Aston Martin V12 Vantage: Final fire with 700 hp V12

newsabc August 15, 2022

0 3 4 minutes read

electric? For real? Yes, there are increasing signs that the next Vantage will be electrified. Whether as a pure e-racer or hybrid has not yet penetrated.

When the Brits showed up on the Nordschleife with a prototype about a year ago, the fans were delighted. Fat grand piano, wide body and a sound to die for. It quickly became clear that Aston would once again produce a V12, traditionally so to speak.

Because the twelve are nothing new in a Vantage. In 2007 a concept car with the V12 from the DBRS9 race car was shown, and in 2009 the 510 hp Vantage was finally available for purchase.

2017 Beginning of a new Vantage era

The V12 Zagato followed in 2012, then the V12 Vantage Roadster, and in 2013 the V12 Vantage S, which was one of the first to take part in our super test. In 2015, a Vantage GT12 was added, a street racing car with lightweight construction and parts from the GT3 racer.

Then in 2017 the marriage with Mercedes-AMG and the beginning of a new Vantage era. With the AMG technology and fresh design, the intention was to achieve significantly more than just the usual enthusiasts.

With success, since the start of construction significantly more cars have been sold than in previous years. And the new one with its 510 hp AMG V8 biturbo drove really well. Not quite as perfect and fast as an AMG GT, the interior also lacks a bit of modernity, but all in all a really good sports car.

All 333 vehicles sold within two hours

And is this supposed to be over now? Let’s put it this way, this V12 Vantage is at least the farewell of this era. And we want to celebrate that. The best way, of course, is to do a real test. After all, the thing with its 700 hp has to be really fast.

The test mules on YouTube definitely impressed. But then the disappointment, there will be no test cars, all 333 vehicles were sold within two hours. Not even a driving report? A no on the first try.

Finally it came, the long-awaited call. You can drive the V12 Vantage, which is intended for the in-house museum, shortly before it is decommissioned. Not just anywhere, right on the streets surrounding the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon near Birmingham.

5.2 liter twin-turbo V12 from the DB11

Nice, get on the plane and go. Arriving at Aston Martin Lagonda, we expected a Vantage in classic green or grey. Nothing there, an almost Ferrari-red V12 is there.

In short, the technical features: 5.2-liter V12 biturbo with 700 hp from the DB11, eight-speed automatic transmission with faster switching, new anti-roll bars (front 5 percent harder, rear 41 percent softer), stiffer springs, firmer support bearings, stiffened body, sharper Steering, 40 millimeters wider track, wide body, rear wing for 204 kilos of downforce. And: bonnet with horseshoe-shaped ventilation opening as a homage to the wild GT12.

Get in on the right, slide into the optional carbon shells, ignition, start and then ears open. Wonderful, the sound is new, can’t be compared. Or is it?

He can curve

You can also hear a bit of Lamborghini Aventador. Let’s go, the steering impresses from the first meter with much more precise work than we have experienced from Aston Martin so far. The newly tuned adaptive suspension, on the other hand, copies the road surface quite faithfully to the buttocks.

So be it, the thing just looks like a racing car. And you can also forgive a gear that shuffles through the gears in D mode, as well as the outdated navigation. Anyway, the road is clear, fire!

The transmission picks the gears under full load really rabidly in the rear axle. Unfortunately, the V12 lacks this brutality somewhat. He roars well, but 700 hp have to shred even more.

There are faster ones in its power-to-weight ratio class. He can curve. And how, he snows casually through fast bends, in tight bends he confidently draws black lines. The prance in the rear is never mean, but wants to be parried.

What would be possible at the Sachsenring? He should easily undercut the 1:34.16 minutes of the last F1 Edition by two seconds.

Specifications and price: Aston Martin V12 Vantage

• Engine V12, biturbo, front longitudinal
• Displacement 5204cc
• Perfomance 515 kW (700 hp) at 6500 rpm
• Max. Torque 753 Nm at 5000 rpm
• Drive Rear wheel / eight-speed automatic
• L/W/H 4514/1962/1274mm
• curb weight 1795kg
• trunk 346L
• 0-100km/h 3.5s
• Top 322km/h
• Consumption 13.5L SP
• Exhaust CO2 not specified
• Price from 299,500 euros

newsabc August 15, 2022

0 3 4 minutes read