FIRST DRIVE ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGE:The V12 Vantage won't be a common sight, but PADDY COMYNhas it on his wish list
THERE IS something unique about the Aston Martin experience. No matter how many times I roll up to the gates of the factory in Gaydon, there is always the same feeling: of preparing to be in the presence of something very beautiful, special and fast.
It can’t be a good time for the British sports car brand. The company is small, by the standards of its competitors, and doesn’t have endless streams of revenue behind it. With a company like Porsche, set to have the VW might behind it, does Aston Martin have a future? We certainly hope so, especially when it keeps making its cars better and better.
Take the Vantage. This was Aston Martin’s entry-level car – where you start in your Aston Martin career. It is a natural rival to the Porsche 911 – fun to drive, easy to get the hang of and fast. Well, it has just got a whole lot faster. Matt Clarke, Aston Martin’s communications manager, driving me from Birmingham Airport to the factory, tells me the new V12 Vantage is superb and I’m thinking, “well, he would say that”.
Aston Martin has added a 6-litre V12 that produces 510bhp and 570Nm of torque to the most compact sports car and the results, on paper, are good. Just 4.2 seconds to 0-100km/h (which is very fast) and its top speed, allegedly, is 305km/h. As we turn the corner into Aston Martin’s plush headquarters, the Magma Red V12 Vantage sits beside the other reason I’m here – the DBS Volante. Both in the same new colour, with the same new lightweight forged aluminium wheels. As days at the office go, this is up there with the best.
The V12’s engine bay is an exercise in cosiness. There isn’t a millimetre to spare, with some of the engine cover filed down to make room for the bulging bonnet. The new engine has added weight, compensated in part by thinner sport seats, carbon fibre trim and even a thinner carpet. There are new side sills, a racing-style carbon-fibre air-splitter and, at the back, there is a new bumper and different tailpipes. A sport button on the dash, it is explained to me, leaves the waste gate open pretty much all the time – in effect, it is the “loud” button for the already vocal car.
After the usual ceremony of starting an Aston – which involved slotting a jewel-like key into the dash, we were off. The V12 Vantage has a manual gearbox, quite a heavy clutch and a not-too delicate biting point.
Kick down on the throttle (sure you would have to) and all twelve cylinders fire at will. The only way I can describe the sound is like fireworks going off under some burning gravel. It is ferocious, as is the acceleration.
The new engine and some of the changes to the car have transformed it. The V8 Vantage is good, but there’s always the feeling that it isn’t showing its full potential – but with this much power and that much engine it is superb.
The Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres need time to heat up before they start sucking, hoover-like, into the tarmac, but when they do, the power is useable and instant. This is a no-nonsense sports car. In the hands of a fool, it would – rather quickly, we’d imagine – spell trouble.
You can tell if you’re not properly lined up before you put the power down coming out of a bend, where the car squirms and the ESP system gives you a clip around the ear. Thankfully, the brakes, which are carbon ceramic, are good, without feeling snatchy, and never show any sign of fading, no matter how hard you are on them.
But not everything is perfect. The sat-nav is fiddly, the clutch makes parking a bit of a chore and 16.3l/100km on the combined cycle (17mpg) in old money is going to mean spending a lot of time at the pumps, but let’s not dampen down an otherwise interesting fantasy.
The steering could do with a little bit more feel, too, but the car still steers so accurately that when you turn hard into a bend, the car responds gracefully. Sure, the ride is firm, but not bone-shaking and anyway, you feel that this car is more intended for Monaco than Mullingar.
For most of us, the Vantage remains confined to our dream garage, and with this new V12, Aston is making a strong case for a place there.
But with Aston Martins turning up at car auctions beside Transit vans and Nissan Micras as Celtic Tigers try to offload them, it’s safe to say that the chance of seeing one of these cars in Ireland any time soon is pretty slim.
Meanwhile Bond loses his head
YOU MIGHT know the Aston Martin DBS from the last two James Bond films. It is, or rather was, Aston Martin's flagship, before the One-77 arrived and, as is tradition within Aston Martin, the roof was eventually removed and now you can have a Volante version.
And it is achingly good-looking. Our test car, in Magma Red, was the sort of car that people would – and did – stop dead in the street to look at. Young, old, man, woman and child stopped and stared. One person actually applauded. This is the effect a car like this can have.
The same V12 as the Vantage is under the bonnet, mated to a Touchtronic six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
The DBS is a 2+2, so there are two small seats behind the front two, suitable for kids or luggage, and the roof is heavily insulated so, when it's up, your passengers will be as warm and cosy as if they had a metal roof above their heads.
But where's the fun in that? If you're going to irritate people with your wealth, you may as well go one step further and do it in a convertible. Press the button, up to 50km/h, and the roof neatly tucks away in 14 seconds, without compromising boot space. Then you get to properly hear that V12, which is particularly awesome without the auditory limits of a roof.
The DBS is a mammoth machine that chews up and spits out everything it comes across – tight hairpins, miles of motorway or slow-moving cars – with poise and grace. It features the new Bang Olufsen BeoSound DBS as standard, that adjusts to whether the roof is down or up and the result is staggeringly good.
The Touchtronic automatic is really excellent and well-suited to a car like this, which is perhaps one of the ultimate grand tourers. At around €300,000 if you wanted one here in Ireland, it's hardly cheap, but hey, who's counting?
This is a different car to the Vantage, more suited to a cross-continent drive rather than a point-to-point blast, but stunning, nonetheless.
V12 VANTAGE
Engine: 6-litre V12 putting out 510bhp and 570Nm torque
Transmission: rear mid-mounted six speed manual gearbox; alloy torque tube with carbon fibre propeller shaft limited slip differential
0-100km/h: 4.2 seconds
Max speed: 310km/h
L/100km: 16.3
CO2 emissions: 388g/km (tax band G; €2,100 road tax)
Price: €220,000 (estimate)
DBS VOLANTE
Engine: 6-litre V12 putting out 510bhp and 570Nm torque
Transmission: rear-mid mounted Touchtronic 2 six-speed gearbox with electronic shift-by-wire control system
0-100km/h: 4.3 seconds
Max Speed: 307km/h
L/100km: 16.3
CO2 emissions: 367g/km (tax band G; €2,100 road tax)
Price: €300,000 (estimate)