Yahoo Autos Aston Martin Vanquish Returns as the Brand's GT King
The Vanquish nameplate returns as the de facto replacement for the DBS, which bowed out after 2023.
The new 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish will be the top model in the GT lineup, pricier and more powerful than the DB12 and the Vantage.
U.S. deliveries are set to begin just before the end of the year, and pricing starts at $429,000 plus destination.
There are a lot of V names at Aston Martin. There's Vantage (the entry-level sports car), Volante (Aston-speak for convertible), Valkyrie (the multimillion-dollar hypercar), Valhalla (a hybrid supercar), Valour (a recent ultra-limited-production model), Valiant (another), and Vanquish. The last one has historically represented the top of the food chain among the brand's GT cars, with the first generation appearing in 2001 and a second in 2012. Now the Vanquish name is returning on a new top-dog GT, which steps in for the recently retired DBS. And although the new Vanquish looks like an evolution of the DBS, or of the one-step-down DB12, it is in fact a new car from the ground up. Yet it's one with a distinct reverence for the past.
In many ways, the Vanquish is notable for what it doesn't have: hybrid assistance, all-wheel drive, a dual-clutch gearbox, rear-axle steering, even electrically driven turbochargers. Equally telling, the car is powered by a freshly designed V-12 engine, at a time when other automakers are abandoning their 12s for smaller-displacement alternatives, often with electric assistance.
A Fresh V-12
"I think the big switch in where [the] V-12 sits in the market is that it's only applied to very special products. If a V-12 is twinned with a very special product, you'll have that ongoing demand," says Alex Long, head of product and marketing, who notes: "We won't bring the 12 down from Vanquish. That's a change in strategy." He also adds: "The engine will see us at least until the end of the decade. It's an engine for today, but it's also one we can further evolve."
Its 5.2-liter displacement matches the previous Aston V-12's, but James Owen, senior manager of vehicle engineering operations, describes it as "a new engine from the ground up. There is nothing that is carried over [from the previous V-12]. It's got a new block, new heads, new intakes, new exhaust ports, new turbos."
The turbochargers are strictly exhaust driven, and they incorporate an overboost function. Owen says this engine revs faster than its predecessor, although peak output spans a wide rev range, from 2000 to 5000 rpm.
That output is 824 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, versus 759 horsepower and 664 pound-feet in the final version of the DBS, the DBS 770 Ultimate. "It was really important to go beyond where we'd been before," Owen says. Top speed is given as 214 mph—a new high-water mark for the brand—and the zero-to-60-mph time is a claimed 3.2 seconds, while 100 mph happens in 6.2 seconds.
Putting Power to the Pavement
As in other Astons, the V-12 spins a carbon-fiber propshaft connected to a rear-mounted ZF eight-speed torque-converter transaxle. For the first time, however, the 12 is paired with an electronically controlled rear differential. The rear transaxle and the front-mid engine location helps the Vanquish achieve a 49/51 front-to-rear weight distribution.
Buyers have a choice of a stainless-steel or titanium exhaust system (the latter saves 23 pounds). Aston engineers took their inspiration for the exhaust note from the old Vanquish S, but the two new systems do differ from each other, with the stainless system delivering a lower frequency and the titanium a higher-pitched sound.
The chassis features Bilstein DTX dampers as seen in the DB12. The 21-inch wheels wear specially developed Pirelli P Zero rubber, sized 275/35-ZR21 up front and 325/30ZR-21 at the rear, in summer or winter compounds—both feature noise-cancelling elements within the tire. Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard. The electronic stability control system is from the DB12 but retuned for Vantage duty. And as in the DB12, the traction control offers eight levels of intervention but can also be fully switched off.
An Evolved Look
Wrapping the fresh mechanical package is an all-new skin with carbon-fiber body panels. Executive vice president and chief creative officer Marek Reichman's team aimed for a more assertive appearance than in the brand's other GT cars. The bodywork at the top of the grille pokes forward into the wind, deep insets in the bodysides reduce visual mass, wide sills help the car look planted on the road, and the rear features multielement taillights that are invisible until illuminated. Reichman says of the design, "I can see present, past, and future in this car."
Compared with the DBS, the wheelbase is 3.1 inches longer (and greater than the DB12 or Vantage), with the extra length coming between the A-pillar and the front axle. A more prominent grille with 13 percent greater surface area enhances engine cooling, while the headlights are matrix LEDs.
Strictly a two-seater, the cabin is specific to this car but shares its design philosophy with the DB12. As Reichman says, "If you want to completely detox from digital, you have the capability to drive the car as a physical object, which is really important." Physical controls are in place for all the driver-focused items: drive modes, engine stop/start, the electronic stability program, and the active exhaust. There are also roller switches for some climate functions. The infotainment system is Aston designed as well, rather than a reskinned Benz unit. A fixed glass roof is standard, but a carbon-fiber roof can be specified, saving 23 pounds.
For now, the Vanquish is available only as a coupe, although as Long acknowledges, "Obviously, in the past we've had Volantes—but not for a good while." It might not surprise you to learn that price has climbed relative to the DBS 770 Ultimate and new crests the $400,000 mark at $429,000 plus destination. U.S. deliveries are set to begin by the end of the year. How important is this V-car compared with the others in the Aston lineup? Says Reichman, "This is our beating heart."
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