2025 Aston Martin Vanquish review: V12 GT is glorious

Hurtling across a mountainside at some unmentionable speed in the new Aston Martin Vanquish, I was moved to wonder whether it is possible actually to have too much of a good thing.

I mean what could be better than a mighty V12 howling away in front of you, spinning obscene power down a carbon-fibre shaft to a gearbox between the rear axle driving the rear wheels alone? Well, yes, that gearbox could have manually selectable ratios, but that particular horse bolted many moons ago. Other than that, not much.

Ignore the 0-62mph time because, rapid as it is, it says everything about the traction limitations of its design and nothing whatsoever about the true level of performance. The reality is this car is as fast as you want it to be, even on a wide open, deserted road like this. Just press harder, and faster it will go until, shortly thereafter, a calm cool voice in your head will say “enough”. But it’s only when you’ve stopped at the far end of the road and are sitting there reliving the experience do those other words form in your head and gnaw at your brain. “Too much?”

You can see why. The V12 now produces 824bhp, essentially double the output of the V12 from which it is derived was installed under the bonnet of the DB7 Vantage a quarter of a century ago. Remember those wonderful, brutish ‘Oscar India’ V8 Vantages which were just about the fastest things on four wheels in the late 1970s and early 1980s? It’s over twice as powerful as they were, too.

To harness all that potential, Aston Martin has had to almost start again with the car into which it is installed. If you hear anyone saying it’s essentially a DB12 with a big motor installed, feel free to ignore them. For a start the platform has had to be extended to accommodate the lengthy motor, and its track widened too. The body is largely carbon fibre rather than aluminium, the brakes ceramic as standard and, of course, the DB12 is now a V8 only.

The V12 itself has been extensively modified over even the 770bhp version seen in the final DBS, with faster reacting turbos and redesigned intakes and exhausts to ensure it can breathe freely enough to liberate all that power. Then again, Aston Martin is asking a breathtaking additional £145,000 over the cost of a DB12 for this Vanquish so ‘the same but more so’ wasn’t really going to cut it.

I was surprised how much I liked the look of it in the open, having not much warmed to it in the studio. I was cruel enough to park it next to Ian Callum’s magnificent original Vanquish from the turn of the century and even that failed to make the new car look awkward. The interior is essentially that of the DB12 with chintzy bits added and if owners expect more for their third of a million, they can always curate the cabin of their dreams with the help of Aston’s Q bespoke department and a suitably inflated bill. Note too that, unlike the DB12 coupé, the Vanquish is a strict two-seater.

And a beautifully judged one at that. For all its power and pace, this is no super or hypercar, that position being reserved for the Valhalla we’ll hopefully drive before the year is out. It’s hard-edged, but still a traditional grand touring Aston Martin. In default GT mode the ride is probably less good than that of the rival Ferrari 12Cilindri, but still more than good enough. Even without ever breaking a speed limit, it’s a nice place to pass the time, which is an essential component of an Aston.

“Drive it like you’ve loaned it off the press fleet and its true talents emerge”

Drive it like you’ve loaned it off the press fleet and its true talents emerge, alongside its few flaws. The engine is a masterpiece. It wouldn’t work as a Ferrari V12 which demands natural aspiration, enormous revs and a sharp exhaust note, but in an Aston its deeper, richer voice is what you hope for. The only curiosity is a lack of torque low in the rev-range, an observation I’ve had cause to make about the DB12. In that car’s case its smaller engine with its higher specific output and consequentially lower compression ratio explains it, but it’s there too in the Vanquish, though perhaps not in so pronounced a way. Thereafter I love the way the torque has been managed to create an engine that builds in urge with every additional crankshaft revolution.

The handling is assured right up to limits most should not be going near, but you still have to be careful not to overdose the rear axle with all that torque. It never snaps but will move smartly if unsettled by a surface change while under power. And you can tell the balance has shifted forwards compared to a DB12 which, unlike the Vanquish, actually puts the majority of its weight over its rear axle. The V8 is just a little more willing to change direction.

This is still a magnificent machine and for those in search of the ultimate, when only 12 turbocharged cylinders will do, this is the best Aston flagship I’ve driven by some margin.

Aston Martin Vanquish

• Price £330,000
• Engine 5.2 litres, 12 cylinders, petrol, turbocharged
• Power 824bhp at 6500rpm
• Torque 738lb ft at 2500rpm
• Weight 1910kg (DIN)
• Power to weight 431bhp per tonne
• Transmission Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
• 0-62mph 3.3sec
• Top speed 214mph
• Economy 20.7mpg
• CO2 312g/km
• Verdict Firing on all (12) cylinders