Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is a supercar manufactured by Aston Martin since 2001. It rose to fame after being featured as the official James Bond car in Die Another Day, the twentieth James Bond film. In the film, the Vanquish has the usual Bond film embellishments, including active camouflage which rendered the vehicle virtually invisible.

The Vanquish is powered by a 5.9 L (5935 cc) 48-valve 60° V12 engine, which produces 343 kW (460 hp) and 542 N·m (400 ft·lbf) of torque. It is controlled by a fly-by-wire throttle and a 6 speed 'paddle shift' or semi-automatic transmission. A special V12 Vanquish S debuted at the 2004 Paris Auto Show with the power upped to 388 kW (520 hp) and 577 N·m (426 ft·lbf).

The Vanquish's V12 engine shares some components and design elements with the 3.0 L Duratec 30 V6 from parent-company Ford. It even shares the same bore and stroke dimensions. For this reason, many people incorrectly dismiss the Aston Martin V12 as merely "two Duratecs linked together." However, it was substantially changed from the original Duratec-based prototype by Cosworth and Aston Martin engineers.

V12 Vanquish Safety

The 2005 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, a carryover of the 2004 model, is a 2-door luxury sports car, and is available as a Coupe. Every Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is individually built by hand. The design team spent many hours in the wind tunnel honing the car’s profile to ensure stability throughout its speed range and adequate airflow for power and cooling; utilizing a complementary aerodynamic ‘splitter’ at the front which helps improve high- speed stability. The specially developed braided carbon fiber used for the ‘A’ posts and the engine bay cross brace result in an immensely strong yet light structure capable of withstanding the force of a crash or rollover. The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is dynamically safe providing incredibly fast stopping power. The front and rear discs are mounted on a patented floating mechanism to maintain pedal feel for very heavy braking. The antilock brake system re-balances front and rear braking forces depending on the load.

Weaknesses

The Vanquish has drawn criticism for a number of weaknesses in its design. In particular, some interior materials have been cited as unfit for a car of this price and prestige. Much of the aluminum trim is actually plastic and several of the instruments are visibly related to items from less exotic Ford Motor Company products. Additional concerns of owners and testers include the weight and apparent cooling system deficiencies of the car. Despite Aston's materials innovations that include epoxy bonding and composite structural members, the Vanquish is a heavy car. It weighs well over two tons with driver and fuel. Even by the standards of this premium supercar class, in which weight continues to escalate, the Vanquish is a very heavy car. The car's sporting aspirations are drawn into question by this excess weight and a cooling system that reportedly fails to support sustained track activity in warm weather. Prior to the release of the Vanquish S, there had been critics who felt the Vanquish was not adequately differentiated from the DB9, a $160,000 Aston that featured less weight, less damage to the consumer's wallet, virtually the same engine, and similar power.