Meet the super-hardcore Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition

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Aston Martin has revealed the Vantage F1 Edition – the road-going version of its F1 safety car. The British firm claims that this is “the most track-focused production Vantage to-date”. This is also the first Aston made with inputs from new boss Tobias Moers.

Underneath the bonnet you will find a Mercedes 4.0 litre V8 thumping out 530 horsepower and 685Nm of torque. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The shift times are reduced thanks to an optimised torque cut.

A lot of work has been done on the chassis as well. The chassis has increased lateral stiffness and rear spring rate. We are told that extra attention has been paid to the steering and its response so that “feedback from the road to be transmitted more clearly, which in turn helps build a detailed sense of available grip.”

The dampers have also been reworked giving better body control preventing “any deterioration in low-speed compliance”. The car sits on 21-inch alloys and has Carbon Fibre exterior detailing and quad exhausts.

Inside you will find Lime Green accents and stitching on the seats along with silver headrest embroidery.

The F1 edition has a new aero kit which has a full-width front splitter, front dive planes and a new rear wing. Aston’s gorgeous Racing Green colour scheme is available in either gloss or matte finishes. Other colours are also available.

“It had to be a true athlete: more powerful; more agile; more immediate and more exciting to drive. And – of course – quicker and more capable in a race-track environment.  I set the engineering team a tough target, as I was insistent that gains in performance came via genuine improvements in the car’s dynamics, and not by fitting track-optimised tyres”, said Aston Martin’s head honcho Tobias Moers.