Aston Martin goes goth with darkly glamorous new Vantage S

The Aston Martin Vantage isn’t precisely wanting horsepower, however variants are what prospects crave and variants are what they shall obtain, therefore the arrival of the brand new Vantage S in each coupé and Roadster kind. This technique of remodeling particular person mannequin traces into a various number of in a different way pitched machines may be very a lot of CEO Adrian Hallmark’s making.

It’s an method Hallmark honed at Bentley, and right here he causes that the standard Aston buyer is the type of automotive purchaser who begins hankering after one thing new each 18 months or so. If their favoured model doesn’t have brighter, shinier and higher handy, they’ll quickly go elsewhere. Therefore DBX S and now Vantage S, each following the well-trodden use of the ‘S’ suffix to indicate a louder, quicker, sharper variant.

When it comes to uncooked numbers, the most recent Vantage affords solely marginal positive aspects over its ‘S’-less sibling. When introduced again in February 2024 as a virtually all-new mannequin, the Vantage put out 665 PS from its twin-turbo V8. That powertrain stays in place, however Aston has squeezed a couple of extra PS from the block to make a complete output of 680 PS.

Whereas that makes for an imperceptible improve in acceleration (0-60mph is simply 0.1 second quicker than the unique automotive) and no change to the 202mph prime velocity, there have been some stronger adjustments beneath the pores and skin. The chassis has been tweaked to make the Vantage S a extra related, driver-focused automotive. These adjustments can be all however invisible until you’re pushing laborious on a devoted monitor, as will the newly calibrated throttle pedal. Briefly, to get the perfect from the S, you’ll have to have put in time on the common automotive and understand it inside out.

A number of the shifts in chassis design are fairly important, together with the way in which the rear subframe is now instantly mounted to the physique, as an alternative of utilizing rubber bushes, in addition to firmer and stiffer dampers and element mountings. The brand new rear spoiler provides considerably to the downforce, additional reinforcing this automotive’s standing as the final word track-going modern Aston.

The Vantage S bears a couple of refined styling adjustments, principally geared toward patrons who need their views inside and outside flippantly shaken up. New vents and ‘S’ badges mark the automotive out for different connoisseurs, whereas the darkish inside is wrapped in black Alcantara and leather-based for a racer-goth aesthetic.

The brand new Vantage S will make its world dynamic debut on the 2025 Goodwood Competition of Velocity, with the primary buyer automobiles arriving in This fall 2025.

Aston Martin Vantage S, extra data at AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin