2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Road Test

Test Vehicle: Aston Martin Vantage 4.7L V8 with 6-speed SpeedShift Auto Gearbox

Pig ugly. What a horrible looking thing. What were they thinking?

All things that you will never hear when talking about any Aston Martin.

The V8 Vantage was introduced to the world in 2006 to partner the already achingly gorgeous DB9. It looks like a shrink wrapped version of the DB9 with the skin pulled even more tightly across the frame to give a more taut looking car. I don't know if it's better looking than the DB9, but it's certainly no worse looking.

Then there's the DB9 convertible. I can't even talk about it. Its the most beautiful thing on 4 wheels in my opinion.

The V8 I was going to drive was a gorgeous green metallic. I believe its called Almond Green, with a great black leather interior, white stitching and a piano black finish on the center console. The car also had a gorgeous set of 20 spoke wheels which added to the taut look of the car.

The interior was finished with a grey alcantara headliner that made the car feel a lot roomier than it actually was. It was roomier than I expected. I'm not the smallest guy in the world, but at 6'1" I had plenty of headroom. The doors open normally but they swing slightly up so that you don't kerb the bottoms of them when getting in - they're called swan doors.  They work, and I wish all cars had them.

I was driving the new SpeedShift transmission with the new upgraded engine for 2009. 420hp with the flappy paddle gearbox available if you wanted it, or simply press the D button on the dashboard and let the Aston's brain take care of the gear changes. If you get bored of the car changing gear, just pull back on one of the leather wrapped aluminum paddles, and you are in control of the gearbox. Unlike the DSG gearbox on the VW family of products, this one stays in the manual mode until you switch back to fully automatic mode by hitting the D button on the dash again, and also stays in the gear that you have selected.  Got to be careful when pulling up to the lights...

After sliding the new crystal block into the slot in the dash instead of a key, and then press the start button, the V8 sprang into life. A low rumble let me know that this thing was ready for business. The dials look fantastic from the driver's seat, with the rev counter and speedo seemingly etched out of a single piece of steel, and the needles swooping round in opposite directions with revs in an anticlockwise direction and speed accumulating clockwise. A large number in the middle of the two dials tells you what gear you are in.

The driving position is perfect with the seats holding you tight enough, even though they feel a little firm. The only odd thing that you have to get used to is the handbrake which is on the left side of the driver's seat on the door sill. It's a beautifully machined piece but you need to pull it up, and then put it down to release the brake. That will take some getting used to, but at least the thing is always in the down position. The wheel is thick but not too thick and feels nice in your hands. I wish the airbag didn't take up so much space, but I'm sure I'll get over that!

A couple of blips to the throttle whetted the appetite to get this thing moving, so I pressed the D button to get the gearbox in the mood, and gently eased the throttle pedal down. The gearbox has a crawl mechanism on it that gently rolls the car forward, and I suspect will hold it on an incline start, but you have to move the throttle pedal more than you think initially to get the car engaged in first gear.

As I moved forward, the wheel felt solid in my hands with great feedback from the wheels. The car feels as taut as it looks and handles very flat. There was little to no roll into the corners and the car felt as solid as a rock. The gear changes were a little hesitant to start, with a noticeable delay in going up the box, but I am going to score that up to the fact that the car was a little cold. The warmer the oil got, the less hesitant the gears felt. I'm sure there is some technique to the throttle and paddle that I didn't know, but it was a little jerky to start. The noise was enough though.

I got fed up with the car changing gear almost immediately, so pulled back on the left paddle, and with a little beefy blip from the engine, a surge of power pushed the car down the road. Its deceptively fast but beautifully soundtracked. I imagine that the stereo in this car will never get used. So much for Bang and Olufsen's hard work

A sharp pull on the right paddle moves you nicely up through the box and keeps the car surging forward. It's a wonderful feeling. When we needed to scrub a couple of MPH off, a dab of the other pedal (only two in this model) removed things fairly quickly. The brakes have a very solid feel.

The pull from the stop lights was a lot of fun, and looking down at the Aston wings on the wheel in front of me just made me smile. If the James Bond theme isn't playing in your head at least once, there's something wrong.

The engine pulls hard, and as I pushed it through a couple of tight corners, there was no body roll at all.  I would love to have opened it up a little more, but the distance between the corners was too short.

Its a wonderful sounding car, with really taut handling.  I'd rather the manual gearbox myself, but the general consensus around the industry is that the flappy paddle gearbox is the way its going.  There is no better looking line up in the industry than Aston Martin and the Vantage lives up to the mark.  I would take it as my daily driver over the 911 if I had to choose, but that would be a wonderful choice to have to make.

2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Base Price: $119,500

Body: 2-door CoupeMechanical Orientation: Rear Wheel Drive

Engine: All alloy quad overhead cam 32 valve 4735cc V8Power: 420 bhp (313 kW / 426 PS)Torque: 470 Nm (346 lb.ft)Transmission: Sportshift4 automated manual transmission (6sp)

Weight: 1630 kg (3595 lb)Wheelbase: 2600 mm (102.5 in)Length: 4380mm (172.5 in)Width: 1865mm (73.5 in)Luggage Capacity: 300 litres (10.6 cu.ft)

0-62 mph (100 km/h): 4.9 secondsTop Speed: 180 mph (290 km/h)

For: Looks, powerAgainst: NothingConclusion: The best looking and sounding daily driver exotic you can find.