English/German cooperation can be traced back to 1714 when the Brits were desperately searching for a new king. Queen Anne was dead and she’d left exactly zero children and the Brits needed a Protestant heir. Indeed, someone who was not only Protestant but, God save the King, of royal personage. A quick survey of European monarchy turned up Georg Ludwig, the Prince-Elector of Hanover. Close enough. They made him George I, king of Great Britain.
In fact, there were several what you could call ups and downs between the two countries after that. But more recent deals went far better. In fact, I would argue that the greatest Anglo-Saxon cooperation ever is that between Aston Martin and AMG, the deal that results in the magnificent 2020 Aston Martin Vantage coupe you see here. God save her majesty!
It is the latest result of a 2013 cooperative agreement between Mercedes and Aston Martin that gave Aston powerful and reliable engines that didn’t leak oil—and gave Mercedes 5% of Aston Martin. Yay, diplomacy! So the new Vantage is like a pre-Brexit European Union of GT cars, with an engine from AMG and a body from Aston Martin. It’s like that joke about how in heaven the cops are all British, the engineers are German and … I forget what the rest of the joke is but those two are the only parts you need to know here.
The thing is that the big twin-turbo V8 under the Aston’s sensuous hood is from Affalterbach, and it sees duty in different tunes in a number of AMG products, from the C63 to the Mighty AMG GT R. Now, before you get all excited about it, you have to ask yourself, “Do I like AMG?” There’s no question the engine lays down all the proper performance numbers: 503 hp and 505 lb-ft of torque. You can’t complain about the power and torque. The twin turbos spool up without you even knowing it, squeezing power across the tach like mayonnaise on a rolled-up newspaper cone of pommes frites. Or like vinegar on fish and chips. Take your pick of mixed metaphors. And the eight-speed ZF automatic that in my flame orange Vantage was remarkably efficient and quick without smacking your spine each time it changed gears.
That’s because the final tune of this 4.0-liter V8, basically the same one used in the AMG GT super coupe, is much more Aston than AMG in this application. Traditionally, AMG powertrains have come across as just a little more brutal in their power delivery, the throttle response just a little too sudden and sharp, at least for my tastes. Likewise, the brake calipers of typical AMG cars clamp down like angry German Shepherds catching a frisbee made of carbon ceramic. I myself like a little more linearity in throttle and brake response. I have had the same personal complaints about AMGs for years. But thousands of buyers disagree, so it could be just me. Maybe I just have to give it enough time and get used to it. Or maybe I should consider this Aston Martin use of an AMG engine.
The difference here is that Aston Martin got to tune the powertrain and indeed the whole car to its liking. That means the Vantage’s midrange and high-end performance was made more Aston Martin-like—not softer, mind you, but more civilized. For Vantage (and DB11) the V8 engine hardware is largely AMG. Aston provided the engine mounts, custom air intakes, exhaust, wet sump and wrote the ECU software for a unique throttle map and sound. Similarly, the mid-rear-mounted ZF eight-speed doesn’t crack your back with every shift, even in the highest of the car’s three performance modes. The longer and more languid DB11 model shares this same powertrain but in an even more relaxed tune than this. Suspension is also Aston Martin-designed, with Bilstein supporting the damping setup. The Vantage rides on a shortened version of the DB11’s all-aluminum monocoque and is supposed to be the sportier, growlier model, more agile and more ready to fight. The DB11 is more prone to rely on diplomacy to make its point.
Then there is the body. You certainly can’t complain about the beautiful body. This look is an evolution of decades of sculptural fluidity that has melted across drawing boards in Gaydon, Warwickshire, since Henrik Fisker first wandered into the place and started penning shapes. Those massive haunches that conceal the rear wheels are blended perfectly into the flowing sides and slitheringly sloping hood.
So you have a beautiful body and a powerful engine. You have the best of both worlds, right? Let’s check it out.
Almost as soon as the polite young man in the face mask and rubber gloves dropped it off, detailing to me just exactly how clean it was inside and out, I took the Vantage out for a drive. Rather than a pleasant drive through the suburbs to my rental desk in San Marino, a California town that more or less expects to see Astons Martin every day, the car willed itself—willed itself, I tell you—directly to Angeles Crest Highway. I was powerless to stop it. I was going to go into the office and write more about crossover utility vehicles, I swear I was, but the next thing I knew I was up on ACH dodging squirrels and clipping apexes.
And? Well, I was very happy to be doing so. While it still may be a little too AMG-jumpy around town—just a little, barely, really—in a proper curvy environment the Aston Martin Vantage comes alive. You don’t notice any jumpy anything (except the squirrels) up on Angeles Crest. In fact, you appreciate the power and the immediacy of the response from all the controls. And there is response, whoo doggies, as they say in Affalterbach.
Steering wheel-mounted buttons allow you to play around with just how quick and sharp the Vantage throttle and steering react. A button on the right tunes the exhaust note, throttle response and shift speed. The left-mounted button adjusts the shocks. Most might assume that cranking both down to maximum would result in the fastest drive. But as is often the case in these things, a little softness helps keep the 255/40 front and 295/35 rear Pirelli P Zeros planted on the ground. I’m not a fan of announcing my presence via loud blattering exhaust notes, either, so rather than have the Aston in track mode, I tried sport-plus or even just sport, the lowest setting. Likewise, the shocks weren’t always best-suited to ACH’s slightly bumpy pavement in the hardest setting. Indeed, I ultimately might have preferred the softest of the three settings even up here, where they just repaved the whole thing about 10 or so years ago. Maybe on a billiard table you could get away with the harshest settings.
In a straight line the Vantage manages 0-60 in 3.5 seconds with my ZF automatic transmission. The manual trans is a half-second slower. Top speed is 195 mph in auto, 200 in stick. All that aluminum helps. Vantage weight is 3,373 pounds dry, which could be 3,500 or so pounds when you add gas, oil and a few other fluids you need to make the car not melt.
So what does this compete against, anyway? With a starting price of $156,081, or $185,916 as-tested, the Vantage’s most obvious competitor is its second cousin (just like Georg Ludwig!) the AMG GT, which starts at $115,900 and tops out at $189,750 for the AMG GT Roadster. Now, I’m not even British, but I think the Aston Martin looks way better than the AMG version. But looks are subjective, so pick the one you like. You can also look at the McLaren GT, a car made more for touring than for track. The McLaren GT weighs maybe 100 to 200 pounds less and drives much more like a sports car, but it has a somewhat bulbous hunchback rear and stickers at $213,195. The Bentley Continental GT is much larger, much heavier and much more comfortable for $202,500. The Ferrari 812 Superfast is man-oh-man fast, carries the Ferrari cachet and costs $336,962. Everything else is a sports car, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but just a different class.
Should you buy an Aston Martin Vantage? Yes, of course you should. But you could say the same for all the other GTs against which it competes. It’s the golden age of GTs, but you will have to decide this one on your own, sorry.
2020 Aston Martin Vantage Specs
Base Price: $156,081
Powertrain: 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, eight-speed automatic, RWD
Output: 503 hp @ 6,000 rpm; 505 lb-ft @ 2,000 rpm
Curb Weight: 3,500 lb (AW est)
Fuel Economy (EPA City/Highway/Combined): 20/18/24 mpg
Pros: Beautiful, brawny and British
Cons: Trans shifts clunkily from 1-2
