Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Bargain-hunting and cross-shopping are rarely priorities for buyers of exotic sports cars. But for buyers of premium sports cars, the opportunity to step up to an exotic nameplate for the price of a lesser marque can be very enticing indeed. It is this buyer whom Aston Martin aims to attract with the North America-only 2015 Vantage GT, the British carmaker’s least expensive model since the 1980s.

Pricing for the GT coupe starts at $99,900; the GT roadster starts at $114,400 – close to $20,000 less than the standard V8 Vantage coupe and roadster. Rest assured, however, there is nothing bare-bones about the GT; no cloth seats or manual window cranks here. On the contrary, Aston has given the car a focused, racy demeanor that belies its price tag, and a spec sheet that reads more like that of the top-spec Vantage S than the standard car.

Powering the GT is the Vantage’s familiar 4.7-litre dry-sump V8. The engine produces an eager 430 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque, up 10hp and 15lb-ft from the standard Vantage and equal to the Vantage S. The engine is sufficient to bounce the 3,549lb GT coupe from zero to 60mph in 4.6 seconds, and onward to a top speed of 190mph. A six-speed manual transmission is standard equipment; a paddle-actuated seven-speed sequential manual is optional. As quick-witted as this automated manual is, opting for it in the GT would be a crying shame. Simply stated, the six-speed gearbox is the focal point of the GT’s allure. With it, the car is the best kind of naughty; without it, it is merely fast. It is difficult to overstate the pleasure of, say, holding second gear beyond 5,000rpm through a tunnel, or poking the throttle before stepping down from third to second. Buyers looking for a two-seat sports car with an automatic transmission should test-drive a Jaguar F-Type. Full stop.

Almost a decade after its introduction at the 2005 Geneva motor show, the sportiest Aston still looks like a Porsche 911 killer, even though its German rival, which has seen two full generations arrive in that time, has run laps around it in the technology department.

Of course, our test car owed a good deal of its visual panache to a war-paint graphics package. Optional on the GT (mercifully, some might say) this racer-style package includes “lipstick” around the front air intake, and accents on the mirror caps, rear diffuser and, on the coupe, the A-pillar and roof cantrail. (Roadsters get a black fabric top.) Buyers can choose from five colours, each with a racy back story: Jet Black, Speedway White, Skyfall Silver, Mariana Blue (inspired by driver Bobby Parke’s DB2/4 of the 1950s) and, our test car’s Alloro Green with yellow highlights (à la the CC100 concept car from 2013).

By lowering the point of entry below $100,000, and by equipping the GT so completely, Aston has successfully breathed new life into an aging sports car. But the move also offers a wicked temptation to car-shoppers who had fixed their gaze upon a 911 Carrera or an F-Type. Swift and sensuous and technology-laden, the new Jag – particularly the coupe – is a luscious beast; there’s no denying it. And a Porshe is a blue-chip investment.

BBC