Aston Martin Vantage Review & Prices

The Aston Martin Vantage certainly isn’t a sports car for shy, retiring types – you can thank its choice of thunderous V8 and V12 engines and eye-popping styling for that. It’s not all show and no go, though. It’s the first Aston Martin to use a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 developed by Mercedes-AMG, and revives the firm’s fondness for shoving its big V12s into its smallest cars.

It’s not just the engine that the Germans have had a hand in – inside, you’ll find Mercedes’ slightly old-fashioned infotainment system and plenty of fiddly buttons scattered across the dashboard. You can’t get it with Android Auto, either, but at least Apple CarPlay is standard and the central scroll wheel is much easier to use than a touchscreen when you’re storming down a country road.

The rest of the cabin is comfortable and spacious, and you can have it trimmed in plush leather or racey Alcantara. There’s plenty of room for two large adults, but, unlike in a Porsche 911, you can’t get the Vantage with seats in the back. Rather bizarrely, there’s also no glovebox, so you’ll have to leave your Bond-themes CD at home.

You do get a reasonably generous boot with a 350-litre capacity that offers enough space for a couple of suitcases or even a set of golf clubs. Don’t expect to be moving any furniture, though – it’s still a sports car, after all, and the luggage area has quite an awkward shape. It’s a good chunk more than the 130 litres in a 911 and a bit more than the Jaguar F-Type’s 300 litres, though.

In the V8 version there’s 510hp to play with, making this entry-level Aston go from 0-60mph in just 3.5 seconds – that’s as fast as some supercars. In 2022, the 5.2-litre twin-turbo from the DB11 and DBS Superleggera was shoe-horned under the bonnet, offering a whopping 700hp, though the 0-60mph time is only a fraction quicker at 3.4 seconds. The styling is also way more aggressive.

It’s not just quick in a straight line, either. The precise steering lets you make the most of the Vantage’s sporty suspension and stable handling on a twisty country road, but if we’re being picky, the 911 is more fun and capable here.

When you’ve finished having fun, the whole car settles down at the touch of a button and becomes a comfortable long-distance cruiser. It is quite wide, but the steering is light around town so it’s reasonably easy to manoeuvre.

It really is a proper everyday sports car, then. If you like the sound of the Aston Martin Vantage, check out the latest deals on new cars as well as used stock from a network of trusted dealers. You can sell your current car through carwow, too.