Aston Martin wants its Vantage to be even more performance car than grand tourer. The latest
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00:00Can the Aston Martin Vantage ever be more than just a Grand Tourer? If it's going to,
00:09it's got to take down the king of the everyday sports car, the Porsche 911 GTS.
00:15To find out if the new Vantage has what it takes, we're going to set both cars loose on one of
00:19America's best driving roads and then hit up a popular meeting spot to see what other car
00:23enthusiasts think. Between an Aston Martin and a Porsche, which appeals to you guys more?
00:28So yeah, my take just for a look will be on a Vintage. I would rather own the Porsche.
00:35Probably the 911. Personally, I'll actually take the Aston.
00:38Okay. I think it's the 911. It's a classic look for me.
00:50Forget everything you think you know about Aston Martin. It doesn't want to be a GT maker anymore.
00:54It wants to compete with supercar companies. The 2025 Aston Martin Vantage is
00:58proof positive of that. More powerful, more technologically advanced, and just
01:02rawer than the version before it. It wants to compete directly with McPherson and Ferraris of the world.
01:07But there's one problem with that.
01:10I don't know if it's a problem, Christian, but it's certainly a challenge.
01:13The 2025 911 Carrera GTST Hybrid takes the 911, you know, that's the standard bearer for six-figure,
01:21super-performing sports cars, and it ups the ante yet again. Aston Martin hasn't stood still with the
01:26Vantage, but neither has Porsche with the Carrera. And now this GTS has more horsepower than ever
01:31before, tons of other performance upgrades, and it's the quickest 911 Carrera we've ever seen.
01:36So Aston's got to at least match, if not topple, this stalwart before it really talks about the
01:42Ferraris and the McLarens of the world. Yeah. Well, let's go find out if it can do it.
01:45All right, Mac, as a Porsche aficionado, what makes a 911 so special?
01:58Everybody probably has their own answer to that question, but one thing that's a common theme,
02:04I think, with 911 enthusiasts in particular, certainly over years and years and years,
02:10if there's one word that you would use to describe the 911, it's probably pure,
02:15right, or purity of the experience. That's pretty relevant to the car we're driving today because
02:20this is the first electrified 911 ever. Yeah, 53 horsepower, 110 pound-foot motor,
02:28that's basically wedged into the bell housing of the 8-speed PDK. I'm sure there's been plenty of people,
02:33Porsche fans who've talked amongst themselves about, is that right for the 911? And I understand that
02:42discussion and debate and all that, but all you have to do is drive this new GTS-T hybrid,
02:49as Porsche calls it, and you realize all it does is up the experience by that much more by giving you
02:56a boatload of power. It's pushed this car to 532 horsepower, which you normally would not have in
03:03anything short of the big boy 911 turbo, right? Or a GT3, GT2, GT division car. Here's the thing,
03:14it's completely seamless. I have no idea what's going on other than what the screen tells me.
03:18It recharges itself, by the way, really quickly. Yeah, and it's a small battery of only 1.9 kilowatts
03:24in the front where the 12-volt would be, so you're not messing with the weight distribution. Not that
03:30that's something that Porsche is ever really worried about, considering where the engine is.
03:33Yeah, but for all the work that's gone in over the years, taming the behavior of this platform
03:37with the rear engine, and now with big power, all it does is make it a little more lively. You know,
03:42the back end is willing to play around a little bit, but it certainly isn't intimidating. It's so
03:47seamlessly easy to drive. It's intuitive to drive, and it just inspires huge, huge confidence, no matter
03:54what kind of situation you find yourself in. But I think it's really important to know
04:00that if you didn't tell me, and I'm willing to wager if you didn't tell anyone else, maybe there's
04:05a pro race driver out there who races 911s who's so sensitive to the power delivery and the way
04:11everything feels more than I am, they can say, oh, this must be a hybrid boosted car, but I don't think
04:19anyone who buys one of these or is even thinking about buying one of these will ever know what's
04:25going on with all that stuff unless you tell them. Yeah, I totally agree with you. I like to fool
04:32myself into thinking I can maybe notice it near red line when it shifts. It feels to me like a late
04:39surge of power when there shouldn't be power necessarily, but honestly, it could be my mind
04:44playing tricks on me. Let's find out.
04:49I don't know, man. I think it's just fast. Yeah, I think that's what it is. It's just fast.
04:58I think they were smart approaching the hybrid this way versus maybe what Chevy did with the
05:02Corvette E-Ray. That also has its own benefits, but that feels different to other Corvettes,
05:08whereas, I mean, you've got a great thing going with the 911. Why ruin it, you know?
05:13For sure, and it certainly hasn't ruined it. I was very curious to drive this car
05:19after reading about it, our previous reporting about it. I wanted to know as well, you know,
05:24does this somehow alter the question you asked me in the beginning? What is a 911? What's the
05:30experience all about? What defines a 911? What defines it is exactly what we've got here. We've got
05:36great handling. I think probably the best steering on the market still today.
05:39Yeah, it's really good. It almost feels like it steers itself at times, which it can,
05:46you know, with the lane departure safety system and all that, but it does really feel like it just
05:52knows where you want to put it at all times, and it just sort of follows your hands. What I like about
05:56this car a little bit more than I like about the Vantage is the... I wouldn't say this steering is
06:02remotely delicate, but it certainly is lighter. And with the lighter front end physically,
06:09by virtue of having the engine in the back, it just feels like it's a little more eager to turn
06:13into corners than the Aston Martin does. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I liken it to like your ice
06:20skating, and you do a crossover to make a turn, and you just dig into the ice and rip out the next
06:24bend. And the tires grip so quick, so much. And that front end is so quick. It's, you know,
06:32really, really engaging. So what would the Vantage have to do in order to match this level of
06:39engagement and, you know, cohesion of performance? I think the Vantage has to immediately feel like
06:45a driver's car, not a GT car as it mostly has in the past. It needs to communicate what it's doing at
06:53all times. It needs to tell you what the front of tires are doing, and it needs to be able to go
06:58around corners in a way that doesn't feel remotely lazy, right? So there's no way it's going to feel
07:04like this car because it's, in a lot of senses, it's the opposite. Right. Here you've got a relatively
07:10small Boxer 6 engine all the way behind you. There you've got a big V8 all the way in front of you.
07:16You know, they've moved the engine as far back behind the front axle as they can in the Aston, so
07:21that helps the balance, I'm sure. But there's no way around the fact that it's just not going to feel
07:26exactly the same. But if it can use a platform with that layout and get anywhere close to the
07:33overall performance and experience, I think that makes it a legitimate contender and option for
07:38people who, as much as I love Porsches and 911s, and I know you do too, sometimes you've had enough of it.
07:46It definitely feels like a bigger car. Yeah, I was going to say, it's the first thing you notice,
07:58right, from behind the wheel, with that steering wheel in particular, it's a lot thicker than the
08:03wheel on the Porsche, and the steering itself is notably heavier. Yeah, I wouldn't say it's better or
08:11worse, it's different in a way of its character. Because I'm used to, imagine British cars have
08:16that like really light, delicate, tactile feeling, and this is not that. This is neither light nor
08:24delicate in any way. No, it is not. Sounds really good. Yeah, this AMG-sourced Turbo V8 is a monster.
08:33With 600 horsepower, it punches hard, to put it mildly. On a road like this, this wasn't necessarily
08:43an Aston Martin's forte in the past, or it's certainly maybe not where it wanted to live all
08:48the time, but this Vantage, it's kind of made for this. Yeah, it feels at home. I mean, I'm quite
08:55easily into a rhythm now, at least to the size. Yeah, it's easy to place. It's engaging. I'm having fun.
09:02I don't know who you are. But that's the thing, is the capability of this car is so high, I have
09:06no concerns about flying off the road. Not that you should in any modern car, but much like the 911 GTS,
09:14this car takes everything you throw at it, no problem. I think the combination of the heavier
09:19steering setup and front weight bias versus the rear engine 911, it gives it a completely different
09:25character. And it's kind of funny because it's similar in the sense that it goes like hacking
09:31a straight line. It stops really well. It handles corners really well, but it feels different in
09:37the way that it's doing it, as you would expect. But at the same time, is it a huge difference to
09:42you? I don't know that it's affecting the fun much. I think the 911 feels a little more,
09:47to use the word we used a minute ago, delicate maybe. Yeah. It is a little bit lighter, maybe
09:54200 pounds-ish. It's not nothing, but it's not super substantial, especially in a car
10:00making this much horsepower and torque. So it's just more the balance, right, of the two chassis.
10:07The 911 front end seems a little more eager, but again, that's to be expected because you're pushing
10:13around everything in the front in this car. Yeah, it's just the way it handles, it's just slightly
10:19different, slightly different character to it, but it's quite enjoyable. It's a much stiffer platform
10:24than it was in the past. And I think we mentioned earlier, you might call it a facelift, but it's,
10:30to me, a facelift is like a new front fascia, literally, and maybe a new infotainment system
10:35and some tail light treatments and things like that. Maybe a slight worse power bump. Which,
10:39oh, by the way, this has all those things. Oh yeah, right. It does. But on top of that,
10:43it's a huge power upgrade. It's a huge chassis upgrade. It's a software upgrade on the way that
10:49the differential and all the stability control and traction control system works. So it really has,
10:56to me, changed the character from the Gen 1 version of this AM6 Vantage platform.
11:03Yeah, the one thing that really stands out to me is how thoughtful all the upgrades were. They
11:06didn't just make it stiffer and like, that's better. It's stiffer without having any drawbacks.
11:12There's payoff for it. It's quite a good ride. The software going on, it lets you get that little
11:16bit of slip on a tight corner, which makes it honestly way more engaging and way more fun. So
11:21you can turn it quickly. It feels bigger initially, but it doesn't drive bigger.
11:29So it doesn't feel like a bigger car. Yeah, you make a great point. And that goes back to what we
11:33were saying about substantial and delicate. It's absolutely substantial, especially when you look at
11:39it by itself, say on the side of the road or in a parking lot, or even in your garage.
11:44It looks like it's a big car, but then you put it next to the Porsche and they're pretty much a
11:49similar footprint. I don't have all the dimensions here in front of me as we're driving, but this
11:53isn't like something that is in a different size class than the 911 at all. Like not whatsoever. So
12:01just the long hood gives that illusion. And it makes you feel like right now we're in a bigger
12:06car. It might be a little wider. I think it's a little wider. It's a little wider.
12:09We've certainly got more shoulder space, but it's not too much car for a road like this. So this is a
12:16tight, twisty, but quick road at the same time. I don't feel like this car is overkill for it
12:21whatsoever. No, and this is like the natural stomping grounds of a 911. You come up here on a,
12:27you know, a Friday morning or any weekend, it's 911 city. They're everywhere. You can't throw a rock
12:32without hitting one. Oh, absolutely. And this is just completely at home. I think it'll be really
12:37interesting to see what, uh, what the average enthusiast thinks when we pull up to Newcombs.
12:55So let's look at car from two perspective from purely just for look, the shape wise. Yeah. Vintage is so
13:00much sexier than the 911. Yeah. Well, of course, 911, they have to stick to the original shape, right? Yeah.
13:05Yeah. You know, because it's 911, right? But, um, you know, the newer, the newer vintage are just so
13:11much more prettier to look at or even to drive. So yeah, my take just for look will be on a vintage.
13:17And also for me, I collect a lot of cars, the classic proportions of a sports car, you know, the
13:24longer hood. The wide head. Yeah. And, and this just does it for me. I'm going to have to go with the
13:30Porsche visually. I think it just looks sick. I think it's a, it's kind of like a tighter
13:35looking car. I feel like this, I mean, I know it's a hell of a lot of fun, but still, but it
13:39looks like a bit of a boat. I think this is going to rip through some canyons. I'm a Porsche guy,
13:43but I will say, I think Aston's making the best looking cars in the game right now. The facelift is
13:49a nice touch. Um, everything, the roar, just all sick looking cars. Yeah. Um, different price point,
13:57but I would definitely take that over my 911. I never claimed to be a car expert. I am an enthusiast,
14:03but I always feel every sports car wants to grow up and be the Porsche. So what do you think the
14:09Aston would need to do to know, to grow up, to be like the Porsche? No, the Aston's in a class solid
14:14song, but I would call this like by, they used to call my RS five, uh, grand touring, just a little
14:21heavy, very comfortable, lots of power. I put more power into it, but I think it's in a separate class
14:29myself and it'll never, it'll never be this, but it doesn't have to be. It's in its own class. It is probably
14:35at the top of its own class. So it's a wonderful thought.
14:50All right. So we just had a day of heart driving the mountains and talked to some enthusiasts about these cars.
14:53What did we learn Mac? I think we learned a hell of a lot, especially about the Aston Martin Vantage.
14:58It's absolutely not a world-class driver's car, sports car. To me, the Porsche, it's a little
15:03lighter. It's a little more nimble. The steering's a little lighter, more direct. The gearbox is a
15:08little sharper. A little more responsive all around. All around. So from a pure driving standpoint,
15:13the 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid still takes it, but this is not far behind. It's a world-class driver's
15:20car. And look at this body. Oh yeah. It's stunning. And I would agree with everything you said.
15:25This is the car you'd rather drive. I don't know if it's a car you'd rather own,
15:28because for all the things you said. Sure. It's beautiful. It's comfortable. It does
15:31almost everything as well as the 911 up here, but it's got its own unique thing. And I thought we
15:37learned a little bit about that too, when we talked to all those enthusiasts today. Yeah,
15:40I think that was really informative and it really does speak to how important the entire package is. So
15:45if you're not hell-bent on the absolute finest grain performance driving experience,
15:52but you can get almost all of that plus everything that comes with the Vantage,
15:56it's a hard choice. Yeah, it really is. But if you are hell-bent, to steal Max's words,
16:02on the most absolute finest driving experience, then you'll agree with the two of us that the Porsche
16:06911 GTS is the winner of this comparison. For more on these two cars, the test data,
16:12all the details, head to MotorTrend.com.