With the new Formula One season beginning this weekend just passed in Bahrain, it was wonderful to see the return of Aston Martin after 60 years away from the sport. What is equally as exciting however is that with Aston now joining Mercedes as an F1 safety car, they have also very kindly decided to give us a road going version as well. The Vantage Formula 1 Edition.
Yes the aptly named Vantage Formula 1 Edition features some substantial upgrades, noticeably the aerodynamics, to give it the downforce needed to hurtle round the twists and turns of the Formula 1 circuits very nicely indeed. A new front splitter and canards, the bold, sharp rear wing, along with some changes under the body, all work in unison to increases the cars downforce by an incredible 441 pounds as it hammers round the tracks.
Under the hood there are some very exciting changes too. This particular Vantage, with it’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre AMG V8 engine, now produces 527 horsepower, 24bhp more than the standard version. The cars torque stays at 505 pound-feet, along with an eight speed automatic gearbox which allows for slick, swift shifting. Of course we all want to know how it does a little 0-60mph. Well it will do this in around 3.5 seconds and max out at around 195mph. Not bad. Not bad at all.
If the Aston Martin Vantage Formula 1 is on your radar this year, then you have option of choosing between a coupe and a roadster version. For the coupe you can expect to pay £142,000 for the privilege of owning and driving this little monster, whilst the roadster does not have a price as of yet. Given it rains 90% of the time here in the U.K, we think the coupe is the solid choice.
Aston Martin are now taking orders for the car and you can check it out over on their website here.
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