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2025 Aston Martin Vanquish has power and purity

Online Niel October 28, 2024

Aston Martin introduced the DBS Superleggera in 2018, which feels like a generation ago in automotive history. Technology has evolved since then, but 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish was revealed in 2024, as the successor to the DBS Superleggera largely shrugs. It’s a bit old school and all the better for it.

In an age where nameplates often sound like they were spat out of a random name generator, Aston Martin is reviving the Vanquish name last used in 2018. The new model replaces the DBS Superleggera, which replaced the second-generation Vanquish , which replaced DBS. , which replaced the first generation Vanquish… notice a pattern? It doesn’t take a huge stretch to imagine that a Roadster Volante it’s coming, but right now the Vanquish is just coupes.

And what a coupe! Although The Vanquish and The DBS Superleggera Sharing the proportions, Aston added around three inches to the new car’s wheelbase by increasing the wheelbase to accentuate the GT’s classic lines. Design chief Marek Reichman’s team has created a sleek silhouette unencumbered by bench-sized fenders that look like a racecar, but the Vanquish isn’t exactly what I’d call subtle. It looks fast even when parked. No one will guess that there is a 1.0 liter 3 cylinder under the hood. But he doesn’t wear the “I’m going to punch you in the nose” style. Reichman points out that every design cue is functional: the giant grille increases airflow by 13 percent, for example.

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish, Ronan Glon photo

Aston Martin Vanquish: V-12 and purity

The clean lines of the carbon fiber body set the course for the rest of the Vanquish. Here’s what you won’t find on the spec sheet: a hybrid system, rear-wheel steering and a head-up display. It’s just the essentials, including a big, mid-mounted V-12 up front and jumbo-sized carbon-ceramic brakes. Like rivals Ferrari and LamborghiniAston Martin is fighting to keep the V-12 alive as long as possible. It’s not a legacy concern or a way to show off your rebellious side. It’s more of a business decision.

Keeping the V-12 “reflects what our customers want,” Simon Newton, Aston Martin’s director of vehicle performance, told me. “There’s real interest in the V-12 and the classic GT architecture of having an internal combustion engine and rear-wheel drive.” He only wants to embrace technology when it makes sense. His team considered using rear-wheel steering, but decided it wasn’t necessary. Instead, they tuned the steering for low-speed agility and used the electronic limited-slip rear differential (a first on a V-12-powered Aston Martin) to achieve sharp handling at higher speeds.

It’s not like Aston Martin doesn’t have a smaller engine in its arsenal. While the Vantage and DB12 Using a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 borrowed from Mercedes-AMG and tuned in-house, the Vanquish gets a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V-12. Its predecessor ticked that box as well, but Newton points out that his team kept only the old engine’s bore, stroke and V-angle. Engineers have updated almost everything else to unlock more power while keeping emissions in check. The engine block, connecting rods and cylinder heads are among the new parts, and the turbos now run faster. The numbers speak for themselves: the new Vanquish delivers 825 hp and 740 lb-ft of torque, up from 715 and 663 respectively in the regular production DBS Superleggera. The V-12 spins the rear wheels through a rear-mounted 8-speed automatic transmission and carbon fiber driveshaft.

The 825bhp is massive, but it’s the torque that you feel first. The V-12 develops maximum power at 6,500 rpm, while peak torque is from 2,500-5,000 rpm. It’s happy hour at the torque meter: the curve is shaped like a coffee table, not like a mountain range. This gives the Vanquish relentless acceleration that’s only interrupted by the transmission’s quick and smooth shifts.

The Aston’s 3.2-second sprint from 0 to 60 mph feels extremely precise. Newton’s explanation that his engineers only weave technology when there’s a good reason to do so echoes in my mind as the road opens up and I accelerate from 45 to 75 mph in an instant. Where is the turbo lag? There’s a microscopic amount of it if you really want to mess with it, but the new Boost Reserve system keeps him in check. In the brand’s words, this feature “increases turbo boost pressure beyond what would normally be required for any given part-throttle position, so it’s ready to go when full power is needed.” You don’t feel it happening, it doesn’t take away your drive to put it away for later, but you know it’s there when you put it to the floor and the engine responds with an urgency like a fire alarm.

And yet, there is much more to this car than numbers.

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish

Aston Martin Vanquish: A grand tourer with a loud side

One of the Vanquish’s best features is its nebulous concept of versatility. It’s a grand tourer that’s happy to cruise at highway speeds, but it’s also happy to show off its livelier, louder side on a twisty road. Materials like carbon fiber and aluminum keep weight to a reasonable 3,911 pounds, and pushing the engine close to the firewall provides a 51:49 front-to-rear weight distribution for balanced handling. This is where Aston’s less-is-more approach to technology shines: the Vanquish stands out as a driver’s car.

Bilstein-supplied adaptive dampers shared with the DB12 and electronic rear differential help the Vanquish feel relatively nimble through sharp corners. It is very impressive because it is not a small car. We don’t talk about a Mazda Miata. At about 192.5 inches long and 80.4 inches wide, excluding mirrors, it’s about 2.5 inches shorter and 4.5 inches wider than a Toyota Highlander. The steering also plays a part: it’s excellent, both in weight and feedback, and makes this big GT easy to enjoy. While some supercars are boring when driven at 50% of their capacity and intimidating when behind the wheel, the Vanquish rides a more rounded wave. This is reassuring because the Sardinian roads used for media transport are sized for compact Fiat hatchbacks, not Aston sports cars.

It’s not entirely old-school. Like the vast majority of its peers and rivals, the Vanquish has a number of driving modes that change its character. GT is the softest, followed by Sport and Sport+, and Individual mode allows the driver to create a unique setup. The distribution between these profiles is noticeable: Sport makes the suspension firmer while letting more of the V-12’s song into the cabin. Sport+ takes things even further, though it’s admittedly a bit too harsh for daily driving.

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish

Aston Martin Vanquish: Sporty yet luxurious

In mundane conditions, the Vanquish really lives up to its grand tourer status. To call the cabin spacious would be a stretch, but it’s not cramped either. It’s a pleasant place to travel, even when you’re stuck behind a Renault Kangoo in pre-peak traffic, which is getting thicker by the minute. It’s also amazingly well built; Aston has made an effort to use materials that are pleasing to the touch as well as the sight. And that’s what a GT should be: sporty and powerful, but also comfortable and luxurious. If you’re tired of hearing the V-12 sing, there’s a Bowers & Wilkins with 15 speakers sound system ready to take over.

The driver-based design approach permeates the user interface. The driver faces a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and on the center stack is a 10.3-inch touchscreen for Aston’s in-house developed infotainment system. That’s it. There’s no passenger-side screen or dash-level display to give you the impression you’re sitting in an iPad on steroids. The brand has also kept the physical buttons on the center console, including a volume knob, climate control switches and drive mode selector. Overall, the interior is a massive improvement over the DBS Superleggerawhose center stack looked like a hangover from the mid-2000s.

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish, Ronan Glon photo

2025 Aston Martin Vanquish

Driving an 800+ horsepower supercar is a memorable experience regardless of the brand logo on the steering wheel, but what makes the experience memorable differs from model to model. By sidestepping an electronic overdose, Aston Martin has delivered a car for enthusiasts who are more interested in heritage than technology. We would have called that industrial suicide a few years ago, but here again a lot has changed since the debut of the DBS Superleggera. Authenticity sells at this level of the market, and the Vanquish delivers with the poise buyers expect from an Aston.

At $429,000, the 2025 Vanquish sits at the top of Aston Martin’s regular production lineup (excluding special projects such as valkyrie). It won’t stay there long: Valhalla it is scheduled to make its debut before the end of 2024 as the brand’s flagship, in terms of power and technology, but also probably in terms of price. Sounds like England’s answer to Lamborghini Temerario.

It won’t land like some kind of super-Vanquish. Instead, it will have a 998-hp plug-in hybrid built around a mid-mounted V-8 engine. It’s totally different from the Vanquish and it will be interesting to see which high-performance recipe the brand’s buyers prefer. Act fast if you’re on Team Vanquish: Aston Martin will limit annual production to 1,000 units in the name of exclusivity.

Newton told me that Aston has secured the future of the V-12 until at least the end of the decade, so don’t expect to see the Vanquish trying to appease regulators with a twin-turbo V-6 in, say, 2027. In while it is too early to predict what is to come, it is certain that something is next, and this is a big change.

“In the past, we would have a release followed by a long period of nothing. That doesn’t work,” explained Alex Long, director of product strategy for Aston Martin. “We have a plan to keep pace throughout the life cycle of the car,” he added. In other words, Aston’s days of withering on the vine are over.

— by Ronan Glon

Aston Martin paid for travel and accommodation for Motor Authority to bring you this report firsthand.