricing versus the standard spec. The current retail list price of a 2025 car is as you rightly say £165,000. But you will need to spend at least 25% on top of that to achieve a decent spec, which usually takes it to well above £200,000. In 2007 I bought a brand new one. It had about £6,000 worth of options and that was with nearly every available box ticked. It’s not just AM though. Porsche and Ferrari have done the same for years, but some of the AM options pricing is quite frankly a pcensoredss take. And that is part of the reason why many current owners of older models are reluctant to trade up in to a new car. BRM.

MDL111

7,761 posts

192 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
NJJ said:
Worth noting that Ferrari are having a hard time shifting their sports models too, they just manage to hide it better. Coupled with the fact that the prancing horse brand is that much stronger. On a general level the sports car market is dwindling too. SUVs rule the roost and those who are into sports cars know that the most evocative of that genre were built a long time ago.
I think the last point is important, I just bought a 20 year old car as my weekend car as the new ones with all their screens, turbo engines and tech overload hold very limited attraction for me. I also expect it to hold its value or appreciate, which is a secondary consideration, but becoming more important to me.
I think the Aston is very pretty and I much prefer it to the previous generation, but it is not worth it to me at the total ownership cost.

BigChiefmuffinAgain

1,375 posts

113 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
PRO5T said:
Isn t it just that Aston simply can t build these at a low enough cost for what the market dictates?
At this end of the market, they tend to price at what they think the market will take, as opposed to a fixed mark up on cost of production. And there are so many other overhead and marketing costs to be added in which depend a lot on volumes ( which Aston find hard to predict ).

Still, the Aston view of what the market will take and the markets view are often very different. I would say at the moment, there are too many premium sports car makers chasing too few sports car buyers....

MustangGT

13,168 posts

295 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Yes, please. Enough said.