Henry Catchpole reviews the new Aston Martin Vanquish on the island of Sardinia in this latest episode of The Driver’s Seat. He tries really hard to steer clear of any references to James Bond but if there’s a famous hotel, a fast boat and an Aston Martin, what’s a chap to do?
Don’t worry, though, it’s not all Roger Moore and Martinis - there is plenty to talk about with this final piece of Aston’s three-car puzzle. The DB12, Vantage and now Vanquish are all front engined and rear-wheel drive, but each has a distinct character. The 2+2 DB12 was described as a Super GT, while the Vantage is clearly the more sporty offering. But what room does that leave for the Vanquish?
Well, as it turns out, the Vanquish is capable of being the best GT of the trio. However, it is also possessed of a rather brutish side, with a penchant for graffiti. Without even trying, the pale roads of Sardinia were left tattooed with tyre marks in every area of hard acceleration. If you turn the traction control off then the marks get darker still, but the Aston reveals a very refined form of unruliness with its E-diff doing an ace job of making things controllable.
The new Vanquish costs from £333,000 or $429,000, which puts it in direct competition with the new Ferrari 12Cilindri. Both cars produce over 800bhp from V12 engines (with no hybrid assistance, unlike the Lamborghini Revuelto) and transmit it all to the road via the rear wheels alone. The Italian is a little lighter and quicker, but the Brit is faster and while the naturally aspirated Ferrari makes do with 500lb ft of torque at 7250rpm, the twin-turbo Aston has 738lb ft (or a nice round 1000NM) of torque from 2500rpm to 5000rpm.
We’d be intrigued to know which you would have, given the choice. Maybe you’d rather have the new, hybrid V8 Bentley Continental GT… or are 12 cylinders a deal breaker? Let us know in the comments down below. We hope you enjoy the film - if you fancy supporting the Hagerty YouTube channel, then please do give the film a thumbs up or just click on this link to find out more about the Hagerty Drivers Club: https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club/
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