► Most extreme Aston Vantage to date
► Old-school GT3 recipe: -100kg, 592bhp
► Geneva show debut, just 100 to be built
Talk about slugging Germany a taste of its own medicine: the new roadgoing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 special edition is taking a very carefully aimed kick in the private parts of a certain Porsche 911 GT3.
And it’d better be good; the Porsche is one of our favourite drivers’ cars of recent years.
What’s the spec of the new 2015 Aston Martin Vantage GT3?
They’ve trodden the tried-and-tested motorsport preferred path to greater performance: there’s more power, courtesy of Aston’s alloy 6.0-litre, 48-valve V12, tuned here to deliver 600ps, or 592bhp, and less weight for it to lug around.
In total, Gaydon claims a kerb mass 100kg lower than a regular Vantage V12 S, down to 1565kg. And it’s mostly down to widespread use of the black stuff – carbonfibre – for much of the bodywork, bumpers and bonnets. Tick enough (likely expensive) boxes on the order form and you can add an optional composite roof, door mirrors, grilles too… you get the idea.
All the tweaks turn what was already a rampantly fast sports coupe into a borderline supercar: Aston claims 0-60mph in 3.5sec and a 185mph top speed.
Key changes from V12 Vantage S to GT3
The motorsport team has been heavily involved in the new GT3 project, so there are numerous track-honed treats for the wealthy few Aston buyers lining up for this car.
They’ll get a lighter lithium battery (sound familiar from its 911 namesake?), a titanium exhaust system and race-bred 19in forged alloy satin black wheels. They’re shod in super-grippy, blink-and-you’ll-miss-the-side-section Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber. Spare wheel? Forget it, in the name of weight-saving, you understand.
Although this is a road-legal car, the chassis is given a thorough working-over, with uprated springs and dampers controlling the double wishbones at each end; the adaptive damping system adjusts in three steps from Normal, Sport and Track settings.
There’s a wider track on both axles, providing a broader base for the tyres to work from. And that aero needs little explanation: the front splitter and rear wing are designed to key the car into the tarmac at speed to enable higher cornering speeds.
Sounds like a blast! When will we see it?
Aston Martin will show the new GT3 at the 2015 Geneva motor show. And we’ll get our mitts on the car’s seven-speed automated manual Sportshift III lever some time this summer when customer orders commence. Bring it on…