Aston Martin V12 Vantage S vs Porsche 911 Turbo S
The crazy and the cool were never so damn good
Two very different ways of achieving the same ends
Day one is all about the Porsche 911 Turbo S. This silver car is wearing the legendary (amongst fellow Porsche nerds) 911 HUL number plate. An ode to the original 911 Turbo press cars, back when the turbocharged beetle really did inspire the term 'widow maker'. Generations of Turbos have worn this private plate, gracing the front covers of magazines for decades.
Pootling out of PH Towers, leaving the Aston behind, there's a zig-zagging route via Silverstone to Yorkshire ahead, starting with the London suburbs. The PDK excels in town, the auto-stop-start irritates only for the first couple of red lights, then becomes part of the experience. And the suspension and steering in the urban environment? Faultless. Seriously, this thing just floats down the high street in pure comfort with utter discretion. The 20-inch wheels travel freely and with comfortable damping. Only the wide hips might force an extra mirror glance or two to check position. The occasional more knowledgeable bystander might turn around for a double-take. But that's all the attention you'll get. Velvet glove, and all that.
Rain, what rain? Corners, what corners? Etc...
Route planned (with traffic avoidance), the potholes and traffic lights of London town are dispatched with ease, and then Turbo S begins to show its true colours. The first time you hit full throttle, just... wow! It's a surge of acceleration, not a hint of traction control, and yet the fat 305/30 tyres MUST be at their limits, surely? Do it again, just to check. Insert expletives.
Leaning over the table, you can try and tell your mates how it feels to have 560 horses under your foot. But it's the way that they're delivered that will impress the most. Unlike the previous generation, described by the boss as "appliance-like", the 991 really does have an 'edge' absent in 997 models.
More capable but more charismatic too
It pops up the rear spoiler, pushes down the rubbery chin spoiler and whacks in a bit of overboost for good measure. The fantastic multi-function display will even show you a map of the torque curve (peaking normally at 516 imperial torques or 700 metric) with an EXTRA light blue area on top of the already tabletop 'curve'. This is representing 553 ft lb or 750 Nm. The manual says this is available for short periods, but declines to offer any accurate timings.
Sucks air in, spits tarmac out - brutal
While it will never be, and was never intended to be, the razor-sharp tool that is the new GT3, the Turbo S is still mightily impressive through the corners thanks to rear-wheel steering that actually works (take that, late 90s HICAS-equipped Nissans!). It might be a little blunt if pushed too hard into a corner, understeer being the Turbo's first response to any over-ambitious entry. But by all things that are holy and good, it is utterly mental on the way out.
And the launch control is insanely simple to use. If you're in Sport Plus, then just put your left foot firmly on the brake and your right foot down to the floor. The engine revs to peak torque.... Brap-bap-bap-bap... like an overgrown rally car. Then release the brake BANG. It's so simple, so childish and so perfectly executed. And when used at a redlight it's plain ridiculous.
All works but lacks sparkle given the price point
But does it feel artificial and too easy? Well, not really. It just feels immense. Short-cutting from M1 to A1 via Corby, Oakham and some stunning Lincolnshire roads, the Turbo's ability to take the road in front of you and put it into the rear view mirror is simply stunning.
And then wafting back again the next day, the discreet silver Porsche cruises in comfort and safety at 34mpg. Music from your phone, or from the 'jukebox' storage system, played through a very healthy sound system. Is this the most complete performance car for our roads? The rush of an Atom, the comfort of a Mercedes and the build quality of a Panzer. It's hard to beat.
But the next day it's time to start the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage S. The Porsche is almost immediately forgotten. Fickle!
Engine so big it doesn't fit in the frame
The V12 S is utterly ridiculous on paper, and yet the guys from Gaydon have done it anyway. And it's pretty intimidating. Rolling out through another town heads turn in a way they just don't for the Porsche.
Why fight it? Windows down, S-button pushed, and that V12 reverberates back from every surface. Hints of Spitfire are evident between 1,500 and 2,500rpm, and over those speeds the sound only gets better. It's another new exhaust system for the re-worked AM28 engine, with this one drawing inspiration from the only car on Aston's fleet that's actually quicker. The million-pound One-77.
Frankly the Aston is an absolute lunatic
The Aston loses again the moment you want to drive fast on any public road. There's little movement in the wheels, and the active damping still feels quite harsh no matter which mode you select. Our car is fitted with the optional Pirelli Pzero Corsa tyres, far stickier and noiser than the regular Pirellis fitted to the Porsche. But they're struggling to cope, even when the harsh Sport or Track damping profiles allow them to stay planted for more than a second.
Eek, corner coming up ... hold on tight!
Over two days in all weathers there were plenty of moments of unexpected stability control intervention. By comparison the Porsche only blinked once or twice. And where the Porsche re-vectors the torque without slowing your pace the Aston simply pulls the rug out and kills wheelspin before it happens.
That's not to say the Vantage S is any less enjoyable. But it demands control and good reactions to find your flow. By comparison the Porsche will both flatter the idiots and still reward the wheelsmiths.
Functionally it's a disaster, albeit a stylish one
So the Aston takes a beating! Maybe the cockpit can reclaim lost ground? Yes and no. The infuriatingly downward-facing Garmin nav is frightfully complicated to use. Touchscreen disabled (why, oh why?!), you're forced to use one joystick to navigate all of the decidedly 2004 onboard technology. As mentioned in a million Aston Martin reviews, the leather and stitching is an acquired taste. But at least it's more eventful than the Porsche Turbo S, which doesn't feel decidedly different to any well-specced Carrera or even Cayman.
And it's hard not love the carbon-shelled seats of the Vantage. To wheel out a very 90s adjective; they're lush. It's also got a chunkier suede covered wheel. The Porsche wheel is just a little harder to love, especially with the visible moulding lines poking out behind the metal shell.
So four days and 1,000 miles later there's a very clear winner here. By every objective measure the Porsche 911 Turbo S is a far superior automotive product. It's not just the fastest car you might ever drive in your life, it's refined, it's inspiring and it's very hard to give back. The engineering is almost unquestionable in every aspect.
The Turbo S, about to run away with it, right?
And yet, if ever you find yourself lucky enough to be faced with this decision. To have four days of testing split between two cars. To actually be asked "which one will you drive home in?"
Then we challenge you to ignore the Aston and take the Porsche. It really will be harder than you think.
PORSCHE 911 TURBO S
Engine: 3,800cc, flat-6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: 7-speed PDK, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 560hp@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 553lb ft@2,200rpm
0-62mph: 3.1sec
Top speed: 198mph
Weight: 1,605kg
MPG: 29.0mpg (claimed)
CO2: 227g/km
Price: £142,120 (before options)
ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGE S
Engine: 5,935cc V12
Transmission: 7-speed automated manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 573@6,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 457@5,750rpm
0-62mph : 3.7sec
Top speed: 205mph
Weight: 1,685kg (with driver)
MPG: 19.2mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 343g/km
Price: £138,000 (before options)
Photos: Max Earey
 |
 |
 |
 |
'Fugly' is the only emotion the 991 turbo fills me with.
The Aston must be really poor to drive considering the v12 soundtrack and how good the car looks.
The 991 turbo is so average it must have taken a lot of hard work from the Porsche team to make it that way.
Gimme!
If you want the ultimate go-fast appliance, the Porsche is probably as good as it gets. It's an obvious daily.
If you want something special, challenging, and exotic with a V12 soundtrack, the Aston is it.
Nothing wrong with choices
If you want the ultimate go-fast appliance, the Porsche is probably as good as it gets. It's an obvious daily.
If you want something special, challenging, and exotic with a V12 soundtrack, the Aston is it.
Nothing wrong with choices
For me, ownership of a vehicle has to have a large dollop of emotional attachment, especially if I were thinking of parting with my hard earned £150k. I don't want an appliance. I want a product from a manufacturer not only able to impress logically, but also one which tugs at your heart strings.
The Aston may not be as technically advanced as this Porker, but it hits harder, louder, and in more ways than one in all other respects, so compared to the Turbo it offers itself as a truly multi-talented beast with a multi-layered voice. Sorry but this Porsche seems to be no more than an appliance, one which I would have no qualms parting ways, whilst my heart would ache at selling the Aston on.
The only new(ish) 911 I would consider is the and 997 GT3 or the RS versions, for the same reasons.
A boss of mine went from 911 turbo to a Aston. He said in every way the Porsche was technically a better and more capable car, but his Aston made him feel so special. And then 12 months later he sold the Aston for the same amount he brought it for.
Aston seams nice place to plod about in whilst getting the sights and sounds and the bar talk down at the golf club, no wonder so many are owner by middle aged dentists. It's not a car, it's a feel good status symbol
The Porsche 991 sounds like it will get your heart beating without spanking you and so just utterly insane. It's the same path that leads people to get a GT-R and then decide even 750bhp is just not enough.
It does make you wonder how fast the next Porsche Turbo will be, with its stickier wider tyres and even more electronics to get it all into the tarmac.
At some point someone will go around a corner so quick one their eye balls will be pushed out of their ear.
Aston seams nice place to plod about in whilst getting the sights and sounds and the bar talk down at the golf club, no wonder so many are owner by middle aged dentists. It's not a car, it's a feel good status symbol
Have you ever driven a real car?Glad it's not just me. Aston do seem to be losing the classic, elegant simplicity of their designs by adding sills, gills, different colour/material panels. Some aspects of the V12 Vantage are now rather redolent of Mansoury.
I just think that if I had £150k to spend on an essentially 2-seater, I wouldn't be buying a 991.
I think what it boils down to for me (and it IS personal opinion), is that the 911 is just not special/exotic enough to justify it's price tag. That makes me a little bit sad.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff