F12 v Aventador v Vanquish - Hell’s Twelves (Part 1)

Can Ferrari’s F12 Berlinetta match the GT credentials of the Aston Martin Vanquish and outperform the wild Lamborghini Aventador? We head to Italy to find out…

As we hurtle through the beautiful foothills of the Apennines, I feel like I’m playing a high-stakes, high-speed version of that fairground game where you have to guide the hoop along the electric wire without touching it.

We’re late and the road that’s twisting and turning in front of me of me sopping wet. These are not ideal conditions to Cosy up to a hyper-alert, 730bhp Ferrari F12 for the first time. Even half the horsepower available to my right foot feels like plenty to light up the lightly treaded rear Michelins in a dead straight line, let alone on the exit of a corner. It’s not just the power that’s intimidating either: I’m also trying to delicately guide the Ferrari’s V12-filled nose into bends with steering so sharp it makes broken glass look a bit woolly. In short, I currently need as much tightly focused brainpower as I can muster, and possibly a bit more.

In order to test the F12 to its very limits, there is 1255bhp and a whole lot of carbon fiber waiting patiently up in the mountains

When I slow for villages, the layer of wide-eyed concentration subsides and is almost instantly replaced by an excited anticipation about the two days ahead. In order to test the F12 to its very limits, there is 1255bhp and a whole lot of carbon fiber waiting patiently up in the mountains. The Ferrari claims to be both GT and supercar, mixing front-engined packaging and civility with exotic, F1-inspired ability. So we thought we’d test each facet to the maximum by creating one of the most mouth-watering group tests imaginable – Ferrari versus the best V13 GT on the market, and Ferrari versus the best V12 supercar available.

Half an hour later, I’m pulling up at the side of the road. Ahead is another front-engined, rear-wheel-drive V12 clad in similar dark red paintwork, only this time with a pair of Aston wings on its nose. Between the Aston and the Ferrari, there’s a slice of matt-black Lamborghini with its scissor door open and a set of huge orange calipers gleaming behind enormous wheels. Then, obligingly, the sum breaks through the clouds.

This is going to be a hell of a test. But first, allow us to introduce the rivals…

The GT challenger

The Aston Martin Vanquish is here because we can think of no grater GT car. Sitting at the top of the current Aston range, it’s a wildly desirable V12 GT that distils everything Aston Martin has learnt from 12 years of aluminum construction, plus a significant degree of carbonfibre know-how from the One-77 hypercar project.

Aston Martin Vanquish

Wrap these attributes in an achingly beautiful piece of automotive art and you have a compelling, multi-cylinder example of British exotica that should be able to stand toe-to-toe with the best that Ferrari can muster. If the F12 Berlinetta can genuinely combine GT credentials with supercar performance, it has to be able to match the refinement, usability and feel-good factor of the Vanquish.

So what kind of firepower can the British car bring to the shootout? On paper, it’s comprehensively outstonked by the Ferrari (and the Lambo): with 565bhp, the Vanquish offers a colossal amount of horsepower in any scenario bar one that includes, erm, a 730bhp Ferrari F12 and/or a 690bhp Lamborghini Aventador.

Subtle exterior gives Vanquish perfect GT-car look

But torque is a more useful weapon on the road and with 457lb ft the Aston surrenders just 52lb ft to the Italians which both provide an identical 509lb ft. The Aston is the only car here with an automatic gearbox, but an auto is better suited to the GT character of the car than the head-banging single-clutch automated manual in the Lambo and the lightning-fast twin-clutch’ box in the F12.

There’s a lot to like about the Vanquish, but I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that we’re taken it all the way to supercar central to get its pretty backside thoroughly spanked by the Italian. You could be ignored…

Simplified carbon-clad center console

The Vanquish also does a brilliant job of being a sports car. It’s fast, beautifully balanced and suspended with a precision that lends it too fast, dynamic driving on quick, open roads – roads like those we’re just about to drive. We know it won’t be as fast as the Italians, and it may not deplete your adrenal gland quite as quickly, but that’s not the point of the Vanquish. It’s here because it’s the car you’d choose to actually drive to Italy, skate around on the edge of grip in for a couple of days and then drive home. For many, that’s far more impressive than F1 levels of horsepower or comic-book styling.

And let’s not forget that in this company, it’s exceptional value too.