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Aston Martin Upgrades Vantage's V8



If there is one shortcoming with Aston Martin's V8 Vantage, it isn't to do with its
Bigger engine means more power and torque. (Photo: Aston Martin)
handling, its craftsmanship or its looks, it's in the engine department. At 4.3 liters and with eight cylinders, it sounds like an engine ready to take down the world's finest sports cars, but many have found it lacking in horsepower and torque. 380 horsepower and 302 lb-ft of torque make it a quick car in general, but it pales in comparison to Ferrari's F430 which makes much greater power from the same size engine. Meanwhile, Porsche's Carrera S is quicker than the V8 Vantage, and yet makes less power (and costs quite a bit less too). Likewise, consider BMW's M6, which costs similar money, and yet makes 500 horsepower.

The solution has come in the form of a "technical enhancement" which sees the Jaguar-based, but re-engineered engine grow from 4.3 to 4.7 liters. This
...but fuel consumption and CO2 emissions have gone down. (Photo: Aston Martin)
means that the 4.7-liter Vantage now produces 11-percent more horsepower, while torque grows by a substantial 15-percent. In total, the specification sheet now reads 420 horsepower and 346 lb-ft of torque, and concurrently the 0-60 mph time drops by 0.2 seconds to 4.7 seconds, while in-gear acceleration has been helped by the extra output too. Although the Aston's V8 isn't what you'd call tree-hugging, revisions to the drivetrain, particularly its gearboxes, reduce its fuel consumption and drops C02 emissions from 576 g/mi to 528 g/mi.

Visually, the V8 Vantage goes unchanged, keeping every last line of the stylish, long-nosed, short-tailed body intact. What has changed is the introduction of the ECU (Emotion Control Unit), the silly named keyless access device with pushbutton start that was first seen on the DBS. This year, the entry-level Aston Martin also gains MP3/iPod integration and a built-in hard drive for storing digital music.
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