The marginally faster Aston with the marginally higher price proves commensurately more fun. The 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S engine is Aston’s familiar 4.7-liter aluminum V-8, with improved intake airflow, latest mufflers, and 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S programming that keeps the exhaust system’s bypass valves open longer. 
The 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S net is 430 hp and 361 lb-ft of torque, gains of 10 ponies and 15 lb-ft. Although 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S is a small add in output, the S’s new should help it whittle the Vantage’s 0-to-60-mph time down from the 4.3 of the last example we tested to about four flat. 
The 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S is a Coupe with a starting MSRP of $138,000. Beyond that, the menacing V-8 sounds that emerge when the bypass valves open up and the engine soars toward redline are almost worth the price premium on their own, with or without the extra thrust. Engine output flows during a new single-clutch seven-speed Graziano automatic to a limited-slip rear differential; the carbon fiber driveshaft spins in an aluminum torque tube. The 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S has power is applied to the pavement via a set of fat (285/35) Bridgestone Potenzas on 19-inch cast aluminum wheels. (The front tires measure 245/40-19.) There are no chassis rigidity distinctions between Vantage and Vantage S, and none was needed. The bonded aluminum tub is as stiff as a railroad trestle. 
