A brace of new exterior colours, new ten-spoke alloys offering a 7kg weight saving and new leather trim colours including the deeply suspicious Fandango Pink aside, everything that differentiates the 2015 Vanquish from its predecessor is dedicated to upping the driving entertainment quota and the commensurate size of the passenger-seat wet patch.
What's new on the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish?
Most significant is the first incorporation of ZF’s 8HP automatic transmission into a transaxle layout. Three percent lighter than its predecessor, the new eight-speed Touchtronic III gearbox adds two further ratios to the equation and boasts 130-millisecond shift speeds.Meanwhile, a new Bosch engine management system has gearbox and AM29-spec V12 chatting away with the easy enthusiasm of a first date destined to wind up in the sack. And the 6.0-litre V12’s peak power and torque both rise a whisker, to 568bhp and 465lb ft respectively.
All of which, allied to gear and final drive ratio changes, makes the Vanquish swifter and, relatively speaking, more frugal and cleaner. The 0-62mph dash has been reduced by a stout half second to just 3.8 seconds – making this the quickest accelerating series-production Aston in the company’s 101-year history – and top speed rises to 201mph. Simultaneously, CO2 emissions tumble some 10% to, erm, 298g/km, and average fuel consumption is up to 22.1mpg.
Chassis changes too
Commensurate undercarriage enhancements include the stiffening of dampers by 15% at the front and a whopping 35% at the rear, and 20% stiffer rear suspension bushings. Both brake booster and DSC stability system have been retuned, and the steering ECU has been revised, as has the torque tube to reduce transmission noise in the cabin. Yeah, right... Like you’re ever going to hear transmission noise aboard a Vanquish.The unique vocal signature of Aston’s V12 remains all-consuming. It instantly and irrefutably becomes the defining attribute of any machine within which it is installed...
With a start-up tang of such metallic intensity overlaying the basso profundo rumble of tick-over it’s always something of a surprise not to actually smell blood curdling as the engine barks into life... And, thereafter, a fabulous range of noises vacillate between John Landis’ peckish American Werewolf and that never to be bettered simile: Tom Jones picking up the soap in Strangeways’ showers…
Mercedes-Benz's creeping influence at Aston...
And therein lies entirely the cause of my misgivings on clocking the size of the Mercedes vehicle fleet supporting these Vanquish launch proceedings. To wit: £500 million of investment over the next five years is clearly terrific news, but just how strong is Daimler’s influence at Aston already, how much more dominant is the former set on becoming in the future, and is that glorious noise destined to become an early victim of desperately needed profitability?Design director Marek Reichman is quick to head me off at the pass. The main thrust of the Mercedes AMG tie-in is, he avers, of an electrical-plus-ancillaries nature, intended to assuage such issues as persuading diversely sourced ECUs and gearboxes to talk to each other properly. And, whilst he is a little cagier about future plans for the V8 engine (which will, I suspect, be AMG-sourced and Aston-fettled), he insists the V12 will remain as much an Aston Martin engine as it ever was, and that the noise will remain one of the most sacrosanct attributes of the cars it powers.
Inside the Vanquish's cabin
Hope so, because the dosh could be well spent elsewhere. Unlike the powertrain, the interior’s crying out for a major overhaul. A gratuitously jaunty angle to the air vents aside, there’s nothing wrong with the basic architecture, which has lost none of its visual strength. The thing is, that’s precisely what’s lacking in the attendant switchgear and instrumentation...No matter, because to drive the Vanquish is to forgive it almost everything. Untainted by turbocharging and now abetted by gearshifts as deft as a world-class cutpurse, the powertrain is a masterpiece of smooth, relentless urgency. Peak torque arrives long before maximum power, and the only real reason to properly bend the rev counter needle is for the noise. So this happens. A lot.
A choice of ‘Normal’ or ‘Sport’ powertrain modes opens an attitude crevasse; the engine surprisingly slow on the uptake in the former, but wide awake in the latter. Pulling and holding down one irritatingly undersized steering wheel paddle elicits automatic block downchanges to the lowest available ratio. But where’s the fun in that when you miss out on the successive, suspicious-guard-dog bark attendant to the selection of each fresh cog?
Ride and handling
The most blatant manifestation of Aston’s response to requests for a more extreme Vanquish experience is, however, in that stiffened suspension. A deal of pliancy has been sacrificed even in ‘Normal’ mode, making the car feel notably less gran turismo in its capacity to tackle poorer surfaces. ‘Sport’ mode merely adds rocks to what is already more gristle than blancmange, whist the ‘Track’ setting is stiff enough to shake the ticks off a sheepdog.Let’s hope we still have a few years before Aston succumbs to electric steering, because the current offering is rather wonderful in the manner of a system which is so sorted it requires absolutely no contemplation. It’s beautifully weighted, properly accurate and imbued with lashings of the feel and feedback required when asking a big car to dance to your tune.
The Vanquish boasts stacks of mechanical grip, and may be leaned on to a quite exceptional extent for such a large machine; the more you ask of it the more firmly it tucks its rump into the road surface, settling in with admirable poise. Allied to that delicious helm, this equates to an unexpected degree of agility, the pleasure of placing such a large hooter with such accuracy on smaller, tighter roads marred only by suspension verging on over-tough for the British B-road.
Stick to wide, sweeping A-roads, however, and the Aston is entirely at home, covering ground with magisterial poise, and noise, and responding to your growing confidence in the depths of its abilities with ever increasing pace.
- Engine:
- 5.9L V12
- Power:
- 569 HP / 465 LB-FT
- Transmission:
- 8-Speed Auto
- 0-60 Time:
- 3.6 Seconds
- Top Speed:
- 201 MPH
- Drivetrain:
- Rear-Wheel Drive
- Engine Placement:
- Front
- Curb Weight:
- 3,833 LBS
- Seating:
- 2+2
- Cargo:
- 6.6 CU-FT
- MPG:
- 13 City / 21 HWY
- Base Price:
- $287,820
- As Tested Price:
- $306,695
| How much? | £192,995 |
| On sale in the UK: | Now |
| Engine: | 5935cc 48v V12, 568bhp @ 6650rpm, 465lb ft @ 5500rpm |
| Transmission: | Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive |
| Performance: | 3.8sec 0-62mph, 201mph, 22.1mpg, 298g/km CO2 |
| How heavy / made of? | 1739kg/carbonfibre and aluminum |
| How big (length/width/height in mm)? | 4728/1912/1294 |
There's something really special about an Aston Martin Vanquish. It's not my favorite model in the British automaker's range – I'm more of a Vantage guy, if I'm being choosy. But every time I drive one, I feel like I'm piloting something fit for royalty, $300,000 price tag and all. It's stunning to look at, even in the rather drab shade of gray pictured here. It makes an absolutely killer noise, the free-breathing V12 firing from beneath the hood and out the back with a truly intoxicating sound. And from behind the wheel, it feels like a truly proper grand tourer. Well, almost.
The one major hiccup with the Vanquish I drove last year was its six-speed automatic transmission. In a word, it was awful. Really jarring shifts, delayed manual control through the paddles, and really, just a hugely misaligned piece of an otherwise excellent puzzle. So I was happy to hear that for 2015, Aston Martin had fitted a new, ZF-sourced, eight-speed unit – you know, the transmission being used by automakers like BMW, Jaguar, Audi, and many more. I normally have zero issues with this silky gearbox. But in the Vanquish, it wasn't smooth sailing like I expected – it feels like it still needs some final calibrations. But that doesn't make this car any less special.
Drive Notes
- I love this engine. The 5.9-liter, naturally aspirated V12 makes 569 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, and it absolutely loves to rev. That's a good thing, since the siren song of the Vanquish's V12 is most pronounced at higher engine speeds. In fact, it's not really all that audible right from the get-go. You have to work it up past 2,500-3,000 rpm before this thing really starts to sing. But when it's turned up to 11, it's one of the best-sounding engines I've ever heard.
- That said, getting the Vanquish going is kind of an awkward process. There's a surprising momentary lack of power delivery right at throttle tip-in, and then the Vanquish suddenly jolts forward. It's alarming – I found myself raising an eyebrow and yelling "GO!," especially when trying to quickly merge into the traffic flow. But it'll go, when it's ready, and hitting 60 miles per hour takes just 3.6 seconds.
- The transmission is still an issue here. When left to its own devices, it doesn't have a problem finding the right gear for the occasion, but the actual shifts don't fire off with the smoothness and quickness that I've come to expect from this tranny in other models. Even when using the paddles, it's an often rocky affair – far more akin to an older-generation automated-manual transmission rather than something fluid and modern. It takes away from the otherwise excellent driving experience.
- By excellent, I mean the Vanquish moves down the road like a GT should. Fast, smooth, and well-tuned for long-distance cruising, while still offering enough feedback through the steering and chassis to inspire confidence from the driver's seat. The brakes are excellent, and it feels pretty light and nimble (for its 3,833-pound heft, anyway). It's no track star like a Vantage, but it'll likely out-handle competitors like the Mercedes-Benz S63/S65 AMG Coupe or the Bentley Continental GT.
- It looks absolutely brilliant while doing so, too. Aston's design language is indeed getting a long in the tooth, but no one will argue that the Vanquish isn't a pretty car, especially with all of the exposed carbon fiber bits seen on this test car. Big wheels, flowing lines, and seriously wide rear hips give this thing an impressive stance on the road. And that booming V12 exhaust note doubly ensures that this Aston will generate head-snap reactions from folks on the street.
- Inside, it's mostly what you'd expect from any $300,000 car – fine leathers and materials, screwed together nicely and free of creaks, squeaks, rattles or other obscenities. The front chairs, seen here in contrasting gray and leather orange (which I kind of like, truth be told) are both very supportive and really comfortable. The rear seats are pretty much useless, except as a place to put gift bags or maybe your briefcase, but up front, the cabin is relatively spacious and overall, pretty nice.
- The only issues with the Aston's cabin continue to be its tech – it's just dated, really. The pop-up navigation/infotainment screen looks tacky, the controls are clunky and the graphics look old. That said, the center stack is relatively free of clutter, with prominent pushbuttons for P-R-N-D, and other logical setups for radio and heating/cooling controls. It's kind of a shame, though, that Mercedes does a far better interior, full-stop, at roughly half the price of this Vanquish.
It's charming, this Vanquish, but its age is definitely showing. And the new eight-speed transmission doesn't do enough to improve the driving experience over last year's model – it needs further calibration to become the great gearbox we know that it can. That said, you can't argue with the Vanquish's presence and style, or the fire-breathing sound of the V12 engine underhood. It's damn special, alright – but I'm starting to think that might not be enough anymore.
UPDATE: Aston Martin has informed us that the Vanquish test car driven here had a transmission malfunction during the time of our loan. The company has passed along this statement:
On reading the review we took this Vanquish – one our original media launch cars – for further analysis and found the transmission control unit was running an old, pre-production version of the control software which in turn, being out-of-sync with the transmission, resulted in a reduced level of gearbox performance.
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