Is the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage as hardcore as the V12 RS concept?
We’re afraid not. The bright blue V12 Vantage RS concept that Aston unveiled at the opening of its Gaydon design studio in December 2007 featured a 600bhp V12 from the company’s DBRS9 racer, with the oil tank for the dry-sumped engine filling the Vantage’s boot. To make the V12 concept a reality, the engine is essentially the same 5.9-litre V12 you’ll find in the DBS. The plumbing is slightly different (and there are some carbon bonnet vents to extract the extra heat), but you still get 510bhp and 420lb ft, plus active valves in the exhaust that woofle on start-up, bark monstrously when you blip the throttle and cry loudly when you home in on 7000rpm. With dry-biased Pirelli Corsa tyres, the V12 isn’t exactly soft, but sat-nav is standard and the concept’s RS tag has been dropped. Why? Because the concept was ‘thrilling but frightening,’ according to Aston CEO Dr Bez, and ‘absolutely not the car we would have produced.’ I guess the big V12 adds a few extra kilos to the Vantage? A full
