Aston Martin Vantage F1 | OVERDRIVE

Since time immemorial, it is believed that spotting a magpie brings bad luck. But if you spot a pair, it usually means joy or luck. Unfortunately, I didn't have a videographer with me. But on this very roof this morning, I spotted two of them. So it looks like it is my lucky day. I can't argue because what I have with me here today is this. And I'm about to lose my Aston Martin Virginity. Say hello to the Aston Martin Vantage F1. Sure, it's not the V12 Vantage and has the humbler 4-litre V8 shared with AMG. But it's a great starting point. I'm also glad it's not a crossover or an entry-spec model that I'm beginning my Aston Martin journey with. Honestly, for a Mach-like Aston Martin, it's quite simple to just put these limited edition badges, do it up in a British racing green, green is a hot favourite in the luxury world right now, and still manage to sell the car like hotcakes on a cloudy morning. But then again, a Mach-like Aston Martin takes engineering, racetrack, racing, all of that quite seriously. And that's the reason why this limited edition is more than just fancy paint options or badges for equipment. Though available in other colours, the signature shade for the Vantage F1 is green, inspired by the racing green Vantage safety car from Formula 1. The white you see here isn't too bad either. It's an Aston Martin after all and attracts attention anyway. Compared to the standard Vantage, the F1 safety car that you see on your television screens on most Sunday afternoons, it has significant changes or modifications to the suspension, to the aerodynamics, to ensure that it can maintain a healthy pace while leading a pack of Formula 1 cars, so that they can maintain their adequate tyre temperatures. Most of those modifications find their way on this F1 edition as well. The spring rates, compression and the bushing on the upper control arms of the suspension have been made stiffer to further reduce any vertical movement and make the car totter through the bends irrespective of where they are, road or track. The Pirelli PZero tyres, which usually are bespoke on such cars, run a different compound than the standard Vantage for better grip and performance with the stiffened suspension components. That said, Aston Martin is known to build some of the finest GT cars. So the suspension, despite having stiff, taut, firm as its keywords for its modifications, it still feels unbelievably supple. Of course, the roads in Britain are nowhere comparable to what we have back home in India, but yes, there are plenty of bumps, ruts, joints, and the suspension feels surprisingly pliant over all of that. Even in the track mode, it remains surprisingly pliant. So I can see what the awe is all about when people say they make some of the finest GT cars. And the car changes direction just as sharply as you expect of a track-derived machine, even if it's derived from a safety car. Aston Martin makes beautiful looking cars, timeless designs, but at least to me, they've often appeared hefty compared to their peers. Irrespective of what a certain Mr. Bond advertises, to me, it's always seemed like Aston Martins would handle somewhere in between the sharp and focused European sports cars and the chunky American straight-line heroes. I would always feel that Aston Martins might be somewhere in between that when it comes to the handling and the agility. I stand corrected. At least this, the Vantage V8 F1 feels nice and agile. It feels light on its feet. In fact, it feels just as light and lean as its new design tends to suggest. It feels articulated on the front and rear axle, not stepping out of line even when you're pushing it hard. How does a 7 minute 30 lap time around the ring sound to you? Quick, I would say, and 15 seconds faster than the standard Vantage. With the new rear spoiler and the front splitter, it has 60 kilos of downforce up front and 150 kilos at the rear, up from a very road car like 40 kilo rear downforce on the standard Vantage. 150 kilos of downforce. I wonder what that feels like. Of course, I would ideally want to be on a racetrack to experience those kind of numbers. That would be the ideal setting for a car of this order. But within the limitations of the road, the Vantage feels like a beautiful mix between a GT car and a track tool without feeling too focused on the latter. So I think it's safe to say that this car can keep everyone from a certain Mr. Burn Mylander to a Rohit Pararkar happy. About Mr. Bond, well, I'm not too sure. Unless Mr. Bond is going to feel content with creature comforts like a chilly air conditioning system, a wired Apple CarPlay, and a jog dial from a Mercedes-Benz C-Class to control the infotainment. There are no touchscreens, battles, bullets or smoke machines in here. The car can go from 0 to 100 in under 4 seconds. But it's not just about these numbers. It's also about the oral drama with it. The V8 engine, we've sampled this in the AMGs in the past, but in this package with this kind of a beautiful bodywork and with Aston Martin's engineering touch to it, it just sounds so different. Of course, it sounds brilliant. It sounds beautiful even in the AMGs. But here the soundtrack is slightly different and it's really enjoyable. And then there are the three driving modes. You have the sport, that is the mode in which the car starts by in default. There are no comfort or economy modes and all of that that you get on other luxury cars. It starts with sport, then you have the sport plus and then you have the track mode. The track mode is where all the calmness takes the backseat and the aggression of Aston Martin's racing pedigree comes to the forefront. Oh my God, this acceleration is brutal. Oh my God, that is firepower. This ought to have been on the racetrack. Speaking of firepower, even the FN Edition continues to use the AMG Source V8. But it puts out more power and more power is always good news as long as it goes down to the road in the intended manner. And that job usually is taken care of by the electronics package and of course, the transmission. Unlike the other track focused advantage, which is the AMR, you do not get the option of a seven speed manual transmission. The only option you get here is the eight speed ZF automatic. And unlike some of the other sports cars that use this kind of a transmission, there is no artificial transmission shock for drama sake. It's quite smooth in its operation. Less drama usually translates to faster lap times. And on the road, it means a calmer and arguably more enjoyable grand touring experience. So simply put, despite the F1 badging and the racetrack pedigree, all this power that is channeled through calm yet precise mechanical components just makes this car such a joyous experience. Much like Aston Martin's own designs, right? They've proved over the years that power doesn't need to necessarily come in an aggressive shouty package to be made enjoyable. It can be a rolling masterpiece and still be a joy to drive. I wonder what their V12s are going to be like. Guess I'll have to go around looking for another pair of magpies.