Aston Martin Vanquish (2014)

CAR GARAGE | Aston Martin Vanquish (2014) | A recent drive on roads rambling English offered some insight into the Vanquish's ability to stoke our champagne-fueled dreams. Trickle down styling Usually works in the realm of four-wheeled exotica, and Aston Martin's new Vanquish exhibits some of the tight radius curves and hunkered down poise inherited from its ultra-rare predecessor, the One-77. But the new $ 279.995 flagship also gains a thorough mechanical reworking that helps answer to detractors who claim the British brand is all show and no go: while an extruded aluminum tub remains at its core, the Vanquish adds carbon weave structures to the nose and tail for further weight savings and 25 percent more torsional rigidity, as well as carbon fiber skin all around.

Open the upwardly tilting "swan wing" doors, climb inside the aromatic leather interior, and snuggle up to the imaginatively sculpted leather seats-some of roomates are available with teardrop-style Quilted patterns-and the Vanquish delivers on Aston's typically operatic sense of occasion , right down to the glass-capped key fob that slides into the dash and kicks the big V-12 to life.

Connecting the powerplant to the 6-speed automated manual transaxle rear is a carbon fiber prop shaft surrounded by an alloy torque tube. Aston claims that 60 mph arrives in 4.1 seconds, and that the Vanquish tops out at 183 mph. Inside the cabin, a new interior treatment reveals The One-77-inspired stitch patterns and details like a haptic touch surface on the center stack.  Incidentally, a no-nonsense launch control system catapults the Vanquish off the line Easily and Effectively.

Buckinghamshire's meandering backroads revealed a firm, Glued-down suspension, even with the adaptive damping system in its mildest setting-though to the car's credit, seemed exceptionally rough road surfaces. Steering has been quickened and sharpened, to palpable effect: the hydraulic setup seems noticeably more communicative than the DBS, roomates offered feedback and Heavier less effort. Aston Martin maintains its status as one of the most sensual carmakers on the planet, and the Vanquish's heightened athleticism and innovative interior treatments keep it relevant within this rarified Microcosm of high-dollar exotics. Though we'd like to see a more sophisticated gearboxes and the long overdue improvements multimedia seamlessly integrated into a better nav system, Aston Martin's emphasis on fabulous sights, sounds, and sensations over outright performance numbers ring true with their new range-topper.