Car news / 2008 Aston Martin Vantage N400 |
01.04.2008
2008 Aston Martin Vantage N400Car News /
At Germany"s Nürburgring circuit, production-car-based race cars and racing-derived road-car specials are traditionally Porsche"s preserve. These days, Porsche is right in Aston Martin"s gun sights, so it"s no surprise to find all three--the "Ring, production-car racing and special editions--as inspiration for a new Vantage model, the N400.
That"s N for Nürburgring and 400 for horsepower, up by 20 hp over the standard Vantage. Each is adopted from the roll-cage-and-fire-extinguisher-equipped Vantages that acquitted themselves with distinction in 24-hour races at the infamous 73-corner circuit in the Eifel Mountains.
Of course, the Vantage"s more natural habitat is the Pacific Coast Highway or Britain"s M1 motorway, where it performs as Aston"s 911 wannabe--an accessible, everyday supercar with parking-lot-friendly dimensions and visibility.
What the N400 adds to the Vantage"s highly desirable package is a more focused chassis, a stronger engine and questionable one-off graphics. (What the heck is an embroidered Nordschleife map doing on an Aston"s armrest?)
The N400 is the best-driving Vantage, which makes it a highly desirable special edition and worth sweet-talking your dealer to secure a place on the waiting list.
Thanks to springs stiffened 40 percent in front and 30 percent in back, plus a larger-diameter rear antiroll bar, the N400 boasts sharper handling and more eager turn-in, both of which increase cornering confidence.
The stiffer low-speed ride might get you thinking that the chassis will morph into a rock-hard tooth rattler at high speed, but the opposite is true. At speed over a challenging road, the N400 feels beautifully connected to the tarmac and never overly harsh. Perhaps the best news is that this setup is the core of a sports package that any Vantage buyer can order from late-summer production.
The N400"s engine tweaks ought to be more widely available, too. These are limited to a remapped ignition and freer-flowing air intakes borrowed from the DBS. But they combine to turn the cultured 4.3-liter V8 into a more hard-core unit that revs more crisply and enthusiastically eyes the redline.
Not quite so impressive is the paddle-shift gearbox, which Aston dubs Sportshift. It"s a good mix of manual control and automatic ease of use, but, like most hybrid technologies, it doesn"t do either particularly well, and the slurred changes are slow and crude at times. It"s better to opt for the manual and save yourself $4,000.
Of course, there"s another reason to buy the N400: to stand out from the crowd (if you"re lucky enough to roll in a crowd that considers Astons ubiquitous). There are three color options: two subtle metallic shades and the outrageous orange of our test car. This color turns the N400 into the most noticed Aston Martin we"ve ever driven, an unfortunate fact that under-sells the significant technical improvements wrought on Aston"s best seller.
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