Richard Hammond Test Drives the Aston Martin Vantage | The Grand Tour

Aston Martin has made a new car. And Richard Hammond is going to tell us. This is the new V8 Vantage. And it's not an ugly car. I do not like the color. If your urine is this color, call the doctor, but the shape is beautiful. This is a jaw-dropping and often photographed superstar car. For the smallest, most agile and sporty Aston Martin, it's also fast. Zero to 90 takes 3.5 seconds. This is the problem. Astons have always been beautiful and fast in a straight line. When you build a sports car, that's the easy part. Only when you looked deeper at the parts you couldn't see did they seem to have fallen short in the past.

The problem is that the company never had the money or manpower of Porsche or Ferrari. You feel that in their cars. They didn't feel as well made or as well designed as the competition. They were bought mainly by people who listened to their hearts and not their heads. Your heart says, "I want an Aston," even though your head says, "That door doesn't fit right." We start inside. You will usually be able to check immediately if it has been done. It's good news here. Everything you see is new. Reheated leftovers from a previous model are not permitted.

Everything seems to be well done. This is also allowed on a car that weighs 121,000 pounds. When you press the electric height adjustment, you have the lowest driving position of any car I've been in. I'm not saying it's high, but this is low. As if he were seven years old. Then we have the engine. He is German. Especially from Mercedes' AMG department. This is causing Brexiteers to choke on their real ale. But look at it this way. Why spend money building a run-of-the-mill motor when you can buy a brilliant one? Also, this image says: "Look, someone from Aston Martin has checked it." Probably to see if those lazy German technicians did it right.

In an AMG this engine does not make this noise. In a Merc it sounds heavy. But Aston Martin has added some British gravel. It's beautiful, fast, melodic and feels well constructed. Let's see what it does. It works. This controls your power. Truly and truly. It was made by a guy who did suspension for Lotus. And that shows. This feels fantastic. He knows what he wants to be. There is no weak GT mode like on the DB11. You start with Sport mode. Then you have Sport Plus and Track. I want that. It's a sports car. I don't want flaccid mode.