Aston Martin Vanquish review – Britain’s Ferrari 12 Cilindri rival

Is there room for big V12-engined GT cars in a world that’s being swept up by ever more stringent noise and emissions regulations, and a move towards electrification? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Ferrari has extended the life of its V12 with the suitably named 12 Cilindri, while Lamborghini has resisted the urge to downsize with its flagship Revuelto. Aston Martin too has stuck to its twelve-cylinder guns, with the mighty Vanquish. 

As the crown jewel of Aston’s series production front-engined models, the Vanquish replaces the DBS Superleggera and goes further in defining itself as a standalone flagship – and a genuine rival to the aforementioned Ferrari. In-keeping with modern-era Aston’s more aggressive, driver-centric philosophy first realised by the DB12 and later the Vantage, the Vanquish promises more performance and dynamic focus than its predecessor without detracting from its GT credentials. 

Some of its core mechanicals are still derived from the DBS, but Aston has totally reworked the dynamics for a more focused feel, while applying wholesale updates to the design and interior. And the twin-turbo V12 engine, which now has a 12 Cilindri-beating 824bhp. Is the rest of the package of Ferrari-beating calibre, and worthy of the £334,000 asking price? Read on to find out. 

Engine, gearbox and technical highlights

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• Massive power and torque from twin-turbo V12
• More vocal than the Ferrari 12 Cilindri
• Aluminium chassis, some carbon panels

The Vanquish uses a new 5.2-litre V12 – five years in the making with a Covid-related delay. Literally everything is new and optimised for efficiency and power – the cylinder block and heads, the reprofiled camshafts, the combustion chamber design, the intake and exhaust, the higher pressure injection system, even the turbos, which are the same size but have less inertia and are faster responding and higher revving. Homologating a V12 to global emissions standards is not the work of a moment or for those with shallow pockets, but we’re glad Aston has managed it and Lawrence Stroll dug deep into his credit line.

Power and torque are not in short supply: 824bhp is the headline figure (214mph and 0-62mph in 3.3 seconds the resulting performance figures), while torque is a massive 737lb ft available from 2500rpm, comfortably out-punching the conceptually similar Ferrari 12 Cilindri.

Meanwhile, the bonded aluminium chassis has been extended by 80mm between the A-pillar and front axle line, which, along with an increase in overall length of 135mm, helps give the new car its long, lithe profile. The front and rear tracks have been widened, by 15mm and 25mm respectively, and there’s a new front crossmember and strut-brace to help increase lateral stiffness by 75 per cent. Suspension attachment points have been beefed up and there’s a solidly mounted steering column for better steering fidelity, particularly on-centre but in transient manoeuvres and at high speed too. 

Unstressed body panels are fabricated from carbonfibre rather than the pressed aluminium saving 40 per cent in material weight and on tooling, too, with Aston committed to building no more than 1000 per year. A closer look reveals that there are quite a few naked carbon bits, notably the roof with its neat swage-lines and the panel between the tiered rear light units that Aston calls the ‘shield’, plus the mirrors and various addenda such as the front splitter, the rear diffuser and the bonnet vents, which help relieve high pressure in the engine bay. Increasing in size and packed with more technology, including ADAS devices, the claimed kerb weight has increased by 65kg to 1835kg.

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The tyres are enormous: 275/35 ZR21 front and 325/30 ZR21 rear, Pirelli P Zeros, AML spec, of course, and preferred over a Michelin for its naturally more absorbent sidewall and Pirelli’s Noise Cancelling System (PNCS) – a series of foam pads bonded to the tyre inner. The tyres are mounted on lovely, thin-sparred wheels, the structure of which has been optimised using computer simulation to remove excess weight (they’re lighter than any previous 21-inch Aston wheel). Standard-fit carbon-ceramic brakes, massive 410mm discs on the front, 360mm on the rear, save a 27kg versus an iron/steel set-up. 

Suspension is by double wishbones at the front and multi-link at the rear, with Bilstein DTX damper technology to deliver a supple secondary ride and strong primary control. Larger diameter anti-roll bars increase roll stiffness, and the final piece of the dynamic control hardware is the first deployment of an e‑diff on a V12 Aston. Unlike a conventional mechanical locking diff, an e‑diff can be open, locked or anything in between in a few milliseconds, offering more opportunity to influence agility and traction. 

Driver's note

‘It fulfils its GT role really well. It carries speed effortlessly, there’s enormous reserves of power and torque. It's such a different character to a 12 Cilindri, less highly strung and calmer, less reactive.’ – Yousuf Ashraf, evo Senior Staff Writer.

Performance, ride and handling

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• Enormous, never-ending reserves of performance
• Tactile and well-balanced handling
• Fabulous as a grand-tourer

The steering efforts are a fraction high, but once you’re into the swing of a few corners, the Vanquish feels spot on. You get a good sense of what’s going on at the front and the car feels well balanced and agile. It’s keen to turn, and you can be really accurate with it. Its response to inputs is more measured and natural than other recent Astons, so on a winding road you know where you are with it. Consequently, you quickly get into a flow and find a satisfying rhythm. Of course, it’s absolutely ballistic if you want it to be, but it does the comfortable lope too. 

In auto the eight-speed ZF auto finds the optimum gear smoothly and quickly and manages the 737lb ft of torque. But since it’s such a great sounding engine that you want to hear it working through the revs, so select manual, use the paddles and enjoy the feeling and sound of the V12 getting its shoulder behind the mass of the Vanquish. Despite the weight, it’s not long before the V12 is reeling in the horizon, its note guttural at first then a glorious howl. 

On the move it’s plenty fast enough in GT, but ramp things up to Sport or Sport+ and the throttle response is stronger, the performance harder-edged and more insistent. The whole car tenses up slightly and there’s always a slug of instant urge when you crack open the throttle. The credit isn’t all down to the lighter, faster-accelerating turbos; the Vanquish has ‘boost reserve’, a system that anticipates throttle demand and on part-throttle builds boost in readiness for the next request, thereby delivering crisper responses. And while boost reserve may win back fractions of a second in response that would otherwise be lost, in the grand scheme it matters not. 

The scale of performance in the Vanquish is so epic, so monumental, it’s almost irrelevant. Find a decent straight, nail it and hear the V12 roar as it accelerates with such solid determination that it feels like it’s going to keep piling on the speed at an unabated rate until you run out of nerve, or road, or hit 214mph. 

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Dynamically, the Vanquish is pretty well balanced, its static distribution split 51:49 front-to-rear. Attack a corner and you get the sense of how hard each axle is working through the steering wheel and the seat of your pants, so you can predict what will happen if you inject a chunk more power into the mix. You can also get a feel for how the car will behave unrestrained by disabling the stability control systems but using the software’s scalable traction control to creep up on the limit of rear grip. The Vanquish loads up evenly, more throttle will jink the tail out – what else? – but grip is exceeded and returns relatively easily for such a big, potent car.

Some of that finesse comes undone slightly on really bumpy roads, however. Here the Vanquish’s steering can weight up significantly and the suspension fights the road at times, rather than flowing over it. By comparison a 12 Cilindri feels more delicate, sharper and racier. The Ferrari doesn’t sound as evocative as the more muscular Aston, but the responses from its powertrain and chassis are more vivid and exciting. The Lamborghini Revuelto? That’s probably an unfair comparison, being a fully fledged carbon-tubbed supercar rather than a GT, but it delivers a level of excitement, nuance and intensity that neither the Aston or Ferrari can match. 

Driver’s note

'Because the Vanquish is a very big car, on narrow roads you're conscious that you need to place it very accurately. It's precise enough to allow you to do so, but the need to manage the width is often on your mind on the most technical sections.' – Yousuf Ashraf, evo Senior Staff Writer.

Interior and tech

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• Quality, feel, and smell are all on-point
• TFT screens still a long way from the best
• Lovely details offset by some older switchgear

The dashboard design is familiar from DB12 and Vantage, which is great from a style perspective, not so great from an HMI angle because the typefaces used in the TFT screens are still way too small. Satin-finish carbon trim spans the facia, contrasting with the smooth leather, and further contrast is provided by the ‘parmesan grater’ grills for the multiple Bowers & Wilkins speakers.

There are some lovely touchpoints, including the stubby gear selector and the knurled rotary switches that sit either side. It’s a shame there are a few hangover bits from the DBS, such as the switches for the electric seats and door mirrors, as they do jar slightly. There are no rear seats this time but the rear buckets of the DBS were more ornamental than practical. 

evo Car of the Year 2025 – result 

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The Vanquish finished 9th out of twelve contenders at 2025’s evo Car of the Year test, but it finished within one point of our fifth-placed car, demonstrating how closely packed the mid-field was. Still, for all its V12 charm and brutish character, the big Aston couldn’t quite live with the top contenders. At the start of the year, we returned from the launch declaring it the best Aston yet, but in a later group test it finished third behind Ferrrari’s 12 Cilindri and Lamborghini’s Revuelto, two cars it faced up to again here, with a similar outcome. 

‘Better than it was when we drove it in the UK, and it’s so fast and handsome,’ was judge John Barker’s summary. 

‘I liked it to start with but didn’t love it,’ said James Taylor, ‘but then I had one of my favourite drives of the test the next day, where it felt so confidence-inspiring and so driveable.’

Henry Catchpole thought the Vanquish had more in its dynamic locker than previous big Astons that had taken part in eCoty. ‘There’s plenty of pace and adjustability,’ he said, though its heavy steering was a minus for him and others. The Vanquish also took time to get under Yousuf Ashraf’s skin, which he put down to the space it occupies on the road. A great GT car was his conclusion, but the weakest of the three V12s here.

Price and rivals

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Aston Martin’s new flagship costs from £334,000, a figure that cannot be taken lightly. You might point out that Ferrari charges a similar amount for its new 12 Cilindri at £336,500 before you go anywhere near the options list, but Ferrari tends to have more market pull at this level. Still, the Aston can certainly mix it with the 12 Cilindri when it comes to performance and offers its own, more brutish dynamic flavour, and a much more opulent interior. 

The Aston and Ferrari are very much in a class of two. Above them is the £450k Lamborghini Revuelto, a mid-engined supercar and a very different proposition to a traditional GT, but the most exciting and dynamically capable car on sale, full stop. 

In the sub-£300k bracket there’s a greater selection of conventional GTs, such as Bentley’s Continental GT Speed (£236k). It’s just as plush as the Aston but with a greater focus on comfort and refinement, sacrificing ultimate driving thrills. The lightened, non-hybrid and more hardcore Continental GT Supersports could close that gap when it arrives later this year. 

Aston Martin Vanquish specs