Aston Martin V12 Vantage Review: A Last-of-the-Line V12 With Real Compromises

Introduction

There is an unavoidable sense of finality about the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage. As the last of the line for a magnificent era of V12 engines, it arrives carrying exactly the kind of emotional weight you would expect, and then some. Only 333 examples will be built over the next two years, every one of them already sold out. But does a farewell tour guarantee greatness? After time on track at Silverstone and on the roads of mid Wales, the honest answer is more complicated than the price tag suggests.

What You Get for the Money

The V12 Vantage costs £265,000, and on the surface it is everything you would expect it to be. Power comes from the same twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 fitted to the DBS, producing 690bhp and 555lb ft of torque in a car weighing 1,795kg. With the optional carbon fiber rear spoiler and front splitter pack fitted, Aston Martin claims 205kg of downforce, while carbon ceramic brakes come as standard.

Other details are similarly serious. The trick seats save just under 4kg each, and the suspension is dramatically reworked compared with a regular Vantage: a slightly stiffer front end, and a rear end nearly 50 percent stiffer with revised dampers and steering. Surprisingly, the 21-inch tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rather than Cup 2s, which is an odd pairing given how stiff the chassis is.

Performance and Noise

The headline attraction is under the bonnet, and it does not disappoint. The noise the V12 makes is just brilliant, the kind of sound that will be genuinely missed once engines like this are gone. The performance is thundering and comfortably biased towards the top end, with the best part of the delivery arriving between roughly 4,500rpm and the red line, though there is plenty of shove in the mid range too.

Even at around 4,000rpm in fifth gear the car pins you back in the seat. Put your foot down in third on a quiet road and the acceleration is outright outrageous, big, senior, grown-up thundering performance. The brakes deserve special mention too: loads of feel, loads of stopping power, and this is a big, heavy car that stops on a sixpence.

On Track at Silverstone

On Silverstone’s smooth surface, the V12 Vantage goes hard, stops brilliantly and steers well, even if the weighting of the steering system is quite meaty. The brake feel is fantastic, and the driving position feels pleasingly traditional, with the sense of sitting towards the back of a car with a big engine over the front axle and the rear wheels doing the driving.

There are compromises, though. The gearbox in particular struggled to deliver downshifts on demand, although whether that was the software of this particular pre-production car doing something it should not is hard to say. The noise on track is good but not quite epic, and the gear changes are not as sharp as the very best. Still, it is hard to care much when the car looks this good.

On the Road in Wales

If the V12 Vantage is a rough car rather than a track monster, it should shine even brighter on great roads. On the Welsh mountain roads, it did not quite work out that way. Even in the basic Sport setting the car feels too stiff, and it does not feel like a GT car at all. There is a lot of tyre noise, the steering is too meaty and heavy, and the whole thing feels a bit cumbersome on the road.

The drivetrain offers Sport, Sport Plus and Track settings, but even in Track the manual changes are not snappy enough, up or down. The gearbox wants to be quicker than it is. It is easy to feel slightly cruel about a car this beautiful, because the looks make your heart melt and the noises are lovely, but as a road car it is hard to be fully convinced.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The chassis is the elephant in the room. On a smooth track you cannot tell just how stiff this car is in its springs, bars and dampers, and it does not matter much there. On imperfect roads, every one of those settings gets in the way. It is better on the track than on the road, quite a lot better in fact.

Anyone hoping for a do-everything grand tourer should look elsewhere. This is a car for buyers who want a collectible, thunderous V12 send-off and are willing to accept a stiff, noisy, sometimes frustrating driving experience in exchange for the looks, the sound and the performance.

Buying Advice

With all 333 examples already sold out, the realistic advice is this: if you have one on order and you love the way it looks and sounds, you will likely be happy, because the performance and braking are genuinely outstanding. If you wanted a polished all-rounder for the road, the stiffness, steering weight and gearbox calibration are real drawbacks. It is a good car, but not quite a great one.

Conclusion

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage is a fitting monument to a closing era of V12 engines: outrageously fast, fabulously braked and genuinely beautiful. But the verdict is honest rather than romantic. It shines hardest on the track, feels compromised on the road, and leaves the impression of a good car that could have been one of the greats.