22 May 2009 - 10:00
V12 Vantage hits the ’Ring
See more V12 Vantage racer pics
There's a lot of cool metal racing at the
Nurburgring 24 Hours this weekend - a pair of 500bhp Lexus LF-As, gas-powered VW Sciroccos - but this is surely the coolest of the bunch.
This is the Aston Martin V12 Vantage racer, which will tackle the Green Hell on
May 23-24 in the capable hands of Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston's chief exec.
In case you're not up to speed on the road-going V12 Vantage,
here's how it works: essentially, Aston has wedged the massive 510bhp,
6.0-litre V12 from the DBS into the petite frame of the V8 Vantage.
Add some bigger gills, vents and splitters and you've got a dinky two-seat
coupe capable of hitting 62mph in a scant 4.2 seconds. General Clarkson has
driven the road-going V12 Vantage in the new issue of Top Gear magazine - out
today - and, well, we won't give away too much, but suffice to say he likes it.
And the racing version? Aston says the track-prepped V12 Vantage has received
only ‘minor modifications' to compete in the endurance race. The British team
will be aiming to keep up their record of a four consecutive finishes in the
Nurburgring 24 Hours in the V8 Vantage N24.
"For me, this race is still the ultimate endurance challenge for any car," says Dr Bez. "It is right that we subject our new V12 Vantage to this extraordinary test."
Top Gear will be at the ’Ring for the big race - well, those of us who weren't invited to Monaco (cue massive infighting). We'll bring you all the news from behind the scenes next week...
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for sure well that depends on the other choices
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Awesome, but it would look so much cooler in Black or the Gulf Colours. Still, it's in my 3 car garage
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sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.. do they do in car audio for aston aswell now? If not it would be pretty cool if the Aston LMP1 car had B&O livery on it aswell... "Buy our great in car audio systems!!.. for your Audi" :)
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That. Is. Nice! I can hear it now....................................... Wha? Oh. I hope it does well. But does an AMV12 Vantage really need a B&O stereo, or indeed any in-car sound system? I'd be happy with those two polished speakers sticking out the back.
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Nice , very cool car but I think it will be expensive, very.
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cool! this should put the germans and all the other rubbish in their place.
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I was wondering why Aston cannot develop their own engine? And the 510bhp wasn't powerful enough. They should have tune it to a certain standard that was truly be known as a super car. FOR ENGLAND,Aston Martin.
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im sorry but the V12 vantage is pointless. All motoring journos are up in arms saying its great. as great as it might be you have to remember its still doing 0-60 around the 4 sec mark.and it developes 90bhp more, thats only half a second quicker. where as the Porsche turbo does it in 3.9secs is cheaper and thats a ful second quicker then the new 911 carrera. Im not saying i would buy a porsche over the V12 Aston but id have the V8 for 40 grand less. and for that amazing engine note.
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An Aston Martin will always be more expensive than a Porsche, so it not even worth comparing. I guess the extra money goes to Aston's looks, and look good it does...
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Awesome, but I can't wait for the 'Vader-helmet-on-wheels' X-Bow GT4 rocketing through Le Mans! Why don't they make an LMP version? Just for kicks! But pray the Swiss GreenGT makes it in 2011, it'll look kickass in a real race track...
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Awesome, but I can't wait for the 'Vader-helmet-on-wheels' X-Bow GT4 rocketing through Le Mans! Why don't they make an LMP version? Just for kicks! But pray the Swiss GreenGT makes it in 2011, it'll look kickass in a real race track...
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ASTOuNding. Plus, love those sponsor names...
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I see what you mean about 0-60 still being in the four second boundry, however you have to remember that (unlike the 911) this is a car not much bigger than a fiesta. I personally think that for something that size, the speed is great.
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i prefer da v12 vantage. but hey, they stil put in a vantage in there. ASTON MARTIN ROX!!
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Nice shape , but I dont like the color . But still , the execs of the aston company never did anything wrong for the company yet ...
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i think that this car is good but they shouldnt use vantages in races because the car looks terrible. replace the vantage racers with dbs'
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BOYRACER commented on this article
22 May 2009
If i could drive a car at the Ring 24hour I'd choose the Aston.
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