Didn’t you think that Aston Martin would spend all that time, money and effort turning the Vantage into an F1 safety car – adding power, a big wing and remaking the chassis / suspension – and not putting it up for sale to the general public also, did you? Well, because that is exactly what happens.
Say hello to Vantage F1 Edition – a road version of Vantage with specifications for F1 safety cars. It costs from £ 142,000, about £ 20,000 more than a normal Vantage, and is now on sale. It is available as a Coupe or Roadster, and the first customers are expected to receive their cars in May.
We were told that the F1 Edition “is the most track-focused production Vantage to date”, and that the main objective during its development was “to significantly improve lap time performance … without compromising its capabilities on the road” and “without aggressively optimizing tires”.
The 4.0-liter V8 derived from Mercedes has 503 to 528 hp. The torque is the same as before at 505 lb ft, but now the peak is “sustained longer to further increase tractability and walking urgency”. The eight-speed car has been reinforced to reduce change times and “increase the feeling of openness and precision”. And no, you can’t have the Vantage AMR seven-speed manual.
Structural stiffness has increased, while reworked dampers should give better body control over high-speed crests and compressions without “any deterioration in low-speed compliance”. Spring rates are different, the steering has been re-tuned for a better feel, and new 21-inch alloys are fitted with special Pirelli rubber. The aerodynamic kit, including that big spoiler and new front splitter, adds 200 kg of downforce at top speed.
Aston’s Racing green color scheme – used by the F1 safety car and the company’s F1 team – is available in glossy or matte finishes. You can have another color if you prefer. Inside, there are leather and Alcantara moorings with a choice of brightly colored contrasting stripes.
This is the first of Aston’s ‘flagship’ models to “benefit from the direct contribution” of Aston’s new boss, Tobias Moers. Regarding the Vantage F1 Edition, he said: “I had to be a true athlete: more powerful; more agile; more immediate and more exciting to drive. And – of course – faster and more capable in a race track environment. I set a difficult goal for the engineering team, as I insisted that the performance gains came from genuine improvements in the dynamics of the car, and not from the fitting of tires optimized for the track. “