Aston Martin Vanquish review

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V12-engined super-GT arrives with lofty ambitions. What’s the reality?

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Aston Martin is seldom far from the headlines. In 2025, there is more talk of debt piles, the trimming down of the workforce and share price woes. It is enough to make you wonder if the company will ever make the leap from being “a high-potential business to a high-performing one”, as new CEO Adrian Hallmark, formerly of Bentley, recently put it. It is, in short, easy to feel a little downbeat.

But then something like the new Vanquish shows up for its full road test and you wonder, for a moment, how the company that makes such a machine isn’t also making money hand over fist in the process. We sometimes talk of cars needing to ‘succeed as an object’, and when it comes to this subjective trait, few if any do it as reliably well as whatever the latest V12-hearted super-GT out of Gaydon happens to be.

Flagship Astons are never quite perfect, and in the coming pages we will explore what this 824bhp rival to Ferrari’s 12Cilindri (we can agree the Brit has the better name, surely?) does well and where it is lacking. But the ability of this new Vanquish to awaken the inner 10-year-old petrolhead in driver and onlooker alike is beyond doubt.

This is a poignant car too. The third coming of the Vanquish – a lineage that stretches back to 2001 – will most likely be the last to feature 12 cylinders. If nothing changes in a regulatory sense, then 2028 will be the final year of production. Even today, Aston is capping the number of examples at 1000 annually in order for the company to meet its fleet emissions obligations. The knock-on effect is that the Vanquish will be a more uncommon sight on the road than either the Ferrari or Lamborghini’s 1001bhp Revuelto.

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So this Aston will have an alluring rarity. And we know that it will have an ungodly turn of pace (stay tuned to discover just how ungodly). But real success for the Vanquish means combining its speed with palatable long-distance manners, and dancing on the line between thrilling, expressive handling and trustworthy, A-to-B poise. Owners won’t thank their car for scaring them witless on what should have been an enjoyable road, no matter how effortless the preceding miles.

Equally, an Aston like this needs a hint of fear factor. Also good practicality. And specialness. It’s a tall order for any car aiming to be the world’s finest super-GT. Is the Vanquish that car? Let’s find out.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Despite the unimaginative (or perhaps the appreciably subtle?) spec of our test car, there’s no doubt that the Mk3 Vanquish is a striking super-GT with perhaps the most predatory silhouette of any front-engined, series-production Aston to date – which is saying something.

The bulbous snout of the old DBS Superleggera – the model that preceded this Mk3 Vanquish and a Vanquish in all but name – has been toned down and the front of the car is essentially a super-sized interpretation of what we have already seen on the Vantage. To our eyes, this is no bad thing, but the real fireworks are reserved for those in the rear-view mirror.

The exhaust tips are more prominent than ever, and you can fit an optional titanium system, which saves around 10kg and gives the V12 an even shriller note at the top of its 7000rpm rev range. We’d have it.
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

The back of the car looks faintly Shelby Daytona-inspired, with a Kamm-tail style and a curving Gurney lip. Visually, it takes a bit of getting used to, especially the enormous central panel, which can be painted body-coloured or has the carbonfibre left exposed, but we consider this a successful attempt to move Aston’s design language on. It certainly gives the Vanquish monumental presence. Note also that the body is a fully carbonfibre affair, and there is certainly no shortage of it either.

In terms of footprint, the new Vanquish is a mite narrower than the Superleggera but it’s 14cm longer, most of that increase coming from inside the wheelbase, specifically between the A-pillar and front axle. The car’s 2885mm wheelbase is also considerably longer than that of the new Ferrari 12Cilindri, which also has rear-steer – tech the Aston still goes without. Is this a limitation? We’ll soon see.

Meanwhile, the kerb weight is a claimed 1835kg and we weighed this car at 1952kg, with its 82-litre tank full. That represents a 42kg gain on the Superleggera tested in 2018 and tallies with the increased size of the Vanquish. Ferrari, for context, claims a dry weight of 1560kg for the 12Cilindri, though in our experience this means the Italian car will hit around 1770kg in running order. We will verify that later this year. Meanwhile, Bentley’s hulking new hybrid-V8 Conti GT Speed is a passenger shy of 2500kg.

This time around, the Vanquish’s bonded aluminium chassis is new, rather than being adapted from a lower-rung Aston (it would have been the DB12) and is said to be 75% more laterally stiff than that of even the DBS 770 Ultimate – a special edition of the DBS Superleggera that took the senior Aston GT to new heights of power, panache and price in 2023. Suspension is by double wishbones at the front, where a new strut brace gives increased mounting stiffness for Bilstein’s DTX adaptive dampers (borrowed from the DB12, but with a fresh tune). Further stiffening comes from a thicker front undertray, and there’s another one found under the back axle, with its multi-link layout.

Prise open the bonnet (now rear-hinged, losing the Superleggera’s clamshell) and there it is: 824bhp and 738lb ft of UK-designed-and-made V12, tucked juicily back towards the scuttle. Aston has redeveloped its biggest engine for this car. Now made by Grantham-based Autocraft Solutions (after the closure of Ford’s Cologne engine plant in 2021), this 5.2-litre mill may have the same cylinder dimensions and bank angle as before, but it has been largely re-engineered, with the block and conrods strengthened. The cams have been reprofiled and there are repositioned spark plug and higher-flow-rate injectors than those used for the 5.2 in the DBS Superleggera.

New induction and exhaust systems also make for better combustion and onward gas flow. Smaller, 15%-faster-spinning turbochargers enable more broad and responsive torque production, which exceeds the output of the naturally aspirated 12Cilindri by 238lb ft.

There’s also a new Boost Reserve feature, where turbo pressure is generated beyond the level required on part-throttle, so that turbo lag is reduced should the driver suddenly ask for more shove. It’s a take on ‘anti-lag’ that today is a little more acceptable than squirting fuel into a hot exhaust and it achieves its goal by balancing the throttle flap position and the ‘intelligent’ wastegate in the turbos. To the driver, the level of thrust is commensurate with the position of the accelerator pedal, but the system is actually accumulating boost pressure in the background.

Downstream of the V12 is an eight-speed ZF transaxle, which shares a housing with the limited-slip differential. For the first time on any V12 Aston, it is electronically controlled and can transition from fully open to 100% locked in 135 milliseconds. Its response is also plumbed into the hard-working ESP. 

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INTERIOR

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Relative to the DBS Superleggera, the Mk3 Vanquish improves on usability but appears to have lost some sense of occasion in the process. The dashboard is neater, certainly, and visibility better, but you don’t feel quite so embedded in the belly of the beast, or perched right over the back axle, with your eyeline barely cresting the scuttle.

For some, the Vanquish’s (slightly) reduced intimidation factor will of course be welcomed. This is an exceptionally wide and long device given it offers only two seats and it requires acclimatisation when navigating cities and B-roads alike. Many will also welcome the sense of space resulting from the fitment of a large panoramic glass roof panel – something the Superleggera was never offered with, and that makes the Vanquish relaxing company.

Equally, some will also find the cabin architecture and the fittings too close to those of the Vantage. There are limits to how much a low-volume maker can diverge its various models in this respect, but a more sculpted dashboard or a unique cowling for the instrument binnacle may have been warranted in a car that costs more than twice as much as the Vanquish does.

Nonetheless, the Vanquish’s cabin is still an expensive-looking one in term of materials and switchgear, and in the prevailing standard for fit and finish. There are knurled metallised knobs and switches to lure your fingertips, and plenty of tactile materials besides. Walnut, ash, metals and carbonfibre are all yours at the tick of an option box, and despite the monochrome scheme of our test car there’s no shortage of available colours for the supple leather upholstery. The digital instrumentation is pretty clear and readable, too, and in general this feels a modern cockpit with some old-world lavishness.

The touchscreen infotainment set-up is unsurprisingly transferred from Aston’s other models. It’s a little less easy to navigate than some touchscreen systems and a bit less responsive too. But it’s furnished with smartphone-mirroring compatibility (at least, for those with an iPhone) and remains a step forward from where Aston was on digital technology a couple of years ago. There is also wireless phone charging inside the armrest, where you’ll find two USB-C ports as well.

Luggage space remains an issue for Aston’s flagship V12. There’s less boot capacity in the Vanquish than in the Vantage (see ‘In the boot’, below). And while there is some luggage space behind the seats, in the form of little terraces above and below an artfully integrated, carbonfibre-ensconced lateral brace, it’s not a hugely useful arrangement and getting the best out of it relies on the owner having bought a set of four satchel-type bags. They do look lovely, mind.

In the boot

With luxury GT cars, there’s often a surprising amount of cargo capacity in the boot. This is not the case with the Vanquish and it’s one of the few real weak spots in the package. At 248 litres, there’s nearly 100 litres less space than in the smaller Vantage, though in fairness the junior car does benefit from having a hatchback, whereas the Vanquish has a compartment that is entirely cut off from the main cabin (which benefits rolling refinement). Nonetheless, the Vanquish still trails its direct rivals. Ferrari 12Cilindri? 270 litres. Maserati Granturismo Trofeo? 310 litres.

The Aston’s capacity will suffice for weekend trips, but for anybody planning on staying away from home for a week or two, perhaps while using their Vanquish abroad and acquiring the spoils of a good European holiday along the way, the shortage of carrying capacity could make you wish you’d taken the DBX instead.

Aston does insist that the boot will take a set of golf clubs, and to prove it you can even option a branded golf bag made by Callaway, replete with covers for your clubs. There’s also a luggage set comprising two flight cases and four holdalls, all of which, we presume, will fit snug in the boot.

Inside the cabin, the previous Vanquish (2012-2018) had back seats but these were done away with for the DBS Superleggera. The latest model continues in the two-seat vein, though there is a reasonable amount of storage space behind those seats, even if it is set out in such a way that larger items of luggage are ruled out. It does feel as though the designers could have unified the upper slots to create a single large, flat, horseshoe-shaped space for more luggage.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Prod the hefty ‘engine on’ button and a starter motor whirrs away somewhere in the distance, in characteristically extended Aston Martin fashion, before the V12 fires cleanly with a primal gargle. It is quite the curtain-raiser, and this is still with the Vanquish in its buttoned-down GT running mode.

For performance testing, Sport+ is required and it is just as well that we have MIRA at hand, because to experience the Vanquish at its full, wonderfully effusive, monstrously quick potential, you really do need the expanses of an empty industry proving ground at your disposal.

Aston doesn’t prioritise standing starts when it comes to gearbox calibration but 3.1sec to 60mph is nevertheless world-class for this type of car and is more than half a second quicker than our time for the DBS Superleggera. The Vanquish’s new, 20mm-wider rear Pirellis help make use of its additional 109bhp, and while step-off itself is steady, almost immediately thereafter the chassis electronics do a deft job of limiting slip while allowing maximum forward motion. Triple figures come up after just 6.2sec, which matches to the very tenth the lighter Ferrari 812 Superfast – a car only marginally less powerful than the Vanquish and from a philosophical standpoint very much a snarling supercar in GT drag.

Fact is, launching a Vanquish is initially a bit undramatic. It’s only when the tyres are fully hooked up from the top of second gear onward, and the ESP can lower its guard – allowing 738lb ft to flow unfettered to the back axle as each new gear engages and the crank is returned into the furnace of the V12’s broad torque band – that you start to feel the car in full flight. And it is then breathtaking. Figuratively and literally.

There’s also immense satisfaction in wringing this V12 to its 7000rpm limit. Its ferocity doesn’t noticeably taper under the strain of increasing rotational inertia. Instead, it spins freely and sounds superbly tuneful, just when an engine of a blown nature and vast scale might begin to wilt. There is, admits Aston, a synthesised element to the intake and exhaust note, but it’s subtle and realistic and we didn’t mind it. Hold onto a big gear and the way the V12 changes in sonic character is always entertaining.

You won’t be surprised to learn that there is also satisfaction to be had at the foot of the rev range, where downshifts are also optional. Peak torque develops at 2500rpm and the car’s 3.9sec 30-70mph time in fourth gear highlights the scope of its immense tractability. Even the electric-assisted Revuelto could hardly go quicker in this metric. The uptake of boost is brutish from 2000rpm, but once you’re beyond that point, tip-in response is fairly neat and manageable and the delivery linear, if not anything like as precise as it is in the 12Cilindri.

It all makes the V12 enjoyable company on the open road, where it defines the word ‘effortless’ in its ability to work the chassis at any moment, but will, if you fancy it, always reward a foray to the redline. As for the gearbox, it is effective enough but no joy, sometimes seeming reluctant to downshift in its automatic setting and not offering much tactility if you take manual control (which, usefully, can be locked in with a dedicated button on the transmission tunnel). That said, it rarely inhibits your fun.

Another surprising strength of the Vanquish is its ability to shed speed (useful, that). In fact, the 38.0m required to haul up from 70mph in our final brake fade test elicited a double-take at the datalog. That is 30cm less than the current Porsche 911 Turbo S needed. To our knowledge, the 410mm carbon-ceramic front discs are among the largest ever fitted to a traditional performance car (ie not an SUV).

Track Notes

Aston Martin is unlikely to swap its homologation base for the GT3 racing class from Vantage to Vanquish any time soon, but should an owner of this 824bhp behemoth venture onto a circuit, there’s little to fear and plenty to enjoy, so long as they respect the monumental physics at play.

The Vanquish is a big GT with what amounts to bottomless propulsive force. Through fast transitions, it will take a moment to settle as weight quickly shifts from one side to the other, and while there’s a huge amount of lateral grip to be clawed from the front axle, steering response isn’t hair-trigger swift, as it is in mid-engined supercars. It needs considered inputs. Do that and there’s a base level of control and a predictability to the movements that breeds confidence.

It is, in short, easy to find yourself taking the Vanquish by the scruff, driving it positively and aggressively through corners, and exploring the scope of the V12 more than you thought possible. This wasn’t the case with the previous Vanquish, and while the DBS Superleggera marked a step-change for the better, the latest Vanquish is even better still.

At the limit of adhesion, it also shows a little less of an understeer balance than the Vantage, feeling on the cusp of oversteer a lot of the time, though not in a frightening way (that is, if you don’t want it to be). There’s a multi-stage traction control system too, which allows the driver to lean on the chassis and explore the torque reserves of the V12 in relative security. It becomes accessible when you fully deactivate the car’s ESP.

Turn everything off and you do need to be on your mark, however. Having established traction on the way out of a bend, under full throttle the Vanquish can push its back axle out of line in insouciant fashion, often when you thought you were out of the woods. It’s immensely exciting but, as we say, demands a good deal of respect.

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RIDE & HANDLING

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This Aston was never going to be anything less than an utter monster in terms of performance. But ride and handling? That’s a murkier matter. Not least because how you regard this latest chapter in the Vanquish tale will depend on what you think a modern super-GT should be.

The Mk3 Vanquish is sizeable and lavish but so too is it unapologetic and steely, for better and for worse. It seems Aston has tried to eke out as much bombast and dynamic fury as it can from this package without going so far as to undermine its critical ability as an all-day GT proposition. This is not a straightforward balance to strike. Overcook it and you will end up with something like the wild Ferrari 812 Superfast. Scintillating? Hugely. But unfit for purpose as a grand tourer. Undercook it and the result can be even worse: too much power and not enough control. Sloppiness.

At first, the Vanquish can feel awkward. At low speeds, the body heaves freely but there’s a reactivity underwheel that might have been mitigated with active anti-roll bars. The sense is one of a car both highly strung yet hefty and languid; it can feel out of sync with itself as you guide the acreage ahead of you this way and that. But then again, what 214mph supercar ever relished trundling about in 40mph zones?

Hit quicker roads and the bigger picture begins to materialise. In GT mode, the dampers allow plenty of suspension travel and a fair degree of roll, but the balance is there and it is fabulously good, despite the weight of the V12. From here, you are just a swivel of the mode selector rotary dial from unlocking the prodigious appeal of the Vanquish as a driver’s car.

Tighten up the body control and put the LSD on alert and you reveal the brilliance hinted at in the DBS 770, which was essentially a prototype for the sort of damping, suspension geometry and ESP tuning deployed on this Vanquish – only in the new Vanquish, there is a far stiffer, more responsive base of operations. Even for this class, the Vanquish doesn’t offer the last word in steering feel (it’s perfectly sped, though) but so dependable is the grip of the front axle, so sweet is the mid-corner balance and so willing is the car to alter its attitude on the throttle that you simply won’t care. The Vanquish still isn’t outright agile but its marriage of torque, balance and fluid control makes it such easy fun.

The ESP Track setting remains a key ally too. It allows you to safely prod away at the Vanquish’s limit handling, subtly tightening the car’s line on the throttle and with an ease that makes a mockery of the vast tyres – and the insurance implications of damaging those expensive CFRP body panels…

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Know that care is still required. The Vanquish demands speed to thrive but too much speed and you risk bottoming it out in a way the shorter-wheelbased Vantage or even the DB12 wouldn’t. And, beautifully cohesive as it may be (easily more so than the regular old DBS), the body movements in something of this scale will always need 5% longer to unfold than you will first be expecting, and on a particularly testing B-road the Vanquish will eventually fall out of step with the topography earlier than a DB12 would. Earlier than a 12Cilindri would too? We’ll soon find.

Meanwhile, in the wet, the most sensible course of action is often to pretend you’re trundling from A to B in your Prius. The Wet driving mode is smartly calibrated but so over-endowed is the Vanquish even in the dry that a wet surface can feel like you’ve shortened the final drive by half. Traction’s a commodity.

So the Vanquish is overbearing at times but that becomes justifiable when you show one of these cars a road where its chassis, so joyously easy to manipulate with the V12’s torque, can shine. A thoroughly unflustered motorway gait and an acceptable 69dBA at 70mph seal the deal. The balance of dynamism and refinement here is in keeping with Aston’s brand-wide move into a sportier space but it has, in our opinion, still been sweetly struck.

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MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The Vanquish starts at just over £330k, but with Aston Martin’s Q personalisation department, it’s possible to spend rather a lot more.

This pricing means the Vanquish is positioned uncannily similarly to its 12Cilindri arch-rival and it remains to be seen just how well the car’s residuals will stack up, this being new ground for a series-production model from Aston. Ferrari, of course, has existed in this sphere for several years and with considerable success.

A far as mainstream cars from major OEMs go, the only other V12 option one might cross-shop with the Vanquish is the Lamborghini Revuelto, though the Italian PHEV supercar is rather a different proposition, with an even higher price: £450k.

The Vanquish comes with plenty of kit, including heated and ventilated seats, plus a reversing camera. However, the four-piece cabin luggage, which makes sense of the shelving behind the seats, will put you back five figures.

Our tested touring economy of 25.8mpg translates to a motorway range of 465 miles – a little less than Bentley’s Continental GT Speed and Maserati’s V6-engined Granturismo Trofeo but respectable enough.

VERDICT

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The vivid return of the Vanquish puts Aston Martin’s best-loved format into uncharted waters of price and – oh boy – power.

This car has a stunning ability to explode forwards from seemingly any speed, in seemingly any gear. It also combines this speed with a cabin that’s far friendlier and more digitally advanced than that of the DBS Superleggera it replaces. So too does the revised twin-turbo V12 find itself on sweeter form here than ever before: part thug, part aristocrat, it’s a total joy. And yes, the Vanquish handles.

Equally, there are questions that can be fairly asked. Given the car’s broad remit, its epic scale and its cost, should technologies such as rear-steer and active anti-roll bars have had a role to play in enhancing its capabilities? Should the cockpit diverge more from that of lesser range-mates? Perhaps. Even so, this is a uniquely compelling super-GT.

Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.