Such a jump in power is reflecting Aston’s bullish confidence, with sales and stocks on the rise, the V8 Vantage has been repositioned as an outright Porsche 911 Turbo S rival, rather than aligned against the 911 Carrera. With this comes a suitably reflective hike in price, with the Vantage’s list price purported to rise to £165,000.

Besides the leap in power and performance, the increase is justified by a new look clearly inspired by the One-77 limited-run supercar. Larger LED Matrix headlights, new front wings and a 38% bigger grill are the highlights of the new design. Changes at the rear are more restrained, restricted to wider rear arches from the V12 (up 30 mm) and a new-look bumper incorporating side vents and larger diameter quad exhaust tailpipes. Ridiculous forged 21-inch alloys and a more pronounced shoulder line complete the external revisions.

To combat the inevitable creep of weight gain between generations, many of the new styling components are manufactured from lightweight materials, with the wings and bonnet being aluminium. The roof and both the front and rear bumpers meanwhile, are all crafted from composite. Aston Martin quotes a “dry-lightweight” (optional extra optimised and sans fluids) kerb weight of 1,605 kg, resulting in a dry power to weight ratio of 409 bhp/tonne.

New Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Cockpit Changes

The interior of the V8 Vantage has always felt a generation behind those of its rivals, but thanks to a completely modernised centre console, dashboard and steering wheel bringing the car into alignment with the DB12, that grievance has finally been addressed.

As expected from an Aston Martin, fine materials and craftsmanship is clearly abundant, with Bridge of Weir leather, a 1,170W Bower and Wilkins sound system and generous lashings of carbon fibre. Further bespoke customisation is available via Aston’s ‘Q’ branch.

Also ported over from the DB12 is a completely overhauled and modernised technology interface, with a 10” touchscreen, wireless charging and Android or Apple CarPlay connectivity. Refreshingly, Aston Martin has resisted the temptation to cram all major controls onto the user interface, with important elements such as the climate control utilising traditional buttons.

New Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Power Increase and Technical Changes

Under the bonnet of the Vantage remains the familiar hand built Mercedes-AMG 4.0 litre twin-turbocharged V