Power tweaks for Aston Martin V8 Vantage

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is now being fitted with a revised engine offering more performance and efficiency.

The 420bhp ‘baby’ Aston Martin V8 Vantage now accelerates from 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 180mph.

This is up on the previous Aston Martin V8 Vantage’s performance figures of 4.8 seconds for 62mph and a top-end 175mph.

These improvements have been made by increasing the size of the previous engine’s cylinders by an additional 400cc.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage’s carbon emissions on the semi-automatic model slashed by 13% from 360g/km to 312g/km - keeping it in tax band G for an annual bill of £400 – thanks to a revised gearbox.

View our Aston Martin Vantage slide show

Fuel economy is also improved with the manual Vantage averaging 20.4mpg (up from 16.4mpg) and the semi-automatic ‘Sportshift’ averaging 21.4mpg (up from 18.7mpg).

Inside, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage gets a new centre console built from die-cast zinc alloy with a graphite silver finish. It also gets a new navigation system with built in hard drive.

The suspension and steering is also revised to improve body control and low speed ride quality.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage was first unveiled as a concept at the 2003 Detroit Motor Show before going on sale in 2005.

It’s the most successful Aston ever with more than 10,000 rolling off the production line in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

And next year should see the launch of the special edition Aston Martin Vantage RS which has a mammoth 600bhp from a tuned version of the DBS’ 6-litre V12 engine.

The new Aston Martin V8 Vantage is on sale now with prices starting from £85,000 for the manual and £87,000 for the semi-auto model.