2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Review

A top-down winter drive through Provence and up to the snow-swept highlands of

the Midi Pyrenees in Aston Martin's V8 Vantage Roadster is a mixed blessing. The roads are smooth, narrow two-lanes that climb and fall and sweep through postcard landscapes. Blind corners over crests and dense little woods are everywhere. Encountering traffic is a terror; there is no berm. The blacktop has a square shoulder at the edge of an 18-inch drop into a stone-lined gutter—for miles.

The Vantage is the right answer. Neither darty nor overly sensitive, it is a sports car in a comfort zone. The steering is precise and friendly. No surprises; except the truck on the centerline coming over the upcoming crest that requires a quick and accurate response to save the mirror and avoid the short flight to the bottom of the ditch. While the Aston's set of balanced, dynamic compromises leaves the steering a little less than race-car-like, few sports cars offer that kind of confidence.

When the road is clear and the scenery goes into the distance, the response is immediate and the sound is worth the trip. Under 4,000 revs, at even

throttle, the 4.3-liter, 32-valve V8 offers a constant, atmospheric rumble. With road and throttle both open the sound explodes, as the exhaust re-routs through the muffler boxes and finds a much more direct route to your ears. It is a stirring thing. The satisfying voice of an engine created to sing in higher octaves.

Speed builds quickly. Zero to 60 is accomplished in 5 seconds, but an overtaking 60 to 80 in third seems even quicker. The Graziano six-speed transaxle can be had with either a paddle set or a central stick, which includes an electro-hydraulic clutch or a left-foot pedal, respectively, and both are satisfying in different ways. There is a certain satisfaction in making a flawless gear change with feet and hands all involved, but these latest automatic clutches with electronic rev-matching down changes are a joy to experience. And when they are accomplished more quickly than you can detach your fingers from the wheel it seems foolish now to even consider that last-century talent.

What we will not relinquish is the perfect alignments of the ancient art of ergonomics. With one's bottom securely located between two well-cushioned side bolsters, both feet able to do their respective work without undo stress, and hands on (or about) three and nine with elbows loose enough for a rapid reach when called for, all is well with the driving world.

While Ettore Bugatti famously remarked to a driver's complaint that his cars were meant to go, not to stop, the engineering staff of Aston Martin has accomplished the Vantage advantage of forward performance, and a satisfying compromise between breathtaking deceleration and enough pedal cushion to easily modulate the rate. Constant regular use at high speed brought none of the last-century degradation of stopping power.

Supporting those brakes are double wishbones at all four corners, allowing very precise geometry and an unsprung weight that leaves the dampers less work to do when the road becomes a challenge. All the current, electronic nannies are in place for the overzealous and over esteemed, but the incredible level of grip suggests if it all lets go (we are told it is a gentle transition) it will be at an astonishing load of Gs, and you better have all your talent carefully focused. The way the car arrives, the geometry and alignments are as near perfect as we amateurs are likely to know how to use. If the new N24 racing version of the coupe is better, it must be positively brilliant.

Aston has given high honor to Lionel Martin's 1913 sports car concept, “a car that works like a Bugatti and is finished like a Rolls.” The quality of the leather assembly and the adjoining uncovered surfaces is superb. Stitches are aligned on hand-fed machines and flawlessly applied. It is all done in-house, but one could easily be convinced the craftsmen and women were trained by the masters of the double R. The roadster's interior is both comfortable for a full day's high-speed motoring and satisfying to examine

while the fuel tank is filling. If the weather begins to look iffy, and your driving companion has a valuable coif, the folding top comes out of its compact bin (it takes nothing from the luggage space) and locks into place in about 20 seconds. Climbing Mont Ventoux through the 50-knot gusts of freezing atmosphere, we controlled the chill by simply raising the windows and dialing up the heat and fan. A cleverly designed windbreak between the seats eliminated any rear entry of the high-altitude cold.

The motoring world is not awash in V8 Vantage coupes because the volumes are limited and, for reasons unexplained, the demand is not great. However, the folding-top version effectively adds a luster to the idea of the V8 Vantage, whether the buyer is a sun worshiper or not. Unlike some Aston convertibles of the past, this makes no pretense of being a family car. It is a sports car for the 21st century. It is fun to drive and one might expect it to be easy to live with. Once the useful quality of the car-as-daily-driver is more widely known, Aston will likely have to adjust its production plans to meet demand. Mr. Martin, who, a century ago owned the company that bears his name for less than five years, would be pleased.