This hand-built, fuel-injected micro V8 is amazing

Model mayhem.

By Zach Bowman October 16, 2013

 

I want one for my Lawn mower!

 

LoL 'Tadd, do you also have a Monte Carlo Lawn Mower ?
I've built model engines, but the guy that built the above from a lathe has amazing talents 4>Sure

 

How 'bout a 12 cylinder Man Made V12 ? (WoW)
First Drive Review

• VIEW PHOTOS (70)

2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S

For those shy on subtlety and patience.

• October 2013
• BY JOHN LAMM
• MULTIPLE PHOTOGRAPHERS

• JOHN LAMM AND
• THE MANUFACTURER

Subtlety and patience are blessed by many, yet shunned by others; it is this latter group for whom Aston Martin’s V12 Vantage S exists. Aston’s CEO, Ulrich Bez, who knows his way around the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife, calls the S “extreme in its nature” and “brutal.” He points out it is not a car to drive from New York to San Diego. Unless, that is, you were stopping at Watkins Glen, VIR, Mid-Ohio, Road America, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca along the way.
Aston’s Vantage S certainly looks the part despite the age of its basic bones, ready to pounce with its wide stance and pronounced rear wheel arches. New for the Vantage S is a carbon-fiber grille inset, black in our test car’s case. Arrayed across the hood are extensive vents for the V-12, accented in optional red-tinted carbon fiber. Inside is a driver-oriented cockpit and a tall center stack with two important buttons: One for adjusting steering response and setting the adaptive damping to Normal, Sport, or Track mode, and a second that toggles a Sport mode for quicker throttle response and shifts and a throatier growl out back.
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That growl is generated by the V-12, a carryover from the days when Ford owned Aston, now shucked of all its FoMoCo roots save the rods and pistons. Aston rates its AM28 V-12 at 565 horsepower and 457 lb-ft of torque, 376 of the latter ready at 1000 rpm. Sixty mph comes up in 3.8 seconds, with an ethereal 205-mph terminal velocity.
Our test route rose from Palm Springs into the mountains, much of it two-lane highways studded with rough patchwork repairs. The Aston didn’t much care. The suspension’s Track setting was a tad stiff, but both the Normal and Sport levels soaked up road-surface foibles with ease while not degrading handling. We kept the throttle and shift response set to Sport and our only concern was how quickly and effortlessly license-shredding velocities were achieved.
Shifty Business
The main reason that the car proves unsuitable for daily use is the Graziano-sourced Sportshift III automated manual transmission. It’s the only gearbox offered (Aston dropped its conventional manual-transmission option in the Vantage a few years ago). The automated manual is sensible, we suppose, for a car that is, “extreme in its nature,” but not one driven off-track to Del Taco. We did backcountry highway runs from rest into triple digits and the shifts were almost shocking in their stiffness—they came with a wham. The roughness feels out of place in 2013, like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone hobble through a new action flick.
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Dodging through endless esses up a mountainside, the stiff shifts weren’t a bother because we didn’t need to change gears very often. With the V-12’s broad, strong torque curve, there was little need to do other than stay in third and let the engine go to work. The Aston clawed its way through the switchbacks with mighty grip.
Back into Palm Springs, the transmission was again an aggravation. Even in the Drive setting, automatic shifts came with a pause and lurch, transforming the Aston from a car in its element to one akin to using a Kentucky Derby entrant as a plow horse. It looked good, but it was wasting its talents. Indeed the 205-mph V12 Vantage S is best saved for special, full-monty occasions. View Photo Gallery

 

Specifications >


VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

BASE PRICE: $187,820 > Dream Machine <

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC, 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 362 cu in, 5935 cc
Power: 565 hp @ 6750 rpm
Torque: 457 lb-ft @ 5750 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automated manual with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 102.4 in
Length: 172.6 in
Width: 73.4 in Height: 49.2 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3800 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 3.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.9 sec
Top speed: 205 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway: 13/19 mpg

 

I'll have to check the video out at home. But based on the pic, I want to see it, looks neat.

I saw a video once of a tiny motor build and I just find it neat someone would go through all that work. Everyone has to have a hobby

 

Hi Mod 'Jason,
I think it's amazing what he did, but I would've put on a Borla type exhaust instead of those canon muffler's > I think it's a cool hobby & this guys has some talents 4>Sure...I wonder what he drives & 'if he has a Monster Motor in his ride ?
Let us know what you think when U can watch the vid

 

 

Wow that Aston!
Def happy to keep that as my dream car!
Looks soo good! V12!!! yes!