DRIVEN. Aston Martin V8 Vantage S
Feature | crankandpiston.com / EVO Middle East
James (and James) went out to play with the new, race-derived Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. It went well. For a while…
Originally posted – 2 September, 2013 | crankandpiston.com | EVO Middle East magazine
crankandpiston.com photographer James Davison and I are deep in the UAE’s Hatta mountains, preparing to get some shots of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S on the move when the skies suddenly darken. Which, in the middle of summer in the Middle East, is more than a bit unusual.
Hang on, claps of thunder? Is that rain?! What’s going on?
This is a far cry from what we’d experienced just a few hours earlier. Bright and early of a morning, we were preparing to take the Vantage for a spin. To the casual observer, this appears to be a $138,000 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Said observer would be wrong though, since this is actually the $156,000 V8 S. From the outside, there’s little to tell them apart, but peel back the bodywork and you’ll find that the Vantage’s sportier, more dynamic accompaniment – Aston Martin have carefully avoided using the word ‘replacement’ – is pretty much a GT4 racing car developed by Aston Martin Racing.
Nope. No joke. Lift the V8 Vantage S lid and you’ll find the same double-wishbone suspension, gearbox and stiffened chassis as its track-going counterpart in an effort to make the S the sportiest Vantage around, minus perhaps the new V12 edition. Gone also is the six-speed gearbox, replaced by a seven-speed Sportshift II transmission that offers quicker gear changes for sharper acceleration and shifts up to 20 percent faster than the outgoing system. Even the rear tyres are wider in an effort to deliver 430bhp and 361lb ft of torque from the 4.7-litre V8 to the road quicker. Said tweaks have clearly had an impact, given the model’s 305kph top speed.
What we have here then is racing car for the road. The big question is, does a racing car for the road actually work?
To find out, we need a stretch of road both achingly gorgeous to look at and requiring nerves of steel to drive at pace. That would be Hatta then, in the middle of UAE mountain country, where meandering stretches of tarmac – often including perilous dips and changeable camber – test even the bravest of partially talented media representatives.
Location in-mind, I rouse Davison from his slumber at a ludicrously early time on Saturday morning and introduce him to our GT4-derived chariot for the day.
From the outside, you’d be forgiven for missing the significance entirely, tweaks to the exterior proving subtler than the track-hewn accessories might suggest. The Vantage is still a beautiful car, all sweeps, swoops and sleek body contours about the roofline, elongated headlights, and rear spoiler ‘flick’. But with the S comes a lower front bumper and splitter for improved aerodynamics as well as a larger air intake. Tweaks have also been made to the rear diffuser for greater downforce, and our striking red test model stands on pretty slick 19-inch alloys, though 10-spoke lightweight alternatives are also available.
Though it’s tempting to drool for a few days, time is already ticking on and we have more than a hundred kilometres of bullet-straight highway to cover before we hit the mountains. There are only two seats and limited boot space, which means Davison’s camera bag joins us in the front of the ‘cosy’ cabin as we set off. Given the GT4 DNA beneath us, we’re both slightly worried we’ll arrive in Hatta with spines crumbled to dust by rigid suspension. Much like the exterior though, there’s little raciness about the cabin.
Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find any track-inspired features at all, the carefully embroidered ‘Vantage S’ monikers on the headrests and floor mats the only giveaways. There’s still sat-nav, cruise control, Bluetooth, beautiful leather upholstery and the various creature comforts expected from an Aston Martin sports coupe.
But there are also a few issues. Compared with the beautiful modern looks on the outside, the centre cluster looks and feels a tad dated, despite our test model being a 2013 model. The indicator and windscreen wiper spindles are also notable culprits, and come dangerously close to feeling cheap. Reach and rake options on the newly installed steering column – another addition to help improve handling – mean finding a comfortable driving position is relatively straightforward, but limited head and legroom make for a very claustrophobic ride. And depending on how thoroughly you’re looking to rag the V8 under the bonnet, you at some point will need to choose between hooning and air conditioning, since cool air can turn to warm when you push the accelerator hard enough.
Creating wet spots on your shirt though is only one of the V8’s capabilities. The noise is breath-taking. Inserting the glass key fob into the dash brings with it a deep boom that emanates from the exhausts will set the hairs on your neck on edge. And that’s just at idle. Hit 3500rpm – as we do multiple times along the desert highway – and a new, higher pitch bursts forth and ricochets around the cabin. The nifty Bang and Olufsen speakers rising out of the dashboard may as well not bother. They’re completely pummelled by this infectious sound, which just gets better the closer you get to the 7300rpm horsepower peak.
Finally free of cloying Dubai motorists, I take full advantage and open the taps at every opportunity, Davison often turning to see why I’m giggling uncontrollably.
It’s not too long before we hit the Hatta border control, and ready our UAE identity cards for the clearly bemused gentleman in the army uniform holding an automatic weapon. Given the sea of white Toyota Land Cruisers and Nissan Tiidas surrounding us, clearly Hatta doesn’t see bright red supercars everyday of the week.
Since the satnav is proving rather useless as we wind our way into the mountains – with both Davison and I unable to fathom how we zoom in and out of the digital map – we end up taking the longer, speed hump-infested back roads into the mountains. The Land Cruisers and Tiidas that moments ago had been put in the shadows have now left the Aston for dust as we gingerly pick the Vantage’s front splitter over what feels like hundreds of fantastically aggressive road humps. It’s painfully slow and we lose the best part of 30 minutes negotiating one backwater village after another. Mercifully the road eventually levels out, undulations and sharp turns start to appear on the horizon, and we’re free to get the hammer down again.
As demonstrated by the ‘standard’ Vantage, response from the 4735cc V8 is mightily impressive, though this only becomes apparent later into our drive: discretion is the better part of valour in our brand new $150K sportscar at first. The throaty unit continues to pull almost impossibly high, showing no signs of lag. Considering peak torque doesn’t kick in until you hit 5000rpm, this really is a unit to grab by the proverbials and administer a thrashing. It’s tempting to do so, but the reality is that hitting peak horsepower on these winding roads really isn’t an option, the corners appearing too thick and too fast for all 430bhp to be let loose.
Having said that, it’s through the corners that the balance and the handling of the Vantage S comes to the fore. It is very good, the steering weighted just enough to make us really have to put the effort in. Coupled with the grip from the front tyres, the front end is impressively pointy with not even a glimpse of understeer on this tricky terrain. Keep the throttle nailed through the corners and perfect weight distribution and a low centre of gravity mean clinging to the apex is very do-able in this short wheelbase little monster. Kick the V8 unit hard enough and the rear will begin to get a little twitchy, and while the traction control can sometimes nanny unnecessarily, we recommend getting your full eight hours of sleep beforehand if you decide to switch the DSC off entirely.
It’s not often that Davison and I get to take advantage of a GT racer in the mountains, and while the combination of noise and speed is infectious, we do eventually have to pull over to stretch our legs and various extremities. The Aston’s suspension has been stiffened for more effective road holding, but the ride is pretty hard as a consequence.
Visibility has also proved problematic, for although the sweeping windscreen offers plenty, the low roofline, small rear window, enlarged B-pillars and small wing mirrors mean I can’t see what we’ve just passed, nor indeed what might be coming past me over the speed bumps.
It’s not the road already travelled though that Davison and I are interested in. Given the mid-40 degree temperatures and appropriate humidity that normally swirls around Hatta, we’re surprised to see dark clouds just a few kilometres ahead. It’s somewhat unexpected, but a rare photo opportunity and keen not to miss it, we give the Aston a kick with the spurs and hurry towards the angry mass of weather.
So far the V8 Vantage S has proven an incredible piece of kit, offering superb balance and eye-blinking response times from the throttle and brakes.
The Sportshift II gearbox though hasn’t won either of us over. The single-clutch system, and I quote from Aston Martin, requires ‘modulating the throttle pedal to achieve the desired type of gear change’: if you’re curious, that translates as ‘lift off the throttle when you upshift if you don’t want to get punted through the windscreen’. At top revs the system is beautifully effective. Lower down though, the lurch as each gear is slotted home is quite incredible, and not even remotely comfortable. Smooth(er) changes require a balancing act of throttle off, throttle on when shifting, and even after nearly two hours and a couple of hundred clicks in the hot seat, I am no closer to taming the system.
Seatbelt straining gear changes aside, it’s not long before we’re parked up and grabbing some beauty shots. It’s also not long before the darkness rolls in even closer.
Followed by rain. Lots and lots of rain.
The downpour at first comes as a relief on this hot Middle Eastern afternoon, but it’s not long before the heavens open, the thunder and lightning get louder and closer, and our nerves start to fray as the storm moves right over our heads. Just 10 minutes after arriving, Davison and I, having stepped out of the car to grab these images, are soaked to the bone, and bravely decide to flee.
Having been dealt a tough right hook by Mother Nature, we discover all too late that the camera has gotten wet, and refuses to fire into life. Hence why you may notice there isn’t a single motion shot in this feature.
We’re far from salvation though. The force of the rain, quite incredibly, has caused the various dips and undulations in the road to flood, with some areas two-feet deep after just 15 minutes. Our only hope is to slam our way through the standing water, keep the speed up to make sure we don’t bog down.
It’s a risky strategy, but if we want to avoid a night sleeping in the Aston, it’s really our only option.
The sensation of riding through flooding stretches where even Land Cruisers go tentatively is quite incredible, akin to riding the open ocean on a jet ski. Though a nerve-wracking experience, the Aston nevertheless passes its impromptu extreme weather test with flying colours.
Given its merciful dash for freedom, it’s tempting for me to affix the rose-tinted spectacles and give the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S a permanent place in my heart.
I can’t quite do it though.
It’s beautiful beyond measure and produces a sound I’d happily walk down the aisle to. But the balance between racecar and road car is sometimes too aggressive, the ride and gearbox being two notable examples. Taming the S on a track would no doubt provide hours of entertainment, and any Aston Martin execs reading this can happily ask us to prove that. But bring the dial back down from ten tenths, as you would do on the road, and life with the S might cause some considerable backache, as well as heartache.
Images | Awesome Group and James Davison
Feature | crankandpiston.com / EVO Middle East | James Gent