2018 Aston Martin Db11 on 2040-cars

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2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S drives angry with XCAR

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage S is a monster of a sports coupe. At the front, those color-matched fangs and open mouth look like Dracula ready to take a bite. And underneath the hood, the 6.0-liter V12 sounds like the Wolf Man growling whenever the driver gets on the throttle. In a recent video, XCAR got its hands on this wonderful behemoth and showed its brilliant brutality. The smartest move that the producers made was letting the car speak for itself. Several times during the video, the host shuts up, and the only sound is the bellow from the exhaust of the Aston Martin. The cinematography is pretty darn nice, too. If you don't have time to watch the whole video, skip about 10 minutes into it when XCAR just lets the diabolical V12 thunder. It's definitely one of the highlights. Scroll down to watch – and listen – for yourself.

Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition adds more power, downforce

Well, it seems we were onto something, Aston Martin really did give us a pace car edition of the Vantage. Or, in F1 parlance, a safety car edition. It's technically called the Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition, and fortunately, it's not just a Vantage with a fancy paint job. It actually boasts several performance improvements that it shares with the real safety car. You can even see some of those upgrades. The car features a front splitter and canards, rear wing, and under body tweaks. They all allow the F1 Edition to make an additional 441 pounds of downforce at top speed over a standard Vantage. Though not majorly affecting performance, the Vantage F1 Edition also receives a slatted grille, carbon fiber accents, quad-tip exhaust, exclusive 21-inch wheels, and a matte dark grey stripe. Only three colors are available, Aston Martin Racing Green, black and white, all three of which can be matte or gloss. Inside, the car gets black leather and grey Alcantara with your choice of green, black, grey or red stitching and center stripe. The F1 Edition gets extra power, too. The twin-turbo 4.0-liter AMG V8 makes 527 horsepower, an increase of 24, though torque is unchanged at 505 pound-feet. An eight-speed automatic is the only transmission available, and Aston Martin says it has been retuned to shift faster. Acceleration and top speed don't change, with 0 to 60 happening in 3.5 seconds for the coupe and 3.6 seconds for the roadster. The coupe's top speed is 195 mph and the roadster's is 190. Besides the extra grunt, the F1 Edition gets stiffer springs and retuned shocks along with a steering rack that Aston says provides better feedback. To pick up one of these upgraded Vantages, you'll need $162,000 for the coupe. Pricing hasn't been given for the roadster, but it will likely cost a bit more. Aston is taking orders now, and cars will be delivered to customers and dealers starting in late summer this year. Related Video: Aston Martin DBX in Stirling Green | On road, off-road and on the track

Aston Martin V12 Speedster will ditch roof and windshield

If your hunger for supercars with no windshields wasn't satiated with the McLaren Elva, we have good news. Aston Martin has one of its own to be revealed later this year. It's simply called the Aston Martin V12 Speedster, and sounds like it will be entertaining. Though the car hasn't been fully revealed, the teaser image gives us a good look at the profile. The nose is pointy with a huge grille like the Aston Martin Vantage. The short deck with tall rear spoiler is also Vantage-esque. Between the wheels appear to be some very aggressive air vents and character lines. And of course, there's no roof or windshield. There are cowls behind the seats, which are fitting since Aston says this car is inspired by the Le Mans-winning 1959 DBR1 race car and the 2013 Aston Martin CC100 concept car, both open sports cars. Powering the V12 Speedster is, obviously, a V12 engine. It's a version of the twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter that's been used in different versions of the DB11. In the Speedster it will produce 690 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, which is less than the 715 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque in the monster DBS Superleggera. The engine is matched to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive. Only 88 V12 Speedsters will be built, and Aston is taking orders now. Completed cars will be delivered in early 2021. Pricing hasn't been announced, but we doubt that will be an issue for those ordering one. Related Video: