New Aston Martin Vantage 2024 review: Britain's answer to the Porsche 911 Turbo

Verdict

Transformed in more areas than one, the updated Aston Martin Vantage is faster and more engaging than before, while also being infinitely easier to live with. In fact, that revised infotainment system and accompanying centre stack will arguably make more difference to most than the power boost or faster shift times – especially to those who intend to use their car every day. A Porsche 911 Turbo is a simpler car to tame, but it can’t challenge the Aston for sense of occasion.

Some people say all Aston Martins look the same. But while there may be visual similarities between the models, there are significant differences under the skin – and doubly so with this latest Aston Martin Vantage.

A light nip and tuck does allow the new car to stand apart from the old one, but beneath the metal sits a new architecture that gives the revised two-seat sports car a significant boost in power and performance. Yet the extra 153bhp and 116Nm (producing new totals of 656bhp and 800Nm) are only part of the story.

This new Vantage has, put simply, undergone more changes than we’re able to list in a sensibly sized car review. There’s pair of larger turbochargers, for example, plus reprofiled camshafts and optimised cooling. The transmission has been tuned for faster shifts and greater in-gear punch, with a longer final drive ratio. The track has been widened by 30mm, with a repositioned front chassis member and engine brace, and redesigned strengthening panels under both axles.

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The overall effect is a car that feels faster in almost every situation than it did before. The base engine has incredible muscle. There’s the same brutish character and bombastic soundtrack we’ve come to expect from the AMG-borrowed twin-turbo V8, but with even greater flexibility. That revised eight-speed ZF transmission works its magic throughout the rev range, firing home rapid changes when you’re on it, and slurring things nicely when you’re not.

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If you do choose to push on, this new Aston Martin Vantage remains a car that demands your complete concentration and respect. A Porsche 911 Turbo, while even faster than the Aston, is a car you’ll feel more comfortable driving at eight or nine-tenths, thanks largely to its confidence-inducing all-wheel drive system. But get it right and the Vantage is more rewarding, more feelsome; the damping has been optimised to transmit more of what’s going on beneath you but without ever feeling harsh or uncomfortable. The engineers claim the car “breathes with the road” – a quality our southern-Spanish test route did a great job of demonstrating.

We also drove the new Vantage on the fast yet technical Monteblanco circuit, which only further emphasised the updated car’s wider operating window. Here, owners can cycle through the new Adjustable Traction Control (ATC) system’s eight settings, allowing for varying levels of slip – from all on, to everything off. 

But even leaving the baby Aston in its ‘Sport+’ or ‘Track’ mode (there’s also ‘Sport’ and a new ‘Wet’ setting), it feels beautifully fluid, tucking in and pointing exactly where you want it to before slingshotting out of tight corners. Here, our car’s optional ceramic brakes performed for lap after lap; we’ve no doubt they had plenty left to give even after 20 minutes driving flat out – regularly slowing the car from 160mph-plus at the end of the main straight.

Yet as important as these myriad changes will inevitably be to potential customers, one of the biggest complaints of the outgoing car was its interior – specifically the ageing infotainment system. We’re pleased to report, therefore, that the new Aston Martin Vantage makes even bigger leaps in this department than it does on the road or track.

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Gone is the old-school Mercedes-sourced screen and centre stack, replaced by a slick, touch-operated display with built-in navigation and wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity (no Android Auto, sorry) – a unit first seen in the DB12. It looks cleaner within the dashboard, and is infinitely sharper when it comes to graphics, content and menu layout; we reckon old Vantage owners could quite rightly feel the need to upgrade their current car on the strength of this aspect alone.

The screen itself sits above a completely redesigned centre console. And again, user experience has been placed at the fore with physical buttons for the climate control, flanking a circular starter button and a more subtle (but easier to use) gear selector. An array of extra switches underneath control things like the sports exhaust and damping, as well as the heated and (when specified) ventilated seats.

Quality takes a leap in the right direction, as well. The materials used feel high-end, and even the standard leather sports seats (carbon-fibre buckets are an option) are supportive and perfectly adjustable. The Vantage is a strict two-seater, however; there’s a bit of storage behind the driver and passenger, and the boot remains a usable shape and size.

All cars get 21-inch wheels, matrix LED lights, 360-degree cameras and twin screens inside. There are 21 colours to choose from, but if that’s not enough then the maker’s Q by Aston Martin department will let your imagination run wild. We managed to specify some truly horrific combinations that would prove money really can’t buy taste if a serious buyer followed suit.