“What? It has a Mercedes V8 engine?” exclaimed a few surprised and confused folks when we answered their queries as to what powers this yellow-hued, quintessentially British sports coupe featured here.

This, of course, is the all-new Aston Martin Vantage and, having sampled it with a spirited drive up to Kuala Kubu Bharu and back with our colleagues from TopGear Malaysia Chinese Edition just before the recent festive holidays, there’s much to say about Aston’s new baby. But before we get into it, here’s a quick history lesson.

Since its reintroduction in 2005, the Vantage stood as the Aston Martin’s most driver-focused offering. Simply put, if you wanted a lightweight Aston Martin that was built to carve B-road corners, or to hoon about during weekend trackdays instead of its usual heavy but plush, mile-munching GTs, you’d want the Vantage.

Also, though the brand is renowned foremost as vanguards of the mighty V12 nat-asp powerplant, the Vantage was the only exception as you could have it with a free-revving V8 heart instead alongside an even more focused V12-powered option that came later.

Like its predecessor, this new Vantage still harnesses a V8 up front, but it’s no longer one that’s hand-built by a bloke in Warwickshire, England. Instead, the deep rumbling soundtrack you will hear resonating from its twin pipes is a V8 hand built by a different sort of bloke in Affalterbach, Germany. More specifically, one who works at Mercedes-AMG.

Yup, purist fans were up in arms at first, and so were we. But as blasphemous as the whole affair looked, it didn’t take long before it became the tiniest speck of worry at the back of our – as well as the naysayers’ – minds. Give this mill the beans with your right foot and it will silence all doubts as quickly as it sprints from nought to 100kph.

And don’t also for a second think that these rather new and very German traits have dampened any of the Vantage’s quintessential ‘British-ness’. This is still the finely handcrafted British sports coupe that’s perhaps the four-wheeled equivalent to a finely tailored suit from Saville Row.

Also, don’t let the youthful ‘Yellow Tang’ paint scheme mislead you either. There’s still plenty of this true old school British-ness to marvel in inside and out. With the former, it’s the rich use of fine and plush leather covering the seats, dash, door inlays and centre console, all hand-stitched and crafted to perfection similarly to those seen in the Vantage’s GT cousins.

With the latter, well, this odd yellow hue might not show it, but study the Vantage’s proportions and lines properly and it’s plain to that this is one sleek beauty indeed. Perhaps one that’s arguably as dapper as a certain British secret agent, more so if dressed in the right shade of silver or dark grey.Then there’s the way this Vantage drives, which is properly fun to say the least thanks to its claimed perfect 50-50 front-to-rear weight distribution. Perhaps it is as fun as that blonde British bombshell you once met and danced briefly with at a rave in Ibiza a few summers ago.

Sharp, nimble, precise, Aston Martin weren’t kidding about the Vantage being ‘a born predator’.

What to amplify the excitement? Just thumb both the ‘S’ and suspension button located on both sides of the steering wheel into Sport or Sport+ modes. Things get even raunchier in the latter as the electronic stability and traction control assists are lessened, but perhaps this is best left to the likes of Max Verstappen or Jazeman Jaafar at least to master and tame.

Needless to say, when you’re in either Sport or Sport+ modes, the clever electronic suspension and power steering suites are both sharpened and firmed up, followed by the heightened engine power management and throttle sensitivity.

Even in the ‘milder’ Sport mode, you could feel that the Vantage is ready to help the British secret agent mentioned earlier make a swift getaway from the baddies.

Don’t fret if you aren’t as skilled as either of those two drivers mentioned earlier, there’s still plenty in the Vantage’s performance mix to keep all its power in check.

Besides the trick electronic driver assist and suspension we’ve highlighted, there’s also the set of sticky Pirelli P-Zero tyres wrapped around our tester’s tasty bespoke 20-inch alloys that help the Vantage stick on the road like glue.

By day’s end, there’s no denying that the Vantage hasn’t lost much of its British-ness. Equally undeniable too is just how much more capable and perhaps slightly more refined it has grown into thanks to some of the new borrowed German tech, namely its powertrain, it now possesses.

For those still crying out for the Vantage to have a true Aston Martin-built V12 mill, then worry not. Given how the last generation Vantage developed, we’ll likely see one happen soon enough. But until then, this is the most focused, veracious and intense sports car Aston Martin has to offer, and that’s a treat indeed.

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