As part of a Great Drives feature, MotorTorque travelled to Bylchau, in North Wales to drive some of the most exciting cars on sale today. We hired professional racing driver Annalese Ferrari to test out this collection of cars, and MotorTorque was on hand to witness the driving and the filming and pick up on Annalese's impressions on each car. Today we take a closer look at one of the exciting supercars sampled at the shoot, the Aston Martin Vantage S. Currently priced at £99,995, the sleek coupe is one of the more recently created specifications for the V8-powered beast. While the S model is not quite as radical in terms of looks or performance compared the hardcore V12 Vantage, it is still a step up on the standard V8. At the same time though the Vantage S seeks to retain the same level of classy luxury which encompasses the V8 Vantage and virtually the whole Aston Martin range. The whole chassis on the S coupe is a redesign from the original Vantage, which was first launched over six years ago. This change has taken place in order to better accommodate the new and wider rear wheels. Under the bonnet, the Vantage S features a 430bhp 4.7-litre V8 connected to a bespoke seven-speed transmission. The unit has 10bhp more than the standard Vantage, and is also faster as a result. With this set-up the Vantage S can cover the 0-60mph sprint in 4.5 seconds, that's 0.2 less than the standard V8 Vantage, and it can travel up to a top speed of 190mph, which is 10mph more than the standard model can achieve. However with the Vantage S costing an extra £15,000 more than the standard V8 coupe, it is debatable whether this jump in performance is large enough to justify the On a more positive note though, the Vantage S is more efficient then its standard counterpart. The coupe has an average fuel economy of 21.9mpg, beating the standard V8 Vantage's figure of 20.5mpg. The tank range is also increased from 361 miles to 385 miles. The Vantage S has also reduced CO2 emissions from a massive 321g/km to a somewhat more respectable 299g/km. On the twisty roads of the Welsh countryside, our driver Annalese Ferrari had little trouble putting the Aston through its paces. Behind the wheel however the Vantage S with its V8 engine can't quite match up to the potential excitement of other supercars on the market, such as say the Porsche 911 Carrera S, a key rival to the Aston, or the more hardcore Lotus Exige S. Everyone who witnessed the test drive however acknowledged that the car did at least sound fantastic and the cabin was as classy as you'd expect. Passengers of the Vantage S find a tidily laid interior complete with leather seats, an onboard computer and carbon fibre trim. Whilst the car is not as fast or as spectacular on the road as some of today's competition, Annalese acknowledged the Vantage S is still an enjoyable drive which looks great for spectators. Out of all cars which attended our Wales supercar shoot, the racing driver picked the Aston Martin Vantage S as the definite pick if you want to arrive somewhere in style. Written by Stephen Goldasz http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kHt6VtQH3Ns
