Ferrari Roma vs Aston Martin Vantage

What's the difference?

There aren’t as many Ferraris on the road in Italy as you might think. There’s the purchase price, per-kW taxes and poisonously expensive fuel. So, usually, they’re a rare sight, except around Maranello in the northern province of Modena.

Because that’s Ferrari’s home and in getting to grips with the subject of this review - the twin-turbo V8 Roma - I enjoyed a smile-inducing moment with a local milk truck driver.

On a narrow section, part way into a road test drive through local villages and twisting B-roads to the west of Maranello, the tanker pulled over to let me through. 

Gave a thank you double blink of the hazard lights on passing and received a quick headlight flash in return. They almost certainly thought I was putting kays on a test mule in the same way camouflaged prototypes so often do on the same stretch of road.

Maybe I’d inadvertently sipped some Prancing Horse Kool-Aid, but it felt special. Ferrari is so close to Italian hearts and the Roma is such a sleek and engaging example of its current output.

But is this ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ 2+2 capable of tearing you away from its well-credentialled high-end competitors? Stick with us to find out.

Aston Martin says the 2024 Vantage is designed to put the brand back where it belongs. And by that, it means thrust into the same conversation as Ferrari and Lamborghini when it comes to the ultimate in driver-focused supercars.

Which is why everything – and I mean everything – about this new model has been tightened, tuned or turned way the hell up in pursuit of performance.

Really, it has been a no-stone-left-unturned approach here. And the result, the brand reckons, is a car that delivers not just more power and more torque, but a near-telepathic connection between car and driver, too.

Well, that’s the promise anyway.

So how does the Vantage stack up in the battle for supercar supremacy? I was quite looking forward to figuring that out, to be honest.