Roll out the red carpets – the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage is here in Malaysia



Having debuted globally at the tail end of last year, the all-new Aston Martin V8 Vantage is now here in Malaysia, launched at the Aston Martin KL showroom at the Etiqa Twins in Kuala Lumpur.

What you’re looking at is a completely new car, which to me, seems like a complete “rebrand” of a slick and suave face we’ve been so familiar with over the past decade.

That’s right; most of you may not have been aware but the old Vantage, as pretty as it was timeless, was in production for more than 10 years! If the old Vantage looked like a clean-shaven James Bond, this new one looks more like John Wick, with a taste for vengeance.

Name Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo Quadcam V8
Transmission 8-speed ZF automatic
Max Power 510 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Max Torque 685 Nm@ 2,000 – 5,000 rpm
0 to 100 km/h & Top Speed 3.6 seconds / 314 km/h
Price (OTR w/out Insurance) RM1.6 million (after tax before options)

Its new 4.0-litre Quad cam V8 twin-turbo engine sourced from Daimler now makes 510 hp and 685 Nm of torque. Paired with the 8-speed ZF automatic transmission that’s followed by a carbon fibre propeller and an “E-Diff” (a first on an Aston Martin), 0 to 100 km/h is decimated in just 3.6 seconds – side by side with the likes of Lamborghini’s Urus and even the Vantage GT3 race car I drove in Sepang.

While it may look vastly different from the old model, Aston Martin has been subtlev(as they’ve been so well-known for) with the retention of Aston’s signature details. Placed much lower on the front bumper is the signature grille outline that we’ve seen in different Astons over the years; there’s still the extended side mirror arm and flush door handles.

The front bonnet is now much wider, stretching from fender to fender for a clam-shell look, with slimmer LED headlamps to complete a more minimalist front-end. The highlight of the side profile are the new side gills – redesigned from classy to aggressive – along with 20-inch Y-spoke wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/40 Front 295/35 Rear).

Behind those wheels are 6-pot calipers in the front, with a 4-pot pair at the back and together, the ensemble sits on an Adaptive Damping System with Skyhook Technology. The rear end is just pure pornography; no matter how you look at it, whether from a peep hole or upside down, it’s just drop dead gorgeous.

Inside, you get a newly-designed instrument cluster panel that looks like a hawk spreading its wings, although if I may speak freely, the display in itself does seem a little small from where I’m sitting.

Elsewhere there’s a flat-bottomed steering wheel with paddle shifters and two crucial buttons – one on each side – a Sport button that allows you to choose from three different drive modes (Sport, Sport + and Track) and another to fiddle with the Adaptive Damping System.

There may be a button overload just under the 8-inch LCD display but look closely and you’d realise how they’re all conveniently placed and the horizontal(ish) drive controls is actually a lot easier to get used to than it looks. Take a look at the touchpad, looks familiar to you?

The rest of the interior, is as customisable as a tailored suit. Don’t like the colour/material combination you see here? Just jot down more zeros on that cheque and you can have it as flamboyant as you want it to be.


IMAGE GALLERY