The Aston Martin V8 Vantage was first seen at the Geneva motorshow. The two seat, two door coupe has a bonded aluminium structure for strength and lightness. The 4.38m-long coupe has a hatchback-style tailgate for practicality, with a large luggage shelf behind the seats.
The car is powered by a 4.3-litre quad-cam 32-valve V8 with 380bhp at 7000rpm, 302lb ft at 5000rpm, unique to Aston Martin - so far - and featuring race-style dry sump lubrication, which enables it to be mounted low to lower the centre of gravity. The car can race from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds. The engine is assembled by hand at the AM facility in Cologne, Germany, which also builds the V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish. It is front mid-mounted with a transaxle, allowing for the six-speed manual transmission to be mounted at the rear, giving a 49:51 front:rear weight distribution. The engine is looslely related to the 4.2 litre unit in the current Jaguar XJ and XK versions.
The V8 Vantage will cost £79,000 or 104,000 Euros when it goes on sale towards the end of summer 2005 and is expected to rival the Porsche 911
