新手“大杀器”V12 Vantage S或成阿斯顿马丁经典形象绝唱

    光是启动这辆跑车就已经是一次感官的体验。跳进驾驶舱，将玻璃钥匙（阿斯顿马丁给它起了个拉风的名字，叫“情绪控制单元”）插进仪表台中间，引擎便在咆哮中苏醒，瞬间就能吵醒你的邻居们。这时的Vantage S跟精致等词儿丝毫沾不上边。事实上，有很多次，路上的行人和其他司机纷纷伸长了脖子，想更仔细地看看这辆发出诱人噪音的蓝色豪车。V12 Vantage S从静止加速到每小时60英里只需3.7秒，最高时速可达每小时205英里。它的操控非常精准，但是作为一台扭矩据说超过400英尺磅的跑车来说似乎还稍嫌不够。碳瓷刹车盘在对这台3600多磅重的机器进行制动时，它的表现可以用游刃有余来形容。

    这台跑车最大的软肋是变速箱。阿斯顿马丁为这台V12引擎搭配了一台自家生产的基于手动变速器、加入自动换档机制的七速Sportshift III变速箱。在运动模式下，你可以利用转向柱两侧的换档拨片控制档位。但是在自动模式下，换档的顿挫感比较强，给人的感觉就像踩放离合器都有点过早。在体验了几次换档的顿挫感后，我放弃了自动模式，开始用运动模式进行驾驶，在减档之前先松油门，避免让乘客感觉到降档的震动。另外需要提醒的一点是，这台前置12缸引擎的份量着实不轻，如果你想体验它的极限速度，这一点千万要注意。去年12月，我曾经有机会在棕榈滩的一个赛道上体验过。当它的速度升至很高时，车子会有一些头重脚轻的感觉。这也使这台车变得特别有意思，但刚接触性能车的新手来说还是要小心。

    这台跑车的驾驶舱很舒服，虽然与其它18万美元区间的跑车相比，视觉上可能有些过时。方向盘和座椅采用的是一种叫Alcantara的高级面料，既具备奢华的触感，又有一项额外的用处——在急转弯时让你不会滑向座椅的一边，也不会失去对方向盘的掌控。仪表盘中间的按钮可以控制变速箱，到底是选择运动模式，还是自动模式，就看你有多爱冒险了。车内的音响和导航系统或许可以来一点技术升级，但总体上看，V12 Vantage S的内饰依然相当简洁、实用。

    不过，这一切可能很快就会发生变化。阿斯顿马丁最近与戴姆勒和梅塞德斯奔驰公司（Daimler and Mercedes-Benz AMG）达成了一项合作，后者将向阿斯顿马丁提供发动机和部分电子元件。这也就意味着那台换档逻辑不太善解人意的变速箱可能很快就会迎来升级。另外，阿斯顿马丁公司还宣布将向它位于盖登的生产总部投入首批1亿英镑（约合1.7亿美元）的资金，后续还会有更多投资跟进。阿斯顿马丁的财务总监汉诺•柯尔纳上个月在一次新闻发布会上透露：“阿斯顿马丁将会进行101年的品牌史上最大的投资项目，我们计划向公司下一代的高性能跑车项目注入超过5亿英镑（约合8.5亿美元）的资金。”这些都是为了让阿斯顿马丁成为“英国豪车第一品牌”。

    这也意味着严凯伦和菲斯科的经典设计可能即将成为历史，而V12 Vanquish S跑车也将成为阿斯顿马丁在当前平台上的最后一款车型。

    但是暂时来说，V12 Vantage S不仅是阿斯顿马丁生产的最快的量产车（或许只有One-77能出其右），也是你值得拥有的最独特、最华贵的跑车之一。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    Starting the car is a visceral experience. Hop in the cockpit, press the glass-tipped “Emotion Control Unit” into the center of the dash and the engine roars to life, waking the neighbors. It is anything but subtle. In fact, more than a few times, pedestrians and fellow drivers alike craned their necks to get a better look at the bright blue car making all that glorious noise. The V12 Vantage S boasts 0-60 times of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 205 mph. Steering is direct, but not as direct as it should be in a car that boasts more than 400 ft lbs of torque. The carbon ceramic brakes are more than sufficient in hauling the 3600+-lb car down to a standstill.

    The biggest drawback, however, is the transmission. The engine is paired with Aston Martin’s Sportshift III transmission, a single-clutch, seven-speed automated manual. In sport mode, paddles mounted on the steering column allow you to control gearing. In automatic, the shifts are controlled for you and they are rough. The car seems to slip the clutch to get under way and then dump out early just as you get on it. After a few rough shifts, I gave up on automatic and drove the car in sport mode, modulating the gas pedal when I wanted to ease the gear shift and avoid jolting my passenger. One additional word of warning; that engine hanging out front weighs a lot and if you push the car to its limits, as I had a chance to do on a track in Palm Beach in December, the rear end can get a bit light. This makes the car incredibly fun, but drivers new to performance cars should be cautious.

    The cockpit is comfortable, albeit a bit dated, in comparison to other sports cars staring at $180K. The steering wheel and seats are Alcantara, making for a luxurious hand and an added level of function—take a corner fast and you won’t slide around in the seats or lose grip of the steering wheel. Buttons on the dash allow you to control both ride and transmission and range from Track to Automatic, depending on how adventurous you’re feeling. The stereo and navigation interface could use a bit of a technology refresh, but overall the interior of the V12 Vantage S is sleek and functional.

    All this could change very soon, however. Aston Martin recently finalized a partnership with Daimler and Mercedes-Benz AMG, who will provide engines and some electronics to Aston. That means that the slap-happy transmission may soon get an update. Aston Martin also recently announced a £100 million (about $170 million) investment their Gaydon manufacturing headquarters with more to come. “Aston Martin (will be) implementing the biggest investment programme in the 101-year history of the brand, with a plan to inject over £500m ($850 million) into the company’s next generation of high performance sports cars,” CFO Hanno Kirner said in a release last month. All this is with the goal of becoming the “number one British luxury sports car brand.”

    That means that Ian Callum’s and Henrik Fisker’s iconic shape could become part of Aston’s history, and the V-12 Vanquish S could be one of the last of the Astons on the current platform.

    For the time being, however, the V12 Vantage S remains not only the fastest street legal car that Aston Martin has made (with the exception of the One-77), it is also one of the most distinctively gorgeous sports cars you can own.