Vanquished

A bright and sunny early morning with the roads of the Snowdonia National Park and mid-Wales all to myself followed by motorway to London and a schlep through the outskirts of the city: it all points to being the perfect road trip for getting to know the Aston Martin Vanquish courtesy of the lovely people at Auto Vivendi.

Let's get one thing out of the way straight away: my name is not Bond; not even James Bond, regardless of what anyone and everyone who admired the car might have said. Yes, it happens to be painted in a colour called 'Skyfall', but the latest generation Vanquish didn't appear in that film, nor any other starring Mr. Bond. It is a handsome and elegant beast though, with just enough carbon fibre accoutrements to remind you that all the body panels are in the same material – the splitter, rear diffuser, door mirrors, roof and even side strakes all show the magic black weave. Perhaps the only element that doesn't work well to my eyes is the rear spoiler (pun intended), but it's not visible from the driving seat so I can live with that.

Mmmmm .... Carbon Fibre

Spoilered

The interior is of the good standard that is expected from Aston Martin and is a pleasant enough place to be. There are some new bells'n'whistles in the haptic buttons on the centre console, but I'm not sure they add much to the experience once over the novelty. The B&O audio is all theatre with two of the thirteen speakers rising out of the dashboard top; it sounded great in the limited trial I gave it (my preferred backing track for the trip was delivered from two rear-facing pipes). The optional square (or is it quartic?) steering wheel coupled with paddles fixed to the steering column (rather than the wheel) means some awkwardness in navigating bends and simultaneously shifting gears, especially when pushing on. The seats too were a little bit disappointing in the support and location provided - I would have liked something a little more bucket seat-like - but are adequately comfortable for what is primarily a GT rather than out-and-out sports car.

Well Hello Allegro!

But the day was all about the driving, rather than the aesthetics, and it's certainly an enjoyable experience. Performance is on the fast side of brisk, as it should be with 565bhp on tap from the V12 up front. It is happy being hustled around the Welsh mountain roads, diving into and leaping out of corners (with LSD assistance) with the engine smoothly revving to 7,000rpm and beyopnd whilst delivering a magnificent bellow in the process. Less successful in my eyes is the gearbox: true to the GT pretensions, Aston Martin have chosen to fit an automatic 'Touchtronic 2' unit to the rear and offer paddle shift as well as a fully automatic mode. I will confess to not trying the auto mode at all (it's of no interest to me), but the paddle-initiated shifts are certainly lazier and more slurred than the single and dual clutch automated manuals on the market (even Aston Martin's own ASM III unit on the V12 Vantage S). Don't get me wrong - it works fine - but I think sharper changes would enhance the driving experience and provide that extra edge in downchanges to, and acceleration out of, corners. The carbon brakes are fantastic, repeatedly and effortlessly hauling the 1,700Kg+ down with good feel.

Snowdonia All to Ourselves

There are separate buttons on the steering wheel to selection 'sports' mode (which I assume sharpens the throttle response and allows the exhaust to make more noise) and to change the adaptive damper settings. I just left it in 'sport' or whatever the designation indicated in the dashboard was. Credit where credit is due: there is an option in the 'settings' menu to allow the 'sport' selection to be remembered after the ignition is turned off – a pet bugbear of mine on many cars. The ride was firm, but well controlled and the body was kept in check through the twisty stuff. I can only imaging that the more 'comfort' oriented mode would smooth out a few of the jiggles, perhaps at the expense of a little control.

Motorway travel is a cinch, although the Vanquish does seem to have a relatively small fuel tank for a GT long range cruiser. The length and lack of visibility of the extremes of the Vanquish mean that care is needed navigating, manoeuvring and parking in town, but nothing greater familiarity (and use of the parking sensors and reversing camera) wouldn't get over.

Reaction to the car is universally positive with plenty of admiring glances, waves and appreciation shown – it even got pride of place in a deck almost all to itself on the ferry to Holyhead, and the deckhands certainly approved of the noise echoing within the hull! This is unsurprising given the classic Aston Martin good looks and goodwill the marque seems to engender, though the Vanquish probably hides much of it's high technology light under a bushel: many won't be aware of the exotic materials and construction methods under the paintwork.

There'll Be A Welcome in The Hillsides

And so to the final reckoning, and the ultimate litmus test: would a Vanquish appear on my 'would like to own' list? For me probably not: the gearbox lets down the overall package (but I acknowledge that is a very personal opinion). However, a V12 Vantage with a manual 'box (even better with the Vanquish-spec. engine) would be an enticing prospect ...