You did not think that Aston Martin would spend all the time, money and effort to convert the Vantage into an F1 safety car – by adding power, a large wing and redoing the chassis / suspension – and not for sale to the general public. , have you? Okay, because that’s exactly what it’s done.
Greet the Vantage F1 Edition – a version of the V1 safety car specification Vantage. It costs from £ 142,000, about £ 20,000 more than a normal Vantage, and is currently on sale. It is available as a Coupe or a Roadster, and first customers should get their cars in May.
We are told that the F1 edition is “the most track-oriented production to date”, and that the main aim during its development was “to significantly improve the performance of the lap time … without compromising its ability on the road to lose “and” without the fitting of aggressive lane-optimized tires “.
The 4.0-liter V8-derived V8 is from 503 to 528 hp higher. The torque is the same as before at 505 lb ft, but now the peak is “sustained longer to further increase the mobility and urgency in gear”. The eight-speed motor was raised to reduce lap times and ‘increase the sense of directness and precision’. And no, you can not have the Vantage AMR seven-speed manual.
Structural stiffness is higher, while processed dampers should provide better body control over crests and high-speed compressions without a ‘low-speed compliance’. The spring speed varies, the handlebars have been adjusted for a better feel and there is a new 21-inch alloy shoe with special Pirelli rubber. The aero kit, including the large spoiler and the new front splitter, adds 200kg of downward force at top speed.
Aston’s distinctive Racing Green color scheme – as used by the company’s F1 safety car and the F1 team – is available in gloss or matte finish. You can have a different color if you prefer. Inside there is leather towing and Alcantara with a choice of brightly colored contrasting stripes.
It’s the first of Aston’s ‘core models’ to ‘benefit from direct input’ from Aston’s new boss Tobias Moers. On the Vantage F1 edition, he said: “It had to be a true athlete: more powerful; rats; more immediate and more exciting to drive. And – of course – faster and more capable in a racetrack environment. I set the engineering team a difficult target because I insisted that the performance increase is the result of real improvements in the dynamics of the car, and not by fitting tires that are optimized on the track. ”