Aston has added more power to its overpowered 2dr: meet the 671bhp Vantage S

Aston Martin has history in adding an ‘S’ to mark the most bombastic versions of the Vantage, only… they’ve rarely been this bombastic. Because this new Aston Martin Vantage S is a more powerful version of a car that already came stuffed with power.

Incredibly, this ‘baby’ Aston Martin Vantage S – an entry-level Aston, for goodness’ sake – now develops a whopping 671bhp finely-tuned Anglo-German horsies, up from the not-at-all-regular car’s 656bhp.

Six hundred and seventy one! That sound you hear is the Ferrari Amalfi having a meltdown. Not least because there’s 590lb ft of torque on offer to melt the S’s phat rears.

Aston hasn’t specified exactly how it has extracted an additional fifteen horsepowers from the AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, but that unit’s got a good set of lungs on it. So unbelievably, it’s actually a very modest increase.

Aston reckons 671bhp arrives at 6,000rpm, while that unchanged torque figure is available between 3k-6k. It’s made a few tweaks across the board as you’d expect, including slight alterations to the throttle map, pedal weight and launch control.

So it’s now a full 0.1s quicker than before – 0-60mph taking just 3.3s (0-62mph in 3.4s). The 0-124mph dash is done in 10.1s, while top speed remains the same 202mph. Basically, it’s a bit faster.

And pointier. The Bilstein ‘DTX’ adaptive dampers have been tweaked to offer what Aston claims is “increased front-end feel and response”, while the rear spring aid stiffness has been lowered “to balance compression and rebound for improved low-speed ride quality”. Basically, they’ve backed it off so you don’t bounce all over the high street.

There’s a 10 per cent reduction in the eight-speed gearbox mount’s stiffness, the rear subframes are now mounted directly to the bonded aluminium body as opposed to via rubber bushes, and camber, toe and caster settings have all been “finessed”. And lo: it’s pointier.

Naturally an ‘S’ requires additional visual cues, so this new one gets a set of centrally mounted bonnet blades, lots of ‘S’ badging, and a full-width rear spoiler offering an additional 44kg of rear downforce when on a closed road at 202mph. The underbody’s been treated to ‘updates’ too, to allow a full 111kg of downforce at the S’s vmax.

Aston’s slotted special 21in alloys and bronzed brake calipers onto this Vantage S, filled it with Alcantara and leather and carbon fibre inlays, embroidered ‘S’ and Aston’s wings logos inside, and provided the option of a red or silver anodised finish to the rotary drive control. Other options are available, but none include turning up outside a Ferrari showroom and donuting ‘671bhp’ into the car park. Yours from around £170k.