New(ish) Aston Martin N400 Vantage Revealed
Are you in the market for an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, but find the fact that it's got less horsepower than a Chevy Corvette more than slightly annoying? Plump for the new N400 special edition Vantage, and voila! Power is upgraded to 400hp. Which is still less than a base Corvette (430). Oh well. What's with the N400 moniker you ask? It's named after the U.S. immigration form N-400. No, seriously, Wikidpedia reports that the N400 "is an event-related potential (ERP) component typically elicited by unexpected linguistic stimuli." Kidding again (I think). The name commemorates Aston Martin's entry into the Nurburgring 24-hour race. Anyway, the special edition Aston (as opposed to?) tops-out at a paltry 177mph. More encouragingly, the car features upgraded springs and Bilstein damper and a new rear anti-roll bar (the suspension upgrade is available as a $5k option on regular Vantages). Aston hopes to build 480 examples of the N400, split evenly between roadsters and coupe, all in obnoxious "Simpsons Family Orange." You too can have a piece of history for only $20k over the price of a regular V8 Vantage. I didn't think it was possible to make an Aston Martin look vulgar, but they've pulled it off.
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Burnt orange is so 2003 and this thing needs more aggressive engine management software or a supercharger. That said it is dead sexy to me, and I'd love to have one in my driveway. Just give me 5 years to start a successful hedge fund!
+1 for the Aurora. If AM made a sedan for under $50k... Now that AM is out of Ford's hands, they better man-up and buy the LS7 from GM...and absolutely dominate their class.
There's a perfectly good supercharged 4.2L over at Jaguar. 420hp is what this hyper-sexy body and sweet chassis needs.
... or, a better place to spend your extra $20K on a Vantage: The Prodrive Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Yes, that Prodrive. They've massaged every dynamic aspect of the V, with the engine now putting out 425hp. With suspension and braking to match. That's where my $20K would go... (now I just have to come up with the initial $110K).