Black Beauty

Most of us of begin relating Aston Martin to James Bond movies. To make matters worse, our press demonstrator’s number plate read 007. The Vantage has no strings connected with Bond and any of his fantasies, all it be pictured as is to be wrapped in British racing green participating in GT4 challenge or in the sky blue and orange Gulf livery. Ours turned out to be a black V8 Vantage apparently. Most certainly, our demonstrator was meant to be a road car. So then how does this baby Aston Martin fare? We find out as we drive the V8 Vantage Coupe.

Aston Martin has been making cars that are a perfect blend of high-thrill performance and elegance. The Vantage is purely magnum opus work as it gets Aston Martin’s Down the Road Graphics (DRG) and resemblance with the pricier DB9. The DLO comes framed with a bright chrome strip, and the extended wheel arch eyebrows that accommodate wider rear tyres add to the styling.

The interior of the V8 Vantage makes you feel special once you step in with its simple design and top notch leather.

The moment you shake hands with the swan wing doors to get into, that is when you realize you are about enter something special. On the inside, everything can be customised as per your requirement. The space however is very limited for two bucket seats, which similar to any supercar leaving no room to spare in the cabin. The 300-litre boot on the coupe is quite large for a supercar.

The 19-inch 20-spoke alloys look gorgeous on the V8 Vantage. However, the more gorgeous 10-spoke forged alloy wheels are optional.

The V8 Vantage comes with a spring-loaded Lamy pen with a pen holder in the centre console.

The V8 Vantage gets a 4.7-litre V8 naturally aspirated petrol engine that pumps out 426bhp of power and 470Nm of maximum torque. This is a front mid-mounted engine which transfers all power to the rear wheels. Insert the Aston Martin key into the slot and hear the marvellous roar from the eight cylinders as the engine springs to life. Press the D button on the centre console and you are ready to go. As the revs keep on climbing, the exhaust barks and crackles.

The new V8 Vantage's engine is a 4.73-litre instead of a 4.3-litre and the power is bumped up by about 40bhp.

The engine comes bolted with a 6-speed automated manual transmission. The gear shifts area tad lethargic and jerky in the comfort mode. A 6-speed manual gear lever option is available saving your Rs 3lakh.

All the Aston Martins get the stamp of the person who performed the final inspection check on the car.

The ride on most of the sportscar is very stiff. However, the V8 Vantage can be used as a day-to-day car, as the ride on it is quite supple if compared to a sports car. We drove it through some very patchy roads and the suspension wasn’t very firm. The steering wheel is a bit on the heavier side but it does lighten up once you gather some momentum.

The V8 Vantage is the entry-level Aston Martin supercar which is built to be sold in greater numbers and aimed head-on to compete with the performance-oriented Germans. This is a practical day-to-day Aston Martin which at Rs 1.35crore (ex-showroom, India) is a lot more expensive than its competitors. Whatever flaws it may have, none of its competition has the ability to combine this motoring theatre with comfort and practicality.