For such a
small company, Aston Martin’s product output seems to be in hyper-drive. It’s
as if every other month we’re reviewing a new model, with the Vanquish, Rapide and DB9 appearing recently. And now the V12 Vantage
S is making a great case for sports car ownership.
Regarded by
many as the prettiest Aston of all, the Vantage began life with a V8, evolved
to a V12, and now has an uprated 12-cylinder to justify its new V12 S
designation.
This model
replaces the previous V12 Vantage and power has risen from 510hp to 565hp. And
while this is the same output as the new Vanquish engine, it’s not exactly the
same motor.
Aston Martin's V12
Vantage S is a car that will really appeal to the true enthusiast
The AM28
V12 in the Vantage shares the architecture of the Vanquish engine – same block,
bore, stroke and heads – but it has new Bosch management and dual variable
camshaft timing among its upgrades, providing smooth throttle response and
near-instantaneous grunt.
The V12 S
also gets the seven-speed Sport shift III transaxle, rather than the Touch tronic II in the Vanquish. And to be honest, this is where
the new car received most of its criticism.
While the
Touch tronic is a fully automatic transmission with
manual paddle shift control, the Sport shift is an automated manual. To all
extents and purposes, both are operated in the same way: either select D on the
dash-mounted gear buttons or tap one of the paddle shifters for manual
operation. The differences are internal, with the Sport shift having a greater
track focus, perhaps explaining why it wasn’t popular on the road. Our test
driver reported a ponderous shift at anything but high speeds, causing jerky
progress in the $185k sports car – far from ideal.
The Aston's 5.9-litre
V12 produces a not-insignificant 457lb ft of torque
And, of
course, the traditional manual transmission is no longer available; something
that might have resolved all the issues. However, the carmaker reports very
little interest from its customers in having a third pedal, so the market has
spoken (even if the market was wrong…)
Amid the
slight controversy, Aston Martin wanted to prove there was method to the
madness, and made the V12 Vantage S available to us at the Palm Beach
International Raceway in Florida.
Although
rather short and flat, the track did offer a high-speed straight and several
technical turns to illustrate the car’s prowess, so we set about exploring its
ability.
Aggressive bonnet
vents hint at the monstrous power plant underneath the Vantage's bonnet
Since we’ve
already covered the car in a previous First Drive (EC 2/14), we’re
concentrating here on its sporting character. And the first highlight was the
Sport button that altered throttle response, shift
speed and exhaust note when pressed. The V12 already sounded good but with this
button activated, it was spectacular, and surely one of the main reasons people
will buy the car.
In fact,
the car has a new exhaust based on the One-77 super car
from several years ago, bringing less weight, bulk and an improved aural
performance.
