Aston Martin Vanquish (2015) review

How refreshing... Despite protestations as to the startling dynamic benefits wrought by nigh-on undetectable engineering upgrades, model-year facelifts are, almost without exception, precisely that these days; a nose job with attendant bruising. Here on the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish, however, we find exactly the opposite. A brace of new exterior colours, new ten-spoke alloys offering a 7kg weight saving and new leather trim colours including the deeply suspicious Fandango Pink aside, everything that differentiates the 2015 Vanquish from its predecessor is dedicated to upping the driving entertainment quota and the commensurate size of the passenger-seat wet patch. What's new on the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish? Most significant is the first incorporation of ZF’s 8HP automatic transmission into a transaxle layout. Three percent lighter than its predecessor, the new eight-speed Touchtronic III gearbox adds two further ratios to the equation and boasts 130-millisecond shift speeds. Meanwhile, a new Bosch engine management system has gearbox and AM29-spec V12 chatting away with the easy enthusiasm of a first date destined to wind up in the sack. And the 6.0-litre V12’s peak power and torque both rise a whisker, to 568bhp and 465lb ft respectively. All of which, allied to gear and final drive ratio changes, makes the Vanquish swifter and, relatively speaking, more frugal and cleaner. The 0-62mph dash has been reduced by a stout half second to just 3.8 seconds – making this the quickest accelerating series-production Aston in the company’s 101-year history – and top speed rises to 201mph. Simultaneously, CO2 emissions tumble some 10% to, erm, 298g/km, and average fuel consumption is up to 22.1mpg. Chassis changes too Commensurate undercarriage enhancements include the stiffening of dampers by 15% at the front and a whopping 35% at the rear, and 20% stiffer rear suspension bushings. Both brake booster and DSC stability system have been retuned, and the steering ECU has been revised, as has the torque tube to reduce transmission noise in the cabin. Yeah, right... Like you’re ever going to hear transmission noise aboard a Vanquish. The unique vocal signature of Aston’s V12 remains all-consuming. It instantly and irrefutably becomes the defining attribute of any machine within which it is installed... With a start-up tang of such metallic intensity overlaying the basso profundo rumble of tick-over it’s always something of a surprise not to actually smell blood curdling as the engine barks into life... And, thereafter, a fabulous range of noises vacillate between John Landis’ peckish American Werewolf and that never to be bettered simile: Tom Jones picking up the soap in Strangeways’ showers… Mercedes-Benz's creeping influence at Aston... And therein lies entirely the cause of my misgivings on clocking the size of the Mercedes vehicle fleet supporting these Vanquish launch proceedings. To wit: £500 million of investment over the next five years is clearly terrific news, but just how strong is Daimler’s influence at Aston already, how much more dominant is the former set on becoming in the future, and is that glorious noise destined to become an early victim of desperately needed profitability? Design director Marek Reichman is quick to head me off at the pass. The main thrust of the Mercedes AMG tie-in is, he avers, of an electrical-plus-ancillaries nature, intended to assuage such issues as persuading diversely sourced ECUs and gearboxes to talk to each other properly. And, whilst he is a little cagier about future plans for the V8 engine (which will, I suspect, be AMG-sourced and Aston-fettled), he insists the V12 will remain as much an Aston Martin engine as it ever was, and that the noise will remain one of the most sacrosanct attributes of the cars it powers.