The 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage sits up near the top of our must-drive car list. While we wait for the day that someone hands us the key to fire one up, we can sit back and live vicariously through Jay Leno. Mr. Leno recently got to spend some time with the British sports coupe and was kind enough to capture his experience on camera.
Leno remarks that the V12 Vantage is "almost the perfect combination of hardcore track sports car and GT car." To prove that, he turns the camera over to his tame racing driver, Justin Bell, who brings the car to Willow Springs and puts it through its paces.
You can see now that the transplant was successful, albeit after extensively revising the V-8 Vantage’s front structure. Nevertheless, Aston Martin managed to achieve a nearly perfect 51/49-percent front-to-rear weight balance. The extra mass of the engine, an additional 200 or so pounds, is partly offset by carbon-ceramic brakes and lighter wheels, as well as lighter seats and rear quarter-panels. The total weight of the V-12 Vantage, at around 3700 pounds, is only about 100 more pounds than the V-8 Vantage.
This extra weight is effortlessly neutralized by the V-12's 510 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, available at 6500 rpm and 5750 rpm, respectively. The engine is tuned the same as in the larger DBS and thus catapults this relatively tiny coupe into a completely different league. We pedaled a DBS to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds—a time identical to that posted by the V-8 Vantage. Aston claims the sprint from 0 to 62 mph takes 4.2 seconds in the V-12 Vantage, so we expect it would become the fastest Aston ever well, the fastest Vantage until the One-77 blows past it. Top speed is now 190 mph, up from 180 for the V-8. However, what really makes the difference is the incredible agility and responsiveness of the engine.
Check out Jay and Justin and the 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage in the video below testing this car to it limits on California's own Willow Springs race course definitely a must see!
Aston Martin V12 Vantage Video Click Here!
