New Vanquish reignites Aston's Ferrari rivalry

REVEALED The British brand's third major sports car update in two years sees the Vanquish nameplate return

- Jordan Katsianis

ASTON Martin has just raised the stakes once again with its next flagship front-engined sports car, and is relaunching a much-loved nameplate in the process. The fresh Aston Martin Vanquish has lots of headline-grabbing numbers, including packing the most powerful iteration of the 5.2-litre V12 engine yet, as well as a whole new body, uprated chassis and a luxurious new interior.

But as Aston's flagship front-engined series-production model, it's impossible not to compare the latest Vanquish with Ferrari's new 12Cilindri, reigniting a generations-long battle royale between the two iconic sports-car manufacturers.

Sitting above the recently renewed Vantage and DB12 in the British brand's line-up, the new Vanquish is available to order now from "around" £333,000, with Aston Martin building no more than 1,000 units every year.

A highlight of the Vanquish is the retention of Aston's 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine, which now produces a headline power figure of 823bhp and 1,000Nm of torque.

This is a very slight 5bhp increase compared with the Ferrari, but the Aston hits much harder in terms of torque, thanks to those turbos. The Ferrari has a substantial 322Nm deficit and the Aston's torque is also available much lower down in the rev band, kicking in at 2,500rpm all the way through to 5,000rpm.

A reinforced cylinder block and redesigned exhaust and intake ports help to generate this power, while the spark plugs have been repositioned and new, high-flow injectors fitted.

The V12's top end has also been fundamentally redesigned with a new set of camshafts, plus the turbochargers now reach higher speeds and have less internal inertia than the ones used previously. For the first time, there's also a new 'Boost Mode' that increases the turbos' respective boost pressures for more power under part throttle.