Aston’s hotter Vanquish S is testing with a very weird exhaust setup. Twin-turbo V12 power could hit 838 hp with engine tune from Valen. High-mounted exhausts raise questions about trunk space and heat. We’d barely finished gawping at spy shots of Aston Martin’s hardcore Vantage RS this week when its bigger brother popped into our inbox. The upcoming Vanquish S has been caught testing again, bringing a tuned twin-turbo V12 and an exhaust arrangement that’s raising more questions than it answers. We’ve seen the hotter Vanquish before, most recently testing at the Nurburgring in May. Back then, the prototype had so many exhaust outlets that it looked like Aston’s engineers were being paid by the pipe. This latest mule is still playing the same game. Related: Aston’s New Valen Is The World’s Most Powerful Front-Engined Production Car The regular Vanquish’s familiar pair of exhaust tips behind each rear wheel remain visible. But there’s also another pair mounted between them where a diffuser would normally live, and yet another set located much higher, spaced apart above the bumper. That’s eight in total. The original four are almost certainly dummies while Aston evaluates a more exotic production layout, but which of the other four is the real deal? High-mounted exhausts aren’t unheard of on serious performance cars. Ferrari and McLaren have both used them, but there’s an important difference. Those applications tend to involve mid-engined cars whose luggage compartments are safely located up front. The Vanquish’s trunk is directly behind that V12-powered cabin, which makes the whole thing more interesting. How much cargo room would elevated pipework steal? How would Aston’s engineers shield your luggage from the heat? And how many owners will accidentally decorate their expensive designer trousers with exhaust grime while leaning over the back to retrieve a weekend bag, even with the pipes recessed? More Aero, Less Ride Height We’d love to see Aston pull it off, though logic suggests it’s the lower central pair that will most likely appear on the finished car. Whichever route Aston takes, those pipes will be surrounded by new bumpers, and aero parts to both improve the stiction on track, and make sure you get noticed on the street. Inside, things look considerably more conventional. The cabin appears largely unchanged from the standard Vanquish, although the dashboard seems to wear Alcantara rather than leather, providing the obligatory visual reminder that you bought the faster one. Though it might not be much faster in a straight line. The regular Vanquish already extracts 824 hp (835 PS) and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) from its 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12, driving the rear wheels through a traditional eight-speed auto, rather than a dual-clutch automatic that can pretend to be a gated manual, as on the Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale. The S is expected to push output to 838 hp (850 PS) using the tuned V12 from the new limited edition Valen, the world’s most powerful front-engined car, while gaining sharper chassis tuning to keep it all in check. Just remember to remove your luggage before firing it up. Baldauf
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