Aston Martin Vantage 2025 – Review
By Liam Bird
I once got hopelessly lost in an Aston Martin Vantage. A now old friend and fellow motor-noter (I’m talking about the day we first met) and I were hacking around the Cotswolds in a Vantage N420 – a V8 Vantage special edition inspired by the Nürburgring – nattering, as you do, about everything and anything but where it was we were meant to be going. Such was the sense of occasion – I’d never sat in an Aston Martin before, let alone driven one – that come my shift as navigator, my usually well-honed map-reading skills instantly evaporated. To make matters worse, we were well past where we should’ve turned – now was it right or left? – before we even noticed our unscheduled excursion.
When we did, eventually, arrive back at Aston Martin’s Gaydon HQ, somewhat red-faced and significantly more than just fashionably late, I genuinely thought this motoring writing thing of mine was over before it had really begun. Instead, I was given lunch and a reassuring smile, told “these things happen all the time”, and then handed the keys to what was then the current model DBS. Quite why I wasn’t shown the tradesman’s exit quick-smart, I’ll never know.
“An altogether different beast”
That was in 2011, when Aston Martin would have charged you £96,995 for their 420bhp Vantage flagship. Where such things were permitted, the Vantage N420’s 4.7-litre V8 and six-speed automated manual gearbox would’ve shot you to 60mph in a then-astonishing 4.9 seconds, before topping out – so Aston Martin claimed – at 180mph. Fuel consumption was 21.4mpg combined, and the stiff suspension set-up was notable, as my co-driver once wrote, for its ability to cause ‘numb bum’ syndrome. Satellite navigation wasn’t an option.
Fast forward to 2025, and Aston Martin’s Vantage – still the entry-level Aston (if it can ever be called such a thing) – is an altogether different beast. Power now comes from an AMG-sourced – albeit heavily Aston Martin-fettled – twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, which produces 656bhp and 590lb ft of torque; the biggest-ever jump in power and torque compared to the model it succeeds. Those increases – 155PS and 115Nm – equate to gains of 30% and 15% respectively.
“Top speed is 202mph”
Drive still goes to the rear wheels – only now it’s through a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox (with paddle shifters). 0–62mph takes just 3.5 seconds, and should you ever be allowed, top speed is 202mph. Combined mpg – should you be the type of supercar owner to worry about the cost of super-unleaded – is claimed to be 23.3.
The asking price: £165,000. That’s before you start adding options. Does anybody ever buy a bog-standard, base-spec Aston Martin? Do Aston Martin even sell steel wheels..? I’m joking, of course.
Where once an Aston Martin did – dare I say it? – feel a bit kit-car-like in places (Ford switchgear, clunky infotainment, aftermarket stereo, the occasional faint whiff of glue), Aston Martin’s new chief engineer, Simon Newton – ex-Lotus, Bentley and Faraday Future – has spent the last two years focusing on making everything best-in-class, whilst simultaneously securing key hardware, the new Vantage’s bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 5S tyres and Bilstein DTX dampers included.
“An incredibly attractive car”
Underpinning the Vantage is an evolution of Aston’s bonded aluminium platform, with seven per cent more torsional rigidity, perfect 50:50 weight distribution, and new chassis control software that pre-empts rather than merely reacts. It tweaks the e-diff, the dampers, and the new nine-stage traction control system.
As for the bits you can see, there’s no escaping the Vantage’s new, more muscular, brawnier exterior. Make no mistake, it’s still an incredibly attractive car – yet the bodywork now seems to have been stretched over a far more toned structure. The most noticeable – nay, vast – improvement, however, has taken place inside.
As I mentioned before, Aston Martin cabins of old – despite being beautifully trimmed in the softest of leathers – could sometimes feel like a collection of bits you’d seen somewhere else, and in someone else’s car. That’s certainly no longer the case. The Vantage now boasts an interior that makes you question whether Porsche’s 911 really is still the default choice, and confirms your suspicion that Ferrari have been overcharging everyone for longer than they care to admit.
“Buttons and dials”
Aston Martin’s design team, thankfully, still believes in providing physical buttons and dials. The little grooved rollers that adjust temperature, fan speed, and audio volume are wonderfully tactile – not to mention delightfully straightforward to operate when also trying to manage over 650bhp. There are also proper buttons on the wide transmission tunnel for selecting driving modes, plus a large rectangular one to put the gearbox into manual mode.
I’m still not a fan of the Vantage’s digital dashboard display – I much preferred the original Vantage’s analogue dials. But, alas, find me a car – any car – these days where you couldn’t say the same.
“Feels all-of-piece”
Nostalgia and niggles aside, I’m happy to report the Vantage drives beautifully. There’s a heft to it, yet a delicacy too. You can choose to slip along at a fair old lick in eighth gear, the V8 gently burbling as you soak up the miles with the suspension in its softest setting. Or you can play the GT racer champ and make the chassis, suspension, and engine really work for their keep. The Vantage seems happy playing either role.
The optional carbon-fibre-backed bucket seats won’t give you a numb bum – they are surprisingly comfortable, if a tad snug for those fuller of frame – and there’s room enough beneath the Vantage’s rear hatch for more than just a long weekend’s luggage.
It’s taken a long time, but the Vantage now, finally, feels all of a piece, rather than just a collection of parts brought together at Gaydon in a worthy – albeit slightly vain – attempt to tempt buyers away from the likes of Porsche, McLaren, and one or two of the Italian brands. The Vantage now feels like the car it should have always been – and it’s all the better for being so.
This is a car you could happily lose yourself in time and time again.
Aston Martin Vantage
Engine: 3,982cc 32V Twin-turbo V8. Petrol
Transmission: 8-speed automatic with manual mode. Rear wheel drive.
Power: 656 bhp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 590 lbft @ 2,750 – 6,000 rpm
0-62 MPH: 3.5 Sec
Max Speed: 202 mph
CO2: 274 g/km (combined)
MPG: 23.3 (combined)
Price: from £165,000 (before options)
