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F1-UPMANSHIP

The Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition is turning heads on and off the track.

IT IS HUMAN NATURE that if a product is offered in multiple grades, no-one will want to be seen to have bought the cheapest one.

So while you might think a ‘standard’ Aston Martin Vantage is the car of your dreams, I’m sorry to say someone is going to gazump you with the even flasher Vantage F1 Edition.

That’s the way it goes in the top-end car business.

Virtually no super-luxury or super-sports car is sold in standard specification.

Premium, personalisation and limited editions are the name of the game if you want real exclusivity.

And that counts for a lot, because surely no-one buys such cars for just their performance or luxury.

Happily, the Vantage F1 Edition isn’t some marketing special tricked-up with leftovers from the parts bin.

It’s a permanent, premium addition to the range with a $325,876 list price, $26,414 more than an ‘ordinary’ Vantage coupe.

Considering the enhancements on this model, the extra money appears reasonable value. WORDS CHRIS NIXON

‘F1’ means what it says.

You will see this car performing official Safety Car duties in the Formula 1 World Championship*, (*The Aston Martin and the Mercedes-AMG appear at alternate F1 rounds), complementing Aston Martin’s participation as a team.

Prestige doesn’t come much better than driving a replica of the F1 Safety Car, right down to the satin green paintwork, if you choose it.

The Vantage is the least expensive and most sporting model in the range of front-engine Aston Martin cars.

Think of it as an alternative to the Porsche 911, widely considered the benchmark in this category.

For the F1, Aston Martin firstly tweaked the power of the Mercedes AMG-based, twin-turbo 4.0 litre V8 to 393 kiloWatts.

Torque output is unchanged at 685 Newtonmetres, but it is now delivered over a broader rev range to make the car more flexible.

This uprated performance surely helps when you’re pacing a field of impatient, snarling Formula 1 cars, for which 200 kmh is barely idling.

True – after the Australian Grand Prix last April, some F1 drivers complained the Vantage wasn’t fast enough.

Next came the gearbox.

The 8-speed automatic ZF unit changes gears faster, minimising any loss of momentum and giving the driver a more precise feel through the fingertip paddle shifters.

Unusually, the gearbox is mounted not behind the engine but on the front of the rear-axle differential.

As a result, front-rear distribution of the Vantage’s 1570 kg kerb weight is 50:50, which race drivers will confirm is the perfect balance for accurate, high-speed cornering.

There’s been work on the steering, suspension and wheels too.

The car turns into corners more directly and rides bumps and crests better.

Wheels have been increased to 21 inches and wear bespoke Pirelli tyres.

Aerodynamics come next.

Most obviously, the sleek Vantage now sports a rear wing for the first time.

At the front it’s complemented by a full-width splitter, small dive planes on the corners and underbody turning vanes.

All contribute to an extra 200 kg downforce at the F1 Edition’s 314 kmh top speed.

Finally, the F1 Edition offers a comely visual makeover.

Our test example was painted in the same green as the Formula 1 race car, with a wide grey central stripe from nose to tail.

Inside, the grey Alcantara seats featured a lime-green stripe and stitching.

Lairy, yes, but if you’re pretending to be an F1 Safety Car driver who’s going to criticise?

The seat and steering wheel are positioned perfectly to start the test drive.

The controls are conventional enough and will not trouble a driver of any level, although they are tightly packed on the centre console and frankly the layout looks a little dated.

Driving the F1 Edition means pleasure and pain.

It’s exciting, of course, but that’s tempered with a visceral anxiety about steering something almost 2.2 metres wide, extremely powerful and extremely expensive.

The car’s bulk shrinks around you with familiarity.

The Vantage is docile at town speeds, although the driver is aware constantly of avoiding kerbs, potholes, sharp road edges and those splitter-scraping wheel stops in parking bays.

Fast and winding roads are the Aston’s home ground.

The Mercedes AMG V8, one of the best highperformance engines around, responds superbly and lets rip a mighty noise the faster it runs.

Engine and damper modes offer Sport, Sport+ and Track settings.

Handling in corners is vice-free and tenacious, but the levels are so high they cannot be explored anywhere except on a race track in the hands of skilled drivers.

For ordinary pedallers like me, it’s nonetheless a thrill to test my own limits – and survive – in such an exotic car.

The F1 Edition gives the Vantage a fresh stake in the sports car game after three years in production.

The ‘standard’ Vantage remains on sale, but now there is also a version that exploits the car’s innate qualities with a comprehensive range of enhancements that truly make a difference.

EV Update

A BRIEF GUIDE to the three types of electric-powered vehicles.

HYBRID: The oldest and most numerous type, popularised over 25 years by Toyota and Lexus.

A conventional engine drives the car and also charges a battery for an electric motor that provides alternative or supplementary power at low speeds and for short distances.

Around-town petrol consumption and emissions are reduced.

PLUG-IN HYBRID: A bigger battery can be charged on the move by the conventional engine or by a wall socket, giving greater electric-only range of around 50 kms.

Around-town petrol consumption and emissions are reduced.

Like the Hybrid, there are no limits on range when the petrol engine takes over from the electric.

FULL ELECTRIC: These cars rely completely on large batteries connected to a charging point, which can take from minutes to hours to complete its job.

Range anxiety is disappearing as some EVs can drive for up to 500 kms and more charging points are installed around the country.

EVs offer high performance and low running and maintenance costs, helping to offset high purchase prices.

Pay to use

THE BUSINESS MODEL that charges monthly rent to stream TV shows and movies into your loungeroom is heading to your garage.

BMW recently introduced its ConnectedDrive Store to Australia and other makes are certain to follow.

The concept: So many dynamic and comfort features of the modern car are computer-controlled that they can be simply switched on or off.

BMW builds-in a list of these features with its cars and charges a flat amount or a monthly subscription to enable them by remotely unlocking the software.

Remote start? Click, ker-ching. Adaptive suspensipn? Click, ker-ching. Navigation update? Click, ker-ching. And so on.

The concept may appeal to people who own their cars for relatively short terms, such as business users, but may concern those who prefer to own their cars outright and for a longer term.

When is your car not your own? (Answered easily by those on leasing deals – never.)

Concern about the maker remotely disabling features when subscriptions are in default is obvious.

BMW says the system will allow second-hand or subsequent owners to re-configure cars to their preference.

In America, Tesla has previously charged for power upgrades, although it is understood to have wound back the practice.