ASTON MARTIN BRINGS BACK THE VANQUISH ONCE MORE
Some car names live for decades, some only last a single generation, and some have the chance to return from the dead. A very rare few even manage to do the latter more than once. Aston Martin first retired the Vanquish name for its range-topping grand tourer in 2007, replacing it with the DBS. A second-generation Vanquish then followed in 2012, before being replaced by the DBS Superleggera in 2018.
But that rebranding didn’t stick, and six years later, Aston is bringing back the Vanquish name again. Will the third time be the charm?
With the exception of the Valkyrie hypercar, the new 2015 Vanquish will be the most powerful street-legal Aston Martin to date, with a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-12 producing a peak of 823 hp. That figure just surpasses the recently-announced 818-hp Ferrari 12Cilindri, which will be the Vanquish’s most obvious rival. On torque, the difference between the luxurious competitors will be much greater, with the Aston’s maximum of 737 lb-ft nearly 50 percent greater than the peak 500 lb-ft of the naturally aspirated Ferrari. The Vanquish will also have the higher top speed — 214 mph to 211 mph — but it will be slower off the line, with its claimed 3.3-second 0-60 mph time being 0.4 seconds longer than the Ferrari’s.
The new Vanquish’s design has been significantly upgraded over that of the DBS Superleggera, which shared its core structure and some external panels with the cheaper DB11 that sat beneath it in the hierarchy. Although the new Vanquish sits on the same core architecture as its predecessor and its chassis is still made from bonded aluminum, it has a 3.1-inch longer wheelbase than the DB12.
The Vanquish’s bodywork is all carbon fiber, and no parts are now shared with the cheaper model. Aston insiders say the Vanquish grew from a project commissioned by the company’s executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll, to create a one-off car for himself. Who better to know what billionaires like than an actual billionaire?
The resulting design is certainly more predatory and aggressive than the genteel DBS. “If I were to put this in the animal kingdom, this is basically the king of sharks,” Marek Reichmann, Aston’s chief creative officer, told Road & Track at a preview of the car. “If you look at that face, how it cuts back, this is a great white. This is a great white attacking its prey.”
At the rear, the Vanquish gets a large carbon fiber panel between its lights, a feature that — like the black wing elements on the Ferrari 12Cilindri - is certain to be very color-dependent. Lighter shades will exacerbate it, darker ones will partially hide it. Despite the aerodynamic shaping necessary to ensure high-speed stability, the Vanquish does not have a moving rear wing element, just a small ducktail integrated into the top of the tailgate and a substantial underbody diffuser.
Although beautifully finished, the interior is less radical — the Vanquish follows the lead set by the DB12, Vantage and DBX707 with Aston’s new dashboard and UI system. As such, the Vanquish uses a near-identical center console layout, with the combination of physical control gear and a new 10.2-inch touchscreen positioned above it. The steering wheel layout, with controls integrated into two of its three spokes, is also shared with the DB12. On first impression, the Vanquish’s cabin is an area where it still feels a little close to its less-expensive siblings, although it will feature the option of a very elegant fitted luggage set positioned behind the two seats.
The new V-12 is an update of the 5.2-liter twin-turbo engine that powered the DB11 and DBS Superleggera. Aston says this has new cylinder heads, camshafts, conrods and low inertia turbochargers. It has also been given an innovative “Boost Reserve” function to reduce lag, by allowing the turbos to create excess pressure that can be immediately released to the intake manifold in response to big throttle demands.
“No matter where you are in the rev range or what speed the turbos are spooled at, you have charged air ready to go,” explains James Owen, Aston’s senior manager of vehicle engineering.
The noise of the engine has also been carefully tuned, with Owen saying Aston even resurrected an original Vanquish S so engineers could study the sound of its exhaust. Buyers of the new car will be able to choose between stainless steel and titanium systems.
The V-12 exclusively drives the Vanquish’s rear axle; Aston isn’t following the lead of AMG and Maserati in launching all-wheel-drive GT coupes. Like the DBS Superleggera, the Vanquish has a rear-mounted eight-speed automatic gearbox, but unlike its predecessor, it also has a torque-biasing rear differential to help find traction for its huge output. Adaptive dampers and carbon-ceramic brakes will be standard, but there won’t be rear-axle steering or an active anti-roll system.
Aston says that no more than a thousand copies of the new Vanquish will be produced every year, although company insiders admit that number would mean significantly increased volumes over those achieved by the DBS Superleggera. Pricing alone will doubtlessly ensure exclusivity; Aston hasn’t confirmed this yet, but we can safely expect a base price higher than the $335,000 DBS Superleggera coupe.