Aston Martin has been around for 101 years and to mark the occasion the car maker is debuting two new special editions at this year’s Geneva Motor Show: the Vantage N430 and the DB9 Carbon Black and Carbon White. Highlighting styling and a power boost for the Vantage N430, Aston Martin says both are intended to combine sport-focused style elements with an air of elegance.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430
Aston Martin doesn’t believe in fixing what isn’t broken, so the styling of the Vantage N430 is a bit like an old master returning to a painting to add a couple of brushstrokes. The rear-wheel drive Vantage N430 keeps the same proportions of the Vantage line with a few touches to the bonnet and cab, but with more attention given to the livery intended to “evoke thoughts of the track” as well as touches inspired in part by the CC100 Speedster concept and the DBR1, like graphite painted forged alloy wheels, a black front grille, with similar embellishments to headlamp bezels, meshes, side windows, and rear lamps.Available as a coupé or soft-top roadster, the two-seater Vantage N430 is also an exercise in weight reduction with an extruded bonded aluminum VH body structure covered by an aluminum, magnesium alloy, composite and steel body. Added to this as standard are carbon fiber and Kevlar seats along with ten-spoke forged alloy wheels in a new graphite-painted finish designed to shave 20 kg (44 lb) off the curb weight. The body is available in five liveries and even the brake calipers come in a choice of four colors.
Under the bonnet, the Vantage N430 gets a power boost to its front mid-mounted all-alloy, quad overhead camshaft V8 engine to 420 bhp (321 kW) and 361 ft-lb (490 Nm) of torque, so it now matches the V8 Vantage S. Just so passersby are aware of this, the fully-catalyzed stainless steel exhaust systems have active bypass valves for a suitable roar.
Behind the powerplant is a six-speed manual gearbox, an alloy torque tube with carbon-fiber propeller shaft, and a limited-slip differential. Add it together and you get 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph).
The Vantage N430 has a calibrated sports suspension with an independent wishbone with anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube dampers in front and similar in the rear with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry. There's power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, and ventilated two-piece floating disc brakes in the front and ventilated grooved steel discs in the back. Not surprisingly, the Vantage N430 also comes with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with track mode, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Positive Torque Control (PTC), and Traction control (TC).
Inside the Vantage N430, Aston Martin has gone for the dramatic with black or gray interior scheme with a choice of accent colors and an Obsidian Black or Argento Grey full-grain leather interior, machined carbon fiber sill plaques, Piano Black trim, and black anodized center console rotary controls.
Aston Martin DB9 Carbon Black & Carbon White
For those who want something more along the lines of a GT, Aston Martin is also rolling out a special edition of the DB9. Actually, its more like two versions – the Carbon Black and the Carbon White – though the difference between the two lies only in the color schemes, which the name makes pretty obvious. Like the Vantage N430, The rear-wheel drive Carbon special edition isn't a wild departure for Aston Martin. The lines are sleeker, and the headlamps are narrower and wider. The Carbon is available in both the two-door, 2+2 seating coupé and volante body made of aluminum and composite body panels set over an extruded bonded aluminum VH structure.
The place where the DB9 Carbon goes a bit mad is under the bonnet, where there’s an AM11 six-liter V12 engine with independent quad variable camshaft timing. It puts out 510 bhp (380 kW) and 457 lb ft (620 Nm) of torque through the Touchtronic ll six-speed gearbox with electronic shift-by-wire control system. The DB9 Carbon does 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 4.6 seconds and has a top speed of 183 mph (295 km/h). For stopping there are ventilated carbon ceramic disc brakes front and back. Inside, there’s a strong black styling theme. In fact, there’s lots of black. There’s “Obsidian Black” full-grain leather, black carbon fiber fascia trim, black seats, black carpet, black flappy paddles, and black brake pedals. Seemingly, the only contrast is the charcoal seat belts.
Aston Martin says the Vantage N430 will go on sale in September with a list price of £89,995 (US$150,000). The DB9 Carbon Black and Carbon White pricess are available on application. However, none of the special editions are available in North America.
The video below shows off the Aston martin Vantage N430.
Source: Aston Martin
