WHEELS & WATER
F1-UPMANSHIP
The Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition is turning heads on and off the track. WORDS CHRIS NIXON
IT IS HUMAN NATURE that if a product is offered in multiple grades, no-one will want to be seen to have bought the cheapest one. So while you might think a ‘standard’ Aston Martin Vantage is the car of your dreams, I’m sorry to say someone is going to gazump you with the even flasher Vantage F1 Edition. That’s the way it goes in the top-end car business. Virtually no super-luxury or super-sports car is sold in standard specification. Premium, personalisation and limited editions are the name of the game if you want real exclusivity. And that counts for a lot, because surely no-one buys such cars for just their performance or luxury. Happily, the Vantage F1 Edition isn’t some marketing special tricked-up with leftovers from the parts bin. It’s a permanent, premium addition to the range with a $325,876 list price, $26,414 more than an ‘ordinary’ Vantage coupe. Considering the enhancements on this model, the extra money appears reasonable value.
78 covemagazine.com.au
– Issue 92
‘F1’ means what it says. You will see this car performing official Safety Car duties in the Formula 1 World Championship*, (*The Aston Martin and the Mercedes-AMG appear at alternate F1 rounds), complementing Aston Martin’s participation as a team. Prestige doesn’t come much better than driving a replica of the F1 Safety Car, right down to the satin green paintwork, if you choose it. The Vantage is the least expensive and most sporting model in the range of front-engine Aston Martin cars. Think of it as an alternative to the Porsche 911, widely considered the benchmark in this category. For the F1, Aston Martin firstly tweaked the power of the Mercedes AMG-based, twin-turbo 4.0 litre V8 to 393 kiloWatts. Torque output is unchanged at 685 Newtonmetres, but it is now delivered over a broader rev range to make the car more flexible. This uprated performance surely helps when you’re pacing a field of impatient, snarling Formula 1 cars, for which 200 kmh is barely idling.
True – after the Australian Grand Prix last April, some F1 drivers complained the Vantage wasn’t fast enough. Next came the gearbox. The 8-speed automatic ZF unit changes gears faster, minimising any loss of momentum and giving the driver a more precise feel through the fingertip paddle shifters. Unusually, the gearbox is mounted not behind the engine but on the front of the rear-axle differential. As a result, front-rear distribution of the Vantage’s 1570 kg kerb weight is 50:50, which race drivers will confirm is the perfect balance for accurate, high-speed cornering. There’s been work on the steering, suspension and wheels too. The car turns into corners more directly and rides bumps and crests better. Wheels have been increased to 21 inches and wear bespoke Pirelli tyres. Aerodynamics come next. Most obviously, the sleek Vantage now sports a rear wing for the first time.