Aston Adds Race Heritage to V8 Vantage and DB9

Like Ferrari or Porsche, Aston Martin has quite the history in motor racing. It's

long been a participant in the great races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring back in its earlier days. Now that Aston is back on its feet and on the racetrack, it's had quite the bout of success. Celebrating its victories are two special edition versions of two of its popular cars, the DB9 and the V8 Vantage.

First up is the DB9 LM, a vehicle that Aston created to commemorate its victory at this past 24 Hours of Le Mans with the DBR9 race car. Winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a giant deal for automakers as it demonstrates their products longevity and durability in one of the toughest road races around. The road-going car starts out like any other DB9, but comes standard with the Sport package and with the Touchtronic automatic transmission with paddle-shifters. The exterior is finished in Sarthe Silver, with subtle Magnum Silver highlights on the rear crossbar and grille mesh. Bright red has been chosen as a contrast color for the brake calipers on the outside and the fascia trim and numbered sill plaque.

The second car is the V8 Vantage N400, a vehicle named after the V8 Vantage N24 race car's performance at the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring. This

is essentially the road-going version of the race vehicle, including a special sports pack designed to increase the steering's sharpness and the vehicle's responsiveness through firmer springs and dampers and a re-tuned anti-roll bar. The N400 is also the only one of the two to feature enhanced engine tuning, which sees the car's output raised to a full 400 hp from the stock 385, hence the 400 in its name. Gains in torque are also present, rising from 302 lb-ft to 310 lb-ft. These performance enhancements allowed the smallest Aston to lap the Nurburgring circuit in under eight minutes, which is about the same as what a Porsche 911 Carrera S can do.

To go along with these changes are a new set of wheels, and a choice of three different colors, Black, Silver or, the appropriately named Karussell Orange, which is with reference to the famous bowl-like corner on the race track. Besides color, buyers also can choose whether they'd like their N400 as a coupe or as the beautiful roadster, or whether they'd like a manual transmission or the sequential Sportshift transmission.

Those who are attending the Frankfurt auto show in person will also get a chance to see the brand new DBS, the new flagship Aston Martin. With these new models, the DB9 LM and V8 Vantage N400, Aston's product portfolio has been completely revamped for this year.