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Motor Trend pits Aston V12 Vantage S against Jaguar XKR-S GT in battle of the Brits

With the recent increase in higher-performance versions of already high-performance vehicles, like Mercedes-Benz and its AMG Black Series, the public is now gaining even greater access to speed and maneuverability. Two of the most recent sports cars to get their wicks turned up include the Jaguar XKR-S GT and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S.
Both of these cars are the pinnacles of their lines, with the Jag lording over the XKR-S, XKR and XK while the Aston rules over the standard V8 Vantage S and V8 Vantage. Motor Trend has opted to pit the two rivals together for some thorough testing, and it just happened to bring along a few video cameras to capture all the action.
There's nearly 19 minutes of super hot sports car action below, so scroll down and enjoy.

The Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro is a Le Mans-derived supercar

The Aston Martin Vulcan is a car filled with superlatives. It's one of the fastest and rarest cars in the world, with just 24 of the 820-horsepower track-only supercar in existence. The car packs a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V12, a 6-speed sequential transmission, and some of the most visually striking bodywork of any modern performance car. Aston Martin is now offering an AMR Pro performance pack with tech derived from the automaker's Le Mans-winning racecars. The main difference between the original car and the Vulcan AMR Pro model is aero. The car gets a whole host of upgrades that help channel air over, under, and around the car better than before. The car's other big change is a shorter gear ratio. The goal was to make the Vulcan AMR Pro more planted and more responsive in an effort to reduce lap times. The front wheel arches get louvred carbon-fiber panels to extract air and reduce lift. Dive planes have been added to the nose, complimented by a large splitter. Both will help front-end lift and improve steering response. More efficient use of carbon fiber means the engine cover weighs about 11 pounds less than before. Out back, the Vulcan AMR Pro gets a new dual-plane rear wing. It's far bigger and more elaborate than the standard car's wing, featuring a 20mm Gurney flap. The slotted endplates feature 15mm Gurney flaps. It simply looks the business. Aston Martin says all of the additional aero bits increase downforce from 2,323 lb-ft to 2,950 lb-ft. That's a huge increase on any car, much less one that was already packed with aerodynamic tricks. By comparison, the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE that was the class winner at Le Mans only has 2,290 lb-ft of downforce. The Aston Martin Vulcan was a car designed without limits, restraints, or regulations. It's a track-only car, but it's not built for any racing series. It's simply meant to go around a track very, very fast. With the AMR Pro pack, those 24 owners should be happier than ever. Related Video:

Aston Martin to keep V12 alongside new AMG V8

Aston Martin is embarking on a brave new future. After thirteen years basing the bulk of its lineup on the VH architecture, Aston is developing a new platform, and is partnering with Mercedes-AMG to develop a new V8 engine and electronic systems. But what will happen to the old platform and engines once the new ones arrive? You might think that they'd be retired, but that won't necessarily be the case. At least as far as the AM11 V12 engine goes. The 6.0-liter engine was developed by Cosworth, based on a Ford block, and first appeared on the DB7 Vantage way back in 1999, but still powers everything Aston offers, save the V8 Vantage. It's evolved heavily over the past decade and a half, rising in output from 420 horsepower to 565, but Aston is one of the only British automakers still offering a V12 these days (Jaguar no longer does, Bentley's is actually a W12 and while Rolls-Royce does, its vehicles are mostly of a decidedly more sedate nature), and will surely want to carry on that legacy. That's why Aston spokesman Matthew Clarke revealed in correspondence with Autoblog, "Our 6.0-liter V12 engine will remain, with ongoing development, at the heart of a number of our flagship models for the foreseeable future," long after the new engine being developed with Mercedes arrives. Just which models will receive the new eight-cylinder engine and which will keep the twelve remains to be seen, but we get the feeling Aston's eight-cylinder range will broaden to include more than just the Vantage. As for the VH architecture, you can expect it to sail off into the proverbial sunset once the new platform is ready, though we wouldn't be surprised to see it phased out more gradually than abruptly. A 13-year tradition doesn't end overnight, after all.