It has been 10 minutes since I stepped out of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS, and my fingertips are trembling on the keyboard. This should not have been a surprise to me, as the V12 RS is the most powerful and quickest car ever to sport the Aston Martin wings. If the production version that goes on sale for about £150,000 midway through next year is anywhere near as exciting as this one-off prototype, it will cause an absolute sensation.
On the face of it, the V12 Vantage RS is little more than a standard Vantage with the DB9’s V12 engine shoehorned into it. Okay, the heavily vented bonnet and enlarged rear wing should give a clue, yet they don’t prepare you for this engine being a pure racing unit as powerful as that in the DBR9 racer.
Nobody is talking precise numbers, but there’s general agreement that it produces at least 600bhp. The car also has semi-racing suspension, carbon-ceramic disc brakes and a kerb weight of 3,300lb – some 286lb less than the normal Vantage despite the greater weight of a 6 litre V12 over the 4.3 litre V8. The savings have been made by removing soundproofing, airbags and air-conditioning, and fitting a number of carbon-fibre panels.
The RS has about the same power as Ferrari’s quickest car, the 599GTB, but weighs some 880lb less. So all other things being equal, in a drag race between the Vantage and Ferrari’s fastest, the Italian stallion would be left choking in the dust of this very British bulldog. Again, no numbers are quoted, but 0-60mph in 3.5sec and 0-100mph in 7sec won’t be far from the truth.
Frankly, I’m staggered they even let me drive it, let alone drive it as fast as I possibly could, because it’s the only one in existence. Its performance was so explosive and its reactions so immediate that I realised just how soft, damped and compliant even the most entertaining sports cars have become. And I realised that even in uncut form I prefer the Vantage RS approach.
There are no electronic safety nets – traction control is provided by your right foot – and if you take liberties with the car it will reward you with the most direct route to a painful encounter with the undergrowth. But treat it well, take charge without abusing it, and you will emerge bursting with pride that you tamed so feral a beast.
I drove it at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France on the same day that Aston was testing its Le Mans racers. Usually, putting road and racing cars together on the same track is a recipe for carnage due to vast speed differentials, but while the Vantage’s lack of slick tyres and huge wings meant it couldn’t stay with the racers in the corners, on the long straights it was so fast that it gained on them. I only backed off at 170mph because a lack of downforce on the front end made it wander across the track.
When the car goes on sale, issues such as this and the disconcertingly inconsistent response of the brakes will have long since been ironed out. My only worry is that people at Aston Martin will feel the need to further sanitise the car, detune the engine and load it with all sorts of heavy, needless gimmickry in an attempt to justify what is bound to be a fairly steep list price.
There is no need: this car will be built in tiny volumes: David Richards, Aston’s chairman, told me he envisaged making just 600 over three years. When the V12 Vantage RS takes its place in the marque’s lineup, it will do so at roughly the same time as the four-door Rapide, which will be the most cossetting and sumptuous Aston ever made. Something is needed at the other end of the scale to balance it out and show that Aston Martin has not gone soft in its old age, and there is no better machine to do that than the one you see before you here.
So please, Mr Richards, I know the law will require you to put back the airbags and emissions equipment, but everything else is down to you: when you’re told the production version must be softer, slower and more forgiving . . . just don’t listen to them.
Vital statistics
Model Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS
Engine type 5935cc, 12 cylinders
Power/Torque 600bhp @ 7000rpm / 501 lb ft @ 5600rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual
Fuel/CO2 n/a
Performance 0-60mph: 3.5sec approx. Top speed: 205mph approx
Price £150,000 approx
Verdict The best car Aston Martin has ever made
Date of release Summer 2009
The opposition
Model Ferrari 430 Scuderia £172,500
For Power unit; uncompromising nature
Against Expensive; not as pretty as it should be
Model Porsche 911 GT2 £131,070
For The fastest Porsche; easy to drive
Against Very pricey; not as involving as a GT3
