Tuesday 22nd November 2011

Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 now testing

Angry on the outside, comfy on the inside, Darren Turner says you can drive the new Aston GT3 without breaking a sweat

---

Looks like it should eat 911s for breakfast

Had enough of the 911 overload? Well, Aston Martin may have the answer, its £300K V12 Vantage GT3 racer now undergoing shakedown testing ahead of its race debut next year. A couple of weeks late for Halloween, the scary looking V12 GT car couldn't be more different from the 911 GT3 R that is its most comparable off-the-shelf-racer rival.

The 2012 GT3 R goes on sale this month, priced at 304,500 Euros, plus VAT. An upgrade kit for teams with the current car worried about the Aston is available for 43,100 Euros. This comprises a new intake system boosting power by 20hp to 500hp and a revised gearbox with paddleshifters and upgraded software.

Will that be enough for Porsche drivers presented with the rather worrying vision in their mirrors that is the Vantage GT3? Certainly if intimidation was part of Aston's design brief it's come up trumps, the 600hp delivered by the 6.0-litre V12 engine meaning it's got the muscle to back it up too.

Vantage now at the core of Aston's GT racing line-up

The replacement for the successful DBRS9, the new car takes advantage of the smaller overall size of the Vantage, team driver Darren Turner saying that the new car is "a massive step forward from the DBRS9." Much of that benefit derives from the smaller size. "It is more responsive and feels more nimble," says Turner, "giving the driver plenty of confidence to extract all the performance from the V12 engine while also being light on its tyres. It isn't too physical and I didn't even break into a sweat during the test!"

The engine and basic architecture are based on that of the V12 Vantage road car, the new Vantage geared up for serious frontline competition and following on from the V12 Zagato race car Aston ran at the Nurburgring 24-hour earlier in the year. And driven on PistonHeads!

The new car is much more of a finished product though and will join Aston Martin's line-up of full customer race cars. It'll be eligible to run in a number of GT championships, including the FIA GT3, British GT, VLN and Blancpain Endurance Series. Deliveries start early next year and it's yours for £295,000.

[BuzzLightyear]

That is LOVELY and hope it delivers what the looks promise!

Wonder if it could be made road-legal...

[tosh.brice]

The "line up ..." link does not work; and the voting meter does not appear in the main article though it does in gassing station

[Decoy]

"boosting power by 20hp to 500hp"

"the 600hp delivered by the 6.0-litre V12 engine"

so does it have 500 or 600hp?

[Zod]

Decoy said:

"boosting power by 20hp to 500hp"

"the 600hp delivered by the 6.0-litre V12 engine"

so does it have 500 or 600hp?

Read it again - the boost to 520 bhp is for the Porsche teams worried about the Aston.

I'd like to have this engine in my road car, please.

[JaseB]

I guess there's a healthy chance it'll be at Le Mans next year?!

Yes please, I need to hear that at full chat

[garypotter]

What a cracking looking car, if the driver is impressed with the test drive lets hope it goes as good as it looks in races.

Well done to Aston for producing a beautiful car.

[Dagnut]

Dan you've developed Porsche tourettes !!

[Dan Trent]

Erm, I'd like to say this is the only story to include the word Porsche today but I fear not. Apologies in advance.

[Corcoran1981]

Please make this picture of the week to make up for all the porsche stories

[Sicob]

DBRS9 was one of the best sounding cars I've ever heard. Hope its replacement is much the same!

[benim83n]

BuzzLightyear said:

Wonder if it could be made road-legal...

300,000 for a road legal version is not bad,especially when you buy a used one in two years for 200,000.
hmmm a few tweaks there a bit of tuning and im sure it could be road legal
Especially if bribes were involved.......
:P

[GroundEffect]

Sicob said:

DBRS9 was one of the best sounding cars I've ever heard. Hope its replacement is much the same!

The DBR9 sounds infinitely better.

[cayman-black]

After years of Porsche i am now a big Aston fan. Makes me what a V12Vantage even more.

[JohnG1]

From "http://www.astonmartin.co.uk/news/news-archive/aston-martin-racing-begins-testing-the-v12-vantage-gt3"

It uses a significantly revised version of the DBRS9’s 6.0-litre V12 engine. Changes include a lightweight crankshaft, dry sump lubrication and new valve trains for even greater performance and reliability.

Ok, so I would probably not dry sump my V12V but a new crankshaft and some head work for 90bhp more sounds reasonable. I feel a call to http://www.bamfordrose.com/ coming along....

[LukeBird]

Interesting that there's this and the Zagato V12V racer, surely they occupy the same market? I will freely admit I maybe missing something obvious here though...

[JohnG1]

LukeBird said:

Interesting that there's this and the Zagato V12V racer, surely they occupy the same market? I will freely admit I maybe missing something obvious here though...

The Zagato racer is quite similar although it has a bastardised engine - part V12V specification and part DB9 specification. But the roadgoing Zagato is just a reskinned V12V - no mechanical changes.

This GT3 car is a monster, dry sumped racing car. It shares the v/h platform but has a very different engine and a different gearbox. It's probably also a complete pig to drive on the road due to the splitter and the amount of noise. The Aston Martin V12 is pretty noisy in road trim. Tuned to 600bhp with a racing exhaust and with no sound deadening and it'll make your ears bleed.

[Neil1300R]

JohnG1 said:

LukeBird said:

Interesting that there's this and the Zagato V12V racer, surely they occupy the same market? I will freely admit I maybe missing something obvious here though...

The Zagato racer is quite similar although it has a bastardised engine - part V12V specification and part DB9 specification. But the roadgoing Zagato is just a reskinned V12V - no mechanical changes.

This GT3 car is a monster, dry sumped racing car. It shares the v/h platform but has a very different engine and a different gearbox. It's probably also a complete pig to drive on the road due to the splitter and the amount of noise. The Aston Martin V12 is pretty noisy in road trim. Tuned to 600bhp with a racing exhaust and with no sound deadening and it'll make your ears bleed.

Additionally, the Zagato racers (Zig and Zag) were used more for a rolling advertising for the Zagato road car. This car is a customer order-able race car.

[Theflyer]

I require this piece of sex!!!!