The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a gorgeous car, but anyone whos ever driven one has always been left with a feeling that the V8s bark was bigger than its bite. Actually, the barks not so loud either. OK, really — its just a pretty dog. Sure you could send the Vantage off to Prodrive for some performance tuning, or if you didnt mind sitting around for awhile, you could wait for the mighty V12-powered Vantage RS to come out. But nobody with a need for more speed wants to wait. So now, the old 4.3-liter V8 is being enlarged to a bigger 4.7-liter V8.
That means power is now up to 420 HP and 347 lb-ft of torque. How does it feel? Well, the loud exhaust gurgle is said to have been toned down a bit, which combined with a 0.2-second quicker 0-to-60 time, means the Vantages bite is now actually more proportionate to its bark. But only by a little bit. Were also told that the new extra power is said to be noticeable, but not overwhelmingly impressive. So, it looks like all you speed freaks will still have to wait for the V12. [Autocar]