If cars are about getting from A to B safely, securely and at modest speed, you can buy any one of a dozen runabouts. Try a Kia Picanto, a £6,000 bargain that will do the job as well as anything.

Or you can buy an Aston Martin Vantage V8. Why? Well, because it is the difference between a violin made of balsa wood and a Stadivarius. You can play them both, but one will make a noise, the other a sound close to the divine. Few will get to own a Vantage, but the lucky owners will get a car capable of blasting around a racetrack or dawdling in traffic, the music from its exhaust soothing any worries that this car costs about £90,000.

Before The Times took the first drive in the all-new version of Aston's most successful car, we canvassed the advice of Dr Ulrich Bez. As chief executive, he is supposed to sell the concept of Aston Martin to us; as a motoring enthusiast, he does not have to try too hard because he has fallen in love with one of Britain's most historic and charismatic marques. So much so, he plans to drive a racing version in a 24-hour endurance race this weekend at the fabled Nürburgring in Germany.

“In our car, if you drive slowly nobody thinks that you are a bad driver, or scared to go fast, or that you are having a mechanical problem with the car,” he said. “You can have a lot of fun driving slowly, enjoying the feel of the car, the sense it gives you.”

So is the Vantage V8, relaunched with a bigger engine, more power, more torque and general all-round more of everything, more fun slow or more fun fast? The engine is still a V8, but now it is a 4.7-litre instead of 4.3-litre, power is up to 420 brake horsepower and fuel consumption is better by 15 per cent, even though the zero to 60mph time is less than five seconds and the top speed is 180mph.

Travelling on an unrestricted autobahn at more than twice the UK motorway limit, the Vantage proves only that such speeds should be kept for the track. Vehicles on the horizon are feet away in seconds and anticipating the intentions of other drivers is a fraught business. The Vantage is stable at such speeds, though, and the brakes are superb, even if the steering at such velocity seems a bit light.

Move to the twisting roads of the Eifel mountains around the Nürburgring and the Vantage, particularly with the Sportshift system, using paddles behind the steering wheel, sets the fun-o-meter reading soaring. The sports option, which includes lightweight alloy wheels and uprated springs, adds to the enjoyment and is ideal, the company says, for “the most enthusiastic of drivers”.

Not everything is sweetness and light, though. This is an Aston, after all. The first car I tried, with manual shift, was reluctant to start using the electronic fob with etched Aston flying wings motif; problem solved by putting the fob into its dashboard slot upside down. The engine insists on spinning up on each paddle shift, while in the manual, my elbow kept catching the central console. As good as the Vantage performs on twisty roads, on the cobbled streets of quaint, old German towns, the stiffer suspension of the sports pack makes for a jolting ride.

Launched three years ago, the Vantage has become the most successful model from Aston, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, with more than 10,000 sold. That success has, in large part, been a result of the car's wonderfully balanced proportions and fabulous looks. While much on the car has changed, including updates to the interior, Aston resisted the temptation to meddle with its profile. For posing, the £93,000 convertible version may be an even better bet for the less inhibited motorist.

The car's visual appeal means that bumbling through town has its rewards. Idling in traffic, you can enjoy the car's reflection in shop windows while pedestrians turn to look, drawn by the burble from the V8's exhaust. Who needs to go fast when you can get so much pleasure from dawdling?

The good, the bad

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Why buy? The badge, the history, the noise
It is not German
Pretty as a picture
Fast or slow, it is fun

Why not?
Prices between £85,000 and £93,000 - or 15 Kia Picantos
It is not German
Chiropractor bills after hard-as-nails ride
It is an Aston; prepare for quirks