What a beast! Love the engine, love the suspension, love the brakes but, TBH, Sportshift is just not for me. I still prefer a manual gearbox. I can't believe how fast the car accelerates. I glance down at the speedo each time I'm on the back straight and I'm going 135-140 when I feel like I'm only going about 80mph. This could be a serious ticket magnet.

Thanks to Aston for inviting me and having a great day.

 

Are you able to compare to the 'standard' V12V? Is the gearbox as bad in slow and moderate road driving as the reviews would have us believe? Snappy enough on track with upshifts?

 

I've never driven a standard V12V, but the new car does have much more HP and torque. You do not want to ever drive the car in "D" that's for sure. I tried that to see what it was like and the added weight of my racing helmet made my head feel like a pendulum swinging forwards and backwards with every shift. On the track it is pretty brutal but the driving instructor told me not to lift between shifts so that I could get maximum acceleration. Without lifting, the shifts are rather jarring though. I would imagine that driving a DCT car on the track would be a lot smoother.

Driving around town with the paddles though, I found that the shifts were very smooth even without lifting.

This may sound weird, but there is a drawback to cars that accelerate this fast: the fun is over too quick before you have to back off to avoid being hauled off to jail. On a slightly slower car, you get to "savor the moment" a little longer if that makes any sense.

 

Yes, it totally makes sense, but it's where we are at with high performance road cars. It's an odd situation where a car like the V12VS is criticized as too slow compared to the likes of the 991 GT3 et al, yet it is quite impossible as you say to properly explore its potential on the road. So you take it to the track, where it might be fun for a lap or two before it reminds you and your wallet that it is a heavy road car...

 

I'm jealous! Sounds like it was a lot of fun!

 

Seconded.

 

Great story / photos! Thanks for posting...

 

I was instructing a couple of weekends ago and got to drive the AMV8 as well as the DBS. they both were very impressive. more impressive was how little the dBS V12 felt, for how large it really is. Those big carbon brakes are amazing!
I preferred my 997 turbo students 550hp, but manly because how light the car felt compared to the DBS. But, both were impressive in their own ways!

 

I love this car so much. <3

 

x3. Why can't my local dealership do something like this?!

 

Where was this? What a pile of awesome cars! I would have felt the need to drive all of them. Then I would have proclaimed the Rapide S my favorite.

 

Maybe they do and you just don't know about it. It's organized by Aston itself and is coordinated with the press during new model introductions. In this case, the press was there the day before to check out the V12VS and Vanquish Volante.

The Florida dealers got to chose 5 of their clients to invite the next day. The day was divided up into 3 sessions each about 3.5 hours long. Each session only had 5 people and 3 instructors using the track for all 3.5 hours so you pretty much had an entire track to yourself.

Unfortunately, it was raining and there was a lot of standing water. 620 lb-ft of torque is a handful on a slick surface. We did acceleration runs on the drag strip and had to start off beyond where the rubber was laid down because it was slipperier than ice. I was driving on the rubber at about 20-30 mph and got the car uncontrollably fish tailing for a few seconds. My heart stopped for a moment from worrying that I might not be able to correct it and hit the wall.

 

It was at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR).

I didn't get to drive the Rapide S. The event was mainly to introduce customers to the V12VS

Of all the cars there I was surprised to find myself liking a Skyfall Vanquish the most. Seeing the car in the real world as opposed to the showroom really makes you aware of how much presence the car really has. It truly is beautiful.

Interestingly, after the event I drove to the Garden Mall in West Palm beach, an area filled with every expensive cars, and was amazed at how much attention my Vantage still draws.

 

Sad it was wet!! You cant go faster than a race Miata in the dry when its wet like that, no matter how good you are. However, IM sure it was a great time. What an amazing group of cars!

 

They are fabulous looking cars, but this is the first time I've seen them with those orange panels in the lights, that is astonishingly bad. I know those lights are compulsory over there, but must be a way to disguise them so they don't look so obtrusive.