There are few better ways to
travel through the summer
months than in an opentopped
Aston Martin, and
precisely none superior to
doing so in one that's powered
by the company's spine-tingling V12 engine.
Like the rest of Aston's model range,
the Vantage Roadster is starting to feel
elderly when compared directly to some
of its more modern rivals. It can't match
the performance of its younger challengers
and its cabin conspicuously lacks the sort
of high-tech gadgetry (much of it pointless)
that many buyers in this segment expect to
nd ladled on. Even when Aston has tried
to get with the times, it hasn't always been
successful - the satellite navigation display
is so blocky that you suspect it might be
running an ancient edition of MS-DOS
somewhere in the background.
Yet not even the greatest cynic could
deny that the Vantage Roadster has aged
extremely well, looking as good today as
when it was introduced a decade ago. This
is a car that's passed from 'box fresh' to
'classic' without ever passing 'old'. And the
range-topping V12 engine we're sampling
here is perhaps Aston's nest ever engine,
without the raw oomph of more modern
turbocharged rivals, but with impeccable
manners that combine creamy low-speed
responses with truly startling top-end
performance - the latter accompanied by
a soundtrack that could
play at the Teatro alla
Scala in Milan.
The driving experience
is similar. The Vantage
S isn't the sharpest or
the fastest drive, but it
is still one of the most
characterful. There's no
better place than the track to sample the
old-fashioned challenge of driving a car that
directs so much power
through its rear wheels,
making you adopt the
traditional technique
of approaching corners
slowly and then leaving
them extremely rapidly.
Best bits: Classic
style, seamless driving
experience, V12 soundtrack.
Worst bits: Gearbox lacks precision.
ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V12 S ROADSTER
Aston's gorgeous Vantage Roadster may be getting long in
the tooth, but it still o ers a scintillating driving experience
This is a car that has passed from 'box
fresh' to 'classic' without ever passing 'old'
ASTON MARTIN
VANTAGE V12 S
ROADSTER
Price: £147,000
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Power: 565bhp
0-60mph: 3.9 seconds
Top speed: 201mph
Economy: 19.2mpg
124 | squaremeal.co.uk
In the hierarchy of hot hatches, Ford's RS-badged models
have always sat close to the top. And there's no reason to
suppose that the third-generation model, which we'll be
seeing this summer, will be any di� erent.
Featuring a turbocharged engine with
around 340bhp and a very clever
four-wheel drive system, it looks
set to become the king of the
castle in terms of performance, and
is likely to undercut posh rivals like
the Audi RS3 and Mercedes A45
AMG by a decent margin too.
COMING SOON:
Ford Focus RS
In the hierarchy of hot hatches, Ford's RS-badged models
have always sat close to the top. And there's no reason to
suppose that the third-generation model, which we'll be
seeing this summer, will be any di� erent.
Featuring a turbocharged engine with
Ford Focus RS