Was this a fair comparison? What do you think of the outcome?

 

I think that it again points out the need for a good DSG gearbox in the Vanquish. 600 hp would help too, but a nice 7speed would definitely raise its a game a notch.

I wonder how long this will take Aston to put together?

 

Nice find!
I recognised that the SW Alps straight away

 

Although the Aston doesn't need to have the same performance as the Ferrari or the Lambo, I agree that it needs a better gearbox and at least 600 bhp. Still am surprised the Vanq came out with only 565 bhp. I know, it' still a lot, but not enough for a flagship supercar.

 

I think he was being way too kind to the Aston. The Vanquish is a beautiful car, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Ferrari and Lambo. Add another 100 hp, a dual clutch electronic manual tranny, lose 400 lbs, and it may be close.

 

Knowing what they've done to the V12 I'm not surprised it only has 565 BHP
There is A LOT more in they BR have it to 650 BHP and I can't recall what Cosworth got it to in the 1-77?
It is a nice progression from the DBS though!

 

Fact: The Vanq II only has 565HP, because they are leaving room at the top for the Vanquish S in about 1.5 years.

 

P.S. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Evo?

 

great video, it's nice to see the reviewer drive the **** out of the cars, too. and the beginning of the video just listening to the engines pleasured my pleasurables in a way i'm not ashamed to describe in detail after a drink or two.

driving the Vanquish as hard as he did in a comparison with those two cars is going to make it fairly weak as a flagship. but it's also a GT car that costs about $50k less than the F12 and $100k less than the Aventador. sure, the Vanquish could use a stick or dual clutch to make it more sporting, but that would take away from what makes it a GT car. as for power... we all are very well aware that AM needs to give us more horsepower. let's just hope AM gets the Vanquish S right.

 

How are you so sure this is a fact? Did Bez tell you himself? As we all know, there are lots of theories, rumors, and false information that gets bandied about by Aston dealers and enthusiasts.

Regardless, if Aston intentionally kept the horsepower down to leave room for later improvement they shot themselves in the foot by only starting with 565 bhp. The Vanquish S came out in 2004 with 520 bhp. Nine years later and they've only increased that number by 45 bhp?! 565 bhp just doesn't cut it today. If the goal was to leave room for improvement, they still could have done so by starting at 600 bhp. When you do a refresh you only need to squeeze out another 20 bhp or so. I'm sure they could do that when Ferrari gets 730 bhp out of their 6.3 L V12.

 

Yes, Bez himself even stated their motors have plenty more potential in their given form. Because they need these engines to last another 1-2 product life cycles they are keeping a lot of extra room for their engines. In 6.0L they will probably push it to 600. For the 4.7, they will probably push to 450-470 before they up displacement (even tho both are capable of more, you have to factor in emissions & MPG.

 

An Aston shouldn't be a better Ferrari or a better Lambo -- it should be a great Aston, which the Vanquish seems to do quite well. The Aston is much more the GT than the Italians in this group, and it is a better GT than they are. They are much harder-core razor-edgy supercars, and they do that better than the Vanquish. Why should the Aston compete on power -- and the power figures are getting truly silly IMO -- when it is a LOT less expensive? As things currently stand, there is a lot of room above the Vanquish for a Vanquish S to be both significantly more powerful and significantly more expensive -- if the price is similar, so too will the power probably be. The Vanquish does seem to need a better/more competitive gearbox, and a manual option would be fantastic -- and a unique selling point. But seriously, isn't 700 hp a bit absurd?

 

i was with you until this

 

Aston doesn't need the same power as the two other cars . . . but it should at least be in the ballpark. IMO Aston is getting left behind and resting a bit too much on its "we're Aston we don't need to compete with ________" laurels. It's a bit sad to think that the Vanq I was right up there in terms of power with it's competitors. Now it seems like Aston has given up on competing.

I agree that the numbers aren't everything. That said, they do mean something, especially to people who are looking to plunk down a ton of cash on a high-end sports car. As far as the car being a "grand touring car" and therefore not having to compete with the likes of Ferrari and Lambo, this just sounds like an excuse. You can say that the F12 and FF are grand touring cars too, just much faster ones. Aston could give the Vanq II a lot more power without ruining it for the road.

 

The numbers do "mean something," but it seems to me that at the 700-ish level they mean little more than bragging rights. When and where can you really use 700hp? With rear drive, there are serious traction issues until over 100 mph or so. Over a road, how far ahead is an F12 going to be than the Vanquish? If it's far, then the speeds being used are so tremendously high that I have to think the level of risk being taken is far beyond anything appropriate for the road. BTW, I've never been accused of driving slowly...