On this episode of Head 2 Head, two of England's most prestigious brands duke it out as Motor Trend's Carlos Lago pits the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed against Aston Martin's 2014 Vanquish. With names like Vanquish & GT Speed, it's inevitable that some spirited driving awaits. Join Carlos as he he flogs both these fine automobiles through Motor Trend's dynamic testing course before heading out to carve up the canyon roads.

Both Aston Martin & Bentley are synonymous with luxury, class & the finer things in life. However, there's nothing gentlemanly about the 12 cylinder motors each car packs under it's bonnet. Even more savage is their more than 500 horse power capabilities. Add carbon ceramic brakes into the mix & price tags near $300,000 & you've got an exotic match up.

 

Hmmmm
Not sure how I feel about this. As a brand loyalist, it's hard to hear so much criticism heaped on the Vanquish.

On the other hand, honest critique is the only way to improve. I mean, no one wants a Vanquish to be "like" a Bentley, but the critique is more about objective issues.

So I guess I like that this was a reasonable review even though I don't like thinking that the Bentley is the car that anyone would "want" to drive when given the two to choose from.

 

This is the 3rd review I have seen that critiques the gap in the seam over the side windows. In fact, I have yet to see a single Vanquish in real life that does not have this gaping hole that reveals the airbag unit inside. I told my sales manager that at $300K I would hope that this would be sorted, but Aston appears to have a design flaw with this that has found its way to every car built.

Also, how many years and reviews have we seen where people critique the placement of the seat controls? Yet year after year, Aston insists on keeping them in the same awkward location.

The reviewer's comments in the slow, lazy shifts also mirror my own experience. The car sounds nice, but the gearbox is a let down.

Finally, I don't think the revised center console is an improvement in any way over the previous. I hate that the ugly nav screen has to flip open every time you start the car to perform even the simplest functions of the stereo. Flip-up screens belong in the days of pop-up headlights. A nicely integrated screen in the lower section of the console with some physical ***** and buttons for commonly-used functions would look and work better while allowing the slope to keep its clean, uninterrupted lines without the ugly gaps for the nav screen door.

 

Sad that the huge 5000+ lbs Bentley is "faster in the corners" than the Vanquish. Something wrong there.

 

^^^^ or that an "all carbon-bodied" car with an aluminum chassis weighs almost 2 tons.

 

Ah yes, I hate when I'm cornering up a windy, bumpy canyon road at 80mph and decide I need to switch from radio to iPod. I also think Boeing should be docked points for my inability to type emails seamlessly while flying through a thunderstorm.

/sarcasm

 

That's because the rest of the car is made of cast iron. Just look at the V12's headers in Stuart's thread.

 

I generally agree, although I haven't had an issue with the seat control location. That said, this review is much more negative with respect to the Vanquish's handling than most others, which usually are quite complimentary and say the car is a great drive.

Also, most other reviews say that the Conti is a great car, very impressive, but not a great drive. I've driven the current Conti V8 (and the previous GT Speed), which by all accounts is a better driver's car than the W12 cars. It's very, very nice, and it is better to drive than one would expect a 5000+ lb AWD car to be, but it's no Aston. I haven't driven the new Vanquish yet, but I cannot imagine that it's not the better driver's car.

 

I wonder how much of the credit that other reviewers have given to the Vanquish is due to the cachet provided by an "Aston" as opposed to its actual merits as a driver's car. I hate to admit it, but I feel like many reviewers give Astons a bit of a pass for their shortcomings because of that cachet.

 

^^^^ I hate to admit it too, but I agree. But it's the same "pass" I give it when I look or drive mine. My 18 yr old Esprit that I've owned since new has less horsepower but weighs almost 1000 lbs less, is way faster and handles better. But I still LOVE the Aston.

 

Agreed. Maybe Aston deserves a pass to some degree. Still, part of me thinks that not giving Aston this pass could force them to up their game on the technology side. Maybe the MB partnership will achieve this for the V8.

 

Fair question, and I think it can work both ways.

I give my car a "pass" with certain things, mostly the occasional quirk such as when I have to try a few times to get the starter slot to glow red so that I can start the car. However, I really don't think I give it a pass when it comes to its performance and handling. In fact, when I've driven a few newer competitors I have expected them to be better because they are newer designs, yet I've come away thinking that my '09 V8V is still very competitive. Not necessarily the "best," but that it truly does still compete. I've driven the 991 and the F-Type, for example.

Also, I think that some in the press are actually harder on Aston (sometimes) because it's an Aston and they want it to be better than everything else. While most reviews I've read of the new Vanquish have been quite positive, nearly every journalist has stated that the Vanquish's gearbox just isn't good enough -- they seem plenty willing to criticize it.

I think the V8V is rather underrated by the press, and some recent reviews confirm this IMO. Recently, a few have had another look at it and have come away saying that, while it is getting on in years, it remains an excellent drivers car and is a lot better objectively than they had expected it to be in the face of recently introduced competition.

Karl, as you surely know there are MANY reasons why your 18 year old Lotus is so much lighter. Not all of them are "good" reason. Even Lotus -- the masters of light weight -- has gone well over 3000 lbs now with the Evora, so the weight difference for current cars is more like 400-500 lbs (V8V vs Evora), and there is a rather significant difference in materials quality. Also, while it's been a long time since I've driven one, I'm sure your Esprit feels "way faster" on boost, especially compared to the fairly linear acceleration of the Aston, but is it really faster? I don't think the test figures support that it's faster than a 4.7 V8V (willing to be proven wrong, of course).

 

Some reviewers I've seen go in the other direction. They may start with "the gearbox is a bit slow" but then quickly say something along the lines of "but that's okay because this is a grand touring car" or "but just look at it" or "but just listen to that sound." IIRC, Matt Farah gave a review like that, and I believe Fifth Gear did too. Of course, this may be expected because Matt is an AM owner and Fifth Gear is a British show. I wouldn't expect such reviews of the car if it were a Ferrari.

 

I think a lot of it boils down to expectations. The Bentley looks like (and weighs like!) a GT car, while the AM looks like (and is carbon-fiber-bodied like!) a sports car. The Bentley does exactly what people expect it to do. It's got gobs of power, it's comfortable, it's quiet. But I think people coming into the Vanq and think, "it's got a 565-hp V12, it's entire body is carbon fiber, and it looks like it wants to scream down the road." Then they get into it and find themselves driving a GT car. Even if it's fine as a GT car, it'll be a letdown if you're expecting a sports car. Think of what it's like to take a swig of a drink that you think is Sprite and turns out to be water. Nothing wrong with the water, but it tastes horrible because your pre-existing expectations.

 

Unfortunately, performance expectations are low for an Aston. I think the general consensus is that they are beautiful, luxurious cars, but not that fast . . . but that's okay because they're Astons. This is what I meant by the cars often getting a pass. Other cars don't get this same pass, even other high-end exotics. For example, the F12 (arguably another grand touring car) wouldn't get the same pass if it had a slow gearbox.