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► Aston Vantage vs Porsche 911
► Battle of sports cars £ 100k
► Which one would you choose?
The difference is obvious from the first corner. Whether you compare the old Vantage with the new Vantage, or the new Vantage with the current DB11, it is clear that it is a serious sports car. There was always a lot of goodwill attached to the Vantage, even though it spent a decade after reaching its peak; Aston took the opportunity to market its aging sports car – with hydraulic steering, manual gearbox and naturally aspirated engine – like the darling of the old school of the demanding driver.
But everything has changed, especially because Aston can no longer be satisfied with the word "analog" – the all-new Vantage sports an electric rack, an eight-speed ZF auto as the only transmission option for the moment, and its own AMG version of the biturbo V8 4.0 liter. And this new Vantage is the sports car of the moment, and for once not the survivor of the old school.
So the comparison that matters most now is not Aston vs Aston, but Aston vs. Porsche 911. There will be a new 992 iteration in our streets next year replacing this 911 991 -generation that arrived at the end of 2011, with a new chassis and electric power steering. Less than three years ago, a substantial facelift inaugurated a new twin-turbo 3.0-liter six-cylinder instead of larger engines, naturally aspirated. This is still the benchmark of the sports car, but in the new Aston Martin Vantage, she faces a deadly serious opponent.
Especially when Aston is on such a roll. Profits increased by 250 million pounds last year; sales rose 58%. Just around the corner, there's a new flagship, the 700-horsepower DBS Superleggera, followed by the DBX SUV as CEO Andy Palmer insisted that he had to join the company in 2014. There are others to come. If the FIA gets mobilized, Aston could enter Formula 1 as an engine supplier for Red Bull, a relationship that already breeds the Valkyrie hypercar and which, over time, will deliver a Ferrari 488 mid-engine. And we did not even mention Lagonda's relaunch as a fully electric luxury brand …
But here and now we're in a hot Rockingham pitlane. In a ferocious shade of acid green, the Vantage looks sensational – the conservative Porsche, more organic all but invisible next to it. Push on the trigger of the flush door, switch into the ultra-low seat and you are struck simultaneously by the luxury and power of the thing. It's really an excellent sports car cockpit – like a GT3 leather racer.
Pull the light door closed with the stitched leather strap and examine the square wheel in three clear, clear digital dials that change display as you navigate through the driving modes. The buttons hurtle down the dashboard like the terraced farms of Machu Picchu (though Machu Picchu was backed by Mercedes' electronic architecture). And everything works. This sounds like a basic housekeeping, but that is what is normally difficult for companies like Aston. But from now on, every new Aston will be up to date, and customers will no longer wonder why their new dream sports car or GT uses a lower GPS than their latest rental car.
Wake up the engine and remember that AMG's 4.0-liter unit is a very good sports car engine; As Ben Barry said when he drove the Vantage when it was launched, the engine still feels "on". Pull the right shift paddle to engage the steering wheel, release the electronic handbrake and the Vantage is off, rolling without a hint of throttle, eager to get on the right track.
Move on the circuit, wait a half-turn to warm the lubricants and pin them: fire and fury, cacophony of noise and power of power, torque and hammering Morning drowsiness. Surprisingly silent at startup, Aston soon catches up the lost time. In its driving force and its majestic sound, it is relentless, the sound and the physics increasing as you advance in your stride.
If you recently drove the latest Vantage, the new comes as a pool-plunge. Compared to the car that joined us in 2005, the new car moved the goal posts – not just in the park but out of the gates, on the road and in another park entirely. The latest V8 AMR V8 sported 430 horsepower and 361 lb ft. The news, which is only slightly heavier, has 503 horsepower and 505 lb. ft. If your goal is purely about the outlets, the 911 you will have to make comparisons directly with this entry-level Vantage are the GT3 or the 911 Turbo, not the 911 Carrera GTS today.
The Vantage couple jumped up, it does not come over the trigger, ruining the fun like a diesel pushed the way some boosted performance engines. It may be true, but the Vantage V8 requires you to run it at its height when you have space, Ferrari style.
The ZF box is just as impressive: Smooth at low speed, fast and fast when you need it and always happy to serve the next ratio – high or low – when Merc's own transmission is sometimes taken and will not give you the gear you want. And where the AMG GT – the car from which Aston derives most of its engine – sometimes feels like a curious beast, its axles a bit out of sync with you in the middle, the Vantage makes move the game.
Aston has not left the AMG V8 of 4.0 liters alone. He changed the turbos and revised the wet crankcase to bring the hump down and further into the chassis: open the hood and you'll notice that the front half of the engine compartment contains no engine. Right next to the bulkhead, you'll find the "hot-in-vee" turbos, and they're usually hot enough to feel any sword you could leave nearby.
All engines and without pants? No, not these days. After the DB11, the Vantage is only the second model of Aston's Second Century Plan – and the sales success of the pair is crucial for financing the company's future. . The Vantage is a short DB11: 100mm has been removed from the wheelbase. While it is precisely this type of platform sharing that has driven its predecessor and the former DB9 to be so similar to driving, Aston has worked hard to differentiate itself here.
Enough of the structure is shared to have an economic meaning, but not so much Vantage will be the target of other Russian doll jibes. Only about 30 percent of the bonded aluminum structure is common; Unlike the DB11, the rear subframe is rigidly mounted. and while the double wishbone front suspension and multi-link rear are transported, the springs and dampers are tuned specifically for the Vantage's shorter, lighter platform.
They did a good job. The shock absorbers are based on Sport, Sport + and Track settings, rather than the DB11 GT, Sport and Sport +. From the outset, tense and well-controlled behavior is clearly a differentiating factor. The steering too – which is not faster but feels like it's because of the shorter wheelbase – makes the Vantage immediately more responsive to your entrances.
On the right track, you have to take a moment, breathe and get cool with a calm head. Otherwise, the engine drama and the response rate of the nose will force you to run after yourself, make mistakes and not discover the true potential of the Vantage.
See past the power and the pump and it begins to land on you how Aston is accomplished. This square steering wheel may seem like a gadget, but the reality is that you never need to move your hands on the steering wheel as the steering is so fast. You'll soon agree to that. the subtle but useful feedback, the way the nose can sneak reliably into a peak at speed with a bit of drag dragged, and the intuitive effort with which you can correct the mild oversteer that comes into play when you release the stability check.
With a few laps under your belt, you enter a fast, exciting and rewarding groove, threading this expansive but agile nose through the entrance, apex and exit. The instant engine response and the awesome traction of the first Aston e-diff combine to allow dizzying speeds as you hammer the braking boards of each straight line. If only the front was a little easier to put on – an even greater visibility problem felt on the road. Guiding the Vantage at speed is difficult because you sit so low, the base of the screen is high and the forehead is wide and without visible wings. On the road, oncoming cars have panicked you; the vans make you dive into the feet of the passengers.
Driving is awesome, absorbing the broken asphalt that a sports car has not the right to ride so imperiously, and on wider and better maintained roads. is in his element. In a blur of noise and speed, you pass in front of a slower traffic, cross clear roundabouts with an inspired coolness and decimate all your old personal bests.
In-circuit driving can cause a curious oscillation when you load the car laterally, for example in the long, fast corners of Rockingham. Switch to the full blood lead damper setting and it is reduced because the body control is really locked, but it never completely disappears. And even if the brakes are good, they are not infallible: in circulation, imperfect modulation is almost like a series of stone ceramics, but you do not have the relentless stopping power that the Vantage can give you.
Going back into the Porsche, I'm quite ready to discover that we brought the "bad" 911: we will need a GT3 to improve the Vantage for the pilot's commitment or to A Turbo to surpass its performance. But we did not choose the Carrera GTS lightly. It has an extra 30bhp and 37lb ft on top of the Carrera S, for 444bhp and 406lb ft. The 44mm wider body of the Carrera 4 hides a wider 26mm track, the car rests on 20-inch center-lock wheels a half-inch wider front and rear, and there are active engine mounts, plus large front brakes and pads, plus a sport exhaust and a 20mm lower chassis with adaptive dampers. All the best options of the 911 are in one package. A rear-wheel drive and a manual gearbox are standard, and with a rear-wheel steering of £ 1,592 and active anti-roll bars of £ 2,273, the 911 is optimal unless you have begged, stolen or borrowed for a GT3 or GT2.
Arriving after the Aston, we have to do some mental recalibrations, otherwise we say that there is no nothing special at Porsche. The form is so familiar, the details so discreet compared to the Vantage, that you do not stop and look; you do not feel compelled to examine and admire it as you will do it the first time you will see Aston. Beside the Vantage, the Porsche seems narrow, its nose too high. Just as we thought Jennifer Lopez was curled up until the arrival of Kim Kardashian, you would not do a second thought to the hips of the 911 once you've admired the wide back of the Aston . From the narrow headlights and the huge grille to the raised tail and the serious looking diffuser, the new Vantage is a bold departure from the benefits of the old.
Inside, the Carrera GTS is similarly unobtrusive. The quality of the interior has made a big leap forward with the 991's 911, but at the end of its life, it lacks both the daring modernity of Aston and the Panamera's technology and Cayenne. -festooned cabin). This particular car was designed in a particularly dark way: the alcantara seats and the standard steering wheel were replaced with the leather-free option, and the rear seat wipe option has not been checked. The 997 generation GTS had an edgy skunkworks feel, but the GTS badge was more recently generously rumored across all kinds of Porsche, stealing this car from a bit of its peculiarity.
It is first true of the driving experience. If your reference point is an atmospheric 911 from the last decade, you will quickly decide that this turbocharged engine does not have the same instant response or the same howl. The edge of the electric steering does not look like the 997 GTS hydraulic rack either. And you do not need a 911R or a new manual GT3 to show the seven-speed gearbox; the six-speeder in a Boxster or Cayman is both tighter through the door and the slits at home more gently.
But wait. This is not because the old 911 models, or the rare groove models higher up the range, can offer stronger sensations, it does not mean that this Carrera GTS is not a dynamic threat for the Aston. But in fact it is with very basic fundamentals that the Porsche gets its first shots. Rivals are spending millions developing high-tech diffs, boosted engines and multi-stage slip control, only for the world to decide that it prefers the familiar excellence of the seats, the position of driving, huge windshield and over-the-shoulder visibility – boring stuff – not to mention the intuitive and solidly constructed way that all the controls feel.
Day after day, you'll enjoy the 911's convenience, its trunk and rear seats, as well as the convenience of being able to park it anywhere. Everything happens in immediate confidence, whether you leave it parked in the street at night or when you head for the first time on an unknown track.
Like on the road, you instantly feel involved in everything: driving a 911 GTS on the right track is an intimate experience shared between you and the car. The weighting of the steering is more constant than that of the Aston, these first fractions of a turn where the new electrical system of the Vantage is light and heavy. The whole car is lighter, more flexible and more nuanced than the Aston, its more precise and faithful answers. The gearbox is not the best of Porsche, but it is nevertheless soft, and you will never get tired of that moment when you work on the superb brake pedal and you go from sixth to fifth. .. or the third.
On the right track, even without trying, you can play with the weight transfer, or adjust everything on Sport +, keep it tidy and feel the benefits of the wider rear track, active engine mounts, system anti-roll back and forth. wheel direction. Now, the rear hangs tight, 911 rear axle allowing you to chase the throttle more and more early, pulling begging belief. The almost push-free front end of the Porsche also highlights the slightly greater tendency of Aston's understeer. With a little effort, the flat-six – even cooled to the water and turbo-boosted as it is – is starting to shine. Push the mid-range torque thick and there is a race at high speeds almost as punchy and as intoxicating as that of the Aston
Dynamically, Aston is not up to the task. Not even a little. But he does not steal lead either. In isolation, Aston is great, a driving machine full of talent and compelling ferocity. But the 911 is, in its own way, just as exciting – the incessant evolution does not create a lack of emotion. The Aston is more spectacular, but it's also comfortable, far from being as noisy as you might imagine given the impetuous and quite plausible style as a very special daily pilot without to compromise his colossal factor of well-being.
So, there is no winner. Disappointing if we expected the British newcomer to come and wipe the floor with the German reference. But getting close to such a brilliant car is a solid result, and the proof that Aston's new dawn is built on very good cars. A draw against the Porsche 911?
Aston Martin Vantage features
Price £ 120,900 (£ 141,915 to test)
Engine 3982cc 32v dual-turbo V8, 503bhp @ 6500rpm, 505lb ft @ 2000rpm
Transmission 8 self-braking, rear wheel drive
Double wishbone front suspension, multi-link rear
Performance 3.6sec 0-62mph, 195mph, 26.8mpg, 245g / km CO2
Weight 1630kg
This item is available for sale
Rating ★★★★★ [19659043] Porsche 911 Carrera GTS specs
Price £ 95,795 (£ 107,359 as per tests)
24v twin-turbo engine, 248bhp @ 6500rpm, 406lb ft @ 2150rpm
7-speed manual transmission , rear-wheel drive
MacPherson suspension at the front, multi-link at the rear
Performance 4.1sec 0-62mph, 193mph, 30.1mpg, 212g / km CO2
Weight 1450kg
sale now
Rating ★★★★★
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