motor

HeilSvenska · 12-11-2007, 12:53 PM

Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Sexiest Aston Martin ever (all over again)?

Aston Martin chief Ulrich Bez continues his hot pursuit of the best from Ferrari, this time with a scorching V12 Vantage RS road car. Powered by a 600-hp V12 borrowed from the DBRS9 racer, the 3500-pound car clocks sub-4.0-second 0-to-60-mph times and hits a top speed of 200 mph, near that of Ferrari's 599 GTB, Aston says.

Billed as a concept, the car, revealed on Dec. 11 at the opening of Aston's design center in Gaydon, is likely to find its way into production next year as a limited-edition model priced above the flagship DBS. Besides the engine, the Vantage RS also gets performance parts such as carbon-composite brake discs.
-Autoweek

On a side note, Aston Martin confirmed that the DBS will return for the next Bond film. (we knew that already) Even so, I bet Bond feels a bit shortchanged now.

fabro_s · 12-11-2007, 01:28 PM

I dont like the idea, why?, you got the chance with the DBS to make a real beautiful beast, I know it made a really excellent time in the TG track, but like Jeremy said, its a DB9S and thats what it is, they could really made the DBS a 599 beater or a good SLR competitor like the 599 is, but they didnt, now they want a 600 hp Vantage?, I bet its not going to beat neither the F430 or the Superleggera...

HeilSvenska · 12-11-2007, 04:12 PM

The original article has been removed.

12-11-2007, 05:16 PM

The color choice isn't the most inspired, that interior looks horrid and the car isn't my cup of tea, the DBS is a class above design wise.

HeilSvenska · 12-11-2007, 10:06 PM

The color shouldn't be too bad in real life. The DBS I saw at the LA show had the same color, I think. It's not pretty. But the awesomeness of fitting a race V12 in a tiny car is too... awesome. Besides, they won't make enough to worry the DBS. I guess they just wanted to try something hardcore... for fun. *From what I see, it has a pop-up rear spoiler.

RS kicker

Well, we didn't see this one coming. Last night, Aston Martin invited 700 VIP guests to its Gaydon HQ for the opening of its new design centre and then casually pulled the covers off this 600bhp Vantage RS concept.

Engineers have shoehorned a modified version of the 6.0-litre V12 from its DBRS9 production class racer into the Vantage to create its fastest accelerating road car ever - capable of reaching 62mph in four seconds and 100mph in just 8.5.

Part of the key to achieving those stats is an intensive weight-loss programme. Like the recent DBS, the RS features a moulded carbon-fibre bonnet and bootlid, which helps to bring the new car in at close to 1500kg. That's less than the standard V8 despite carrying the heavier V12.

Even more impressive - unless you're a mechanic - is how far back the engine is positioned. It's buried right at the rear of the bay to achieve a near-perfect 51/49 weight distribution.

Other motorsport inspired kit includes carbon-ceramic brakes, that awesome louvred bonnet and a few metres of ducting to keep things cool. There's also a carbon front splitter and a deployable spoiler on the back that pops up at speed for added downforce.

We pressed Aston boss Dr Ulrich Bez on whether the RS will make production but he wasn't yet ready to commit: "We'll listen to feedback on this and if there's sufficient demand then we'll seriously consider a low volume production".

And if you wondering about the price, he simply added 'it would reflect the exclusivity of the car'. That should push it past DB9 territory, then.
-Top Gear

CMonakar · 12-12-2007, 01:56 AM

Bravo!

JoeHahn · 12-12-2007, 03:30 AM

Fail,

Everytime Aston brings out a car, there is always something that faster than it, is cheaper than it but the Aston usually looks better. This thing will not weigh ~1500kg, in real life I'd close to bet my house it would be upwards of 1650 and it can still only manage 100mph in 8.4. Now this Aston is slower than its competitors (still), will be front heavy and in the end is uglier than the standard V8. British media/Aston propaganda at its best.

stmoritzer · 12-12-2007, 05:13 AM

Vantage hardcore, why not - this car had a laack of power since the beginning

pitfield · 12-12-2007, 05:30 AM

Originally Posted by JoeHahn

Fail,

Everytime Aston brings out a car, there is always something that faster than it, is cheaper than it but the Aston usually looks better. This thing will not weigh ~1500kg, in real life I'd close to bet my house it would be upwards of 1650 and it can still only manage 100mph in 8.4. Now this Aston is slower than its competitors (still), will be front heavy and in the end is uglier than the standard V8. British media/Aston propaganda at its best.

Not really what Aston is about. And yes, obviously MI6 have a special department working on creating a worldwide ideal for Aston Martin.

Don't be a tool.

ferrari550 · 12-12-2007, 11:09 AM

^^^i agree. Why would aston make their smallest, cheapest starter model and give it the most power and make it the fastest? They could have put all this power and agressive styling into the DBS and make it really stand out and compete. (I do not believe the DBS time on the Top Gear board as well. Jeremy is very very biased to british cars and just wanted to say that astons are fast like porsche and ferrari, i don't by it). Right now the DBS looks wayy too similar to the other astons and is wayyy to expensive compared to a DB9. Sure the DBS is nice looking, but i don't know why someone would really pay the difference between the DBS and DB9. I believe aston martin had all the tools to make a great DBS that looked different to the rest of the range, faster then the rest of the range and have a really competitor to the 599, alfa, etc... I think they failed with the DBS and i think this V12 Vantage RS will be a great car, i just think it is kind of pointless and aston is trying to fix their mistake.

rave426 · 12-19-2007, 11:22 AM

Wow.......I actually dont like it.

I have never disliked an Aston's looks. That thing looks retarded.

Give me a DB9 and I'm Good.

Vansquish · 12-19-2007, 01:45 PM

It looks too ricey, I'm sure that the performance will be pretty decent, but it's based on the same VH-platform that underpins the DBS and DB9, so it's not exactly going to be a flyweight. The nice thing about this platform is that the front ends of the DB9, DBS, and of the Vantage are all exactly the same structure, just with slightly different mounting points with the V8 vs. the V12, so the engineering "effort" to slot the V12 into the Vantage's front end isn't all that impressive. The V12 also weighs more than the V8, so the Vantage won't handle as well as the normal version in all likelihood.

As for the looks...the bonnet looks like someone took a knife to it to try and make it look like a cheese-grater. I'm not impressed by it at all, as the DBS's and even the old Virage Vantage V600 had better-designed bonnets (and IMHO, that's saying something, as the V600 was kind of an ugly brute of a car). The color choice is terrible, and the interior looks pretty terrible, especially when compared with the classy standard interior and the jazzed-up version of the same that's in the DBS. Come on Aston Martin, you can do better than this!!

rave426 · 12-20-2007, 04:41 PM

It looks like they primed it, and some idiot had a clever idea to not paint it.....jeez