The current-gen Aston Martin Vantage has been kicking around for seven years, if you can believe it. In that time, the V12 model made a much-appreciated return for a short run, and Aston is now showing us that the Vantage’s story isn’t yet over. Meet the Vantage S: a sharper, faster coupe with a 670-horsepower, twin-turbo V8 and a bunch of chassis tweaks and optimizations to make that little bit better at the limit. Oh—and this particular example has a splitter that looks like it’s had its shipping guards painted on.
That’s what I’m picking up from Aston’s press photos, anyway. The colored trim around the aero elements is a little silly to me, and I still think the sports car looked much better before its facelift last year, but nobody is mistaking this for an ordinary Vantage. Aston Martin says this iteration of the coupe is more responsive at the front, thanks to recalibrated Bilstein dampers. Camber, toe, and caster have all been massaged to improve grip, but notably not at the expense of cruising comfort. For example, the rear springs have actually been made softer for better ride quality at low speeds.
Aston says the rear subframe is now bolted directly to the body, rather than through rubber bushings, in search of more solid dynamics. The throttle pedal weight has even been changed, and that refinement will be special to the Vantage S.
At the heart of it all is that familiar Mercedes-AMG-sourced, four-liter boosted V8, now producing 670 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. That’s an improvement of 15 hp over the current, normal Vantage, and notably down only 20 hp compared to the V12. For those hoping for a manual, you unfortunately won’t find one here. The transmission remains an eight-speed auto positioned at the rear, though Aston tells us that the stiffness of its mounts has been reduced by 10%, “allowing the vehicle to breathe in harmony with the road,” whatever that means.
The Vantage S will be offered in both coupe and roadster flavors when deliveries begin in the final quarter of this year. If you’re looking forward to seeing one in motion, you can do so by streaming the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Or, ideally, attending in person—I hear it’s one of those events that’s better live.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
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