After a few hundred miles with the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Paddy Comyndecides that the best things do indeed fall off the back of a lorry
MY NEIGHBOURS have always viewed me with a certain amount of suspicion. It started with the constantly different cars arriving in the driveway each week. It would vary from a BMW 7-Series to a Ford Fiesta on any given day. Perhaps I was a drug dealer? Or maybe someone on the run? The curtain twitching continued, until one day one neighbour, who had clearly drawn the short straw was elected to come and investigate. He seemed almost disappointed when I told him the truth.
However, on the Friday of the Bank Holiday, they had cause to be curious again, as a large delivery van meandered its way through the parked cars. Was I getting a new couch? A new TV?
No, it was a new Aston Martin, delivered the same way as if I had ordered it from Argos: squeezed into the back of a covered truck and delivered by a friendly man with a clipboard.
The car was a V8 Vantage - the baby Aston - which has become the most successful model in the brand's history. Ireland has become quite fond of the Aston Martin brand of late - especially the DB9 - so in the interests of science, the new Vantage needed to be tested.
Ask most people in the street what an Aston Martin costs and most will say €250,000 or more, so the V8 Vantage, costing a mere €180,000 is almost a bargain. Ludicrous definitions of bargain and science aside, there is a reason why we are driving this car again, and that is because the Vantage has been in the tuning shop for a mid-life tinker, the results of which are mostly under the skin.
Gone is the 4.3-litre V8, replaced by a new 4.7-litre V8, now with 420bhp, up 11 per cent over the previous unit and with a 15 per cent increase in torque at 470Nm. This means it's quicker, too. The 0-100km/h sprint takes just 4.8 seconds and the top speed is 288km/h.
There is nothing new to the exterior design of the car, but then there really didn't need to be. Compact and poised, the Vantage is a car that looks good from every single angle.
Inside it has improved from the previous model. There is a new centre console made from die cast alloy with a silver graphite finish and gone is the cheap-looking Volvo key.
The latter has been replaced by the ECU (Emotional Control Unit), which is a fob made from glass, polished stainless steel and polycarbonate that you slide into the dashboard to start the car. It is a small detail but one that won't go unnoticed by buyers.
Start up the car and the V8 plays a delightful tune; part snarl, part symphony orchestra. It actually remains quiet for most of your average journey but press the throttle, and like poking an angry dog with a stick, it responds ferociously.
Heading out of the capital, on a Bank Holiday, the Sportshift plays its first important role. In automatic mode the 'box makes light work of stop/start traffic and avoids the dead left leg caused by so many manual supercars. Purists tend to complain about these sort of paddle-shift gearboxes, but the arguments are wearing thin.
The Sportshift features Dual Throttle Map software. When "Comfort" mode is selected, the engine reacts in a smoother manner than the default "Sports" mode which is more aggressive. Heaving rain pummelling the windscreen doesn't encourage much use of the latter, with the rear wheels searching for grip from the massive Bridgestones.
Away from Dublin, with the rain clearing and the roads opening up, Comfort mode is abandoned and the paddles are flicked in earnest. Pow, the car wakes up. That meaty exhaust note is hopelessly addictive and you find yourself dropping gears and indulging in childish burst of acceleration.
The new car has been given suspension revisions which include stiffer spring rates front and rear and there is also improved steering geometry to provide more feel.
In the standard Sports set-up the car struggles a little with pitted roads and isn't quite as forgiving as a BMW M3. But on a better surface, this car really comes into its own. Power delivery from the gorgeous V8 is smooth and potent and the gearbox responds really well, allowing the driver to hold a gear as long as is required. The steering is incredibly accurate, requiring only tiny inputs and responding with an almost clairvoyant amount of feel.
After an overnight in Cork and just one tank of petrol down, we head for Rosslare. The road between Cork and Rosslare is one of Ireland's hidden gems. Beautifully surfaced for the most part, here the Vantage comes into its own, chewing up the kilometres.
A day in and I am really starting to like this car. The cabin is a gorgeous place to be, with superb navigation that pops up from the piano black dashboard, a clever integrated iPod system and excellent climate control. Aside from visibility which can be poor, especially if you are parking someone elses €180,000 car there is little to fault the inside aside from the placement of the electric seat switch which is easily bumped with your left leg. However, boot space is tight, so pack wisely for weekend jaunts to Monaco, or in my case Wexford.
After another fill up, €78.50 from empty, it's on to the ferry to bring the Aston home to Gaydon in Warwickshire. The once-pleasurable experience of England's good roads has long since been ruined by speed cameras every five kilometres and by Britain's fondness for caravan holidays.
You can tell that the Vantage is missing Ireland already, and as I hand back the ECU I'm missing the Vantage too. It's not a car that's suited to our back roads, but on the right one - I'm thinking the south of France more than the south of Ireland - it is a joy. If the badge is a draw, which it should be, then the sense of occasion, the prestige and that superb V8 make it hard to pass.
Factfile
Engine:4735cc V8 putting out 420bhp and 470Nm of torque
Transmission:six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Max speed:290 km/h
0-100km/h:4.7 seconds Fuel economy: 13.2 l/100km (21.4 mpg)
CO2:312g/km (Band G 36 per cent VRT / €2,000 Road Tax)
Prices:Est €180,000