This is the Aston Martin Vulcan,
named in honour of Britain's legendary Cold War bomber.
Which is quite a bold name to give a car.
The Vulcan, after all,
was one of our finest engineering feats of the 20th century.
Calling your car Vulcan is like naming your child Ace or Elvis.
It's got a lot to live up to.
The Vulcan is the fastest, most powerful,
most extreme Aston Martin ever built.
Nought to 60, less than three seconds. Top speed, more than 200 miles per hour
and that's with a huge wing on the back slowing it down.
Brake horsepower?
Well, that depends what you do with your knob.
This knob here cranks the power from 550 horsepower to 820 horsepower.
Now, Aston Martin has asked me to leave it in position one
while I get to grips with the Vulcan because she can be a bit lively.
Whoops!
Phenomenal!
It's like having your internal organs put into one of those old-fashioned mangles.
Because the Vulcan looks like it's time-travelled from the future,
you might think all this speed comes from some cutting edge hybrid wizardry.
But it doesn't.
In fact, to tell you the truth,
the Vulcan is a bit of a knuckle-dragging caveman.
Unlike, say, Ferrari, Aston Martin doesn't have an F1 team
from which to borrow tech, but it does have a proper British can-do attitude.
So, the Vulcan hails very much from
the make-the-most-of-what-you've-got school of engineering
and its engine started life in an old Ford Mondeo.
Well, actually two old Mondeos.
Back in the '90s, Aston got a couple of V6s from the first-generation Mondeo
and kind of gaffer-taped them together to make a V12.
Okay, as time's gone on, they've upgraded it to the point
that they've redesigned it and it's now got double the power output.
But the fact is the most powerful Aston Martin ever made
is powered by the leftovers of a couple of family saloons.
But does that matter?
Well, not really. Humans share 60% of their DNA with chickens,
but you don't see many roosters on University Challenge, do you?
And when your Mondeo engines sound like this...
who cares?
Just listen.
Yes!
It is like the fastest racing car I've driven in a straight line.
It's like a big GT car, a big Le Mans car.
It's just fantastic.
And because Aston hasn't bothered with heavy hybrid stuff,
the Vulcan's light and agile, which means it's very good at doing this.
This is fast here, 115 miles an hour through a left,
same again through a right on the exit.
Lean on the wing and then just smash the throttle open.
I'd never tire of that. Just hanging in your belts, so physical!
I have to admit that I'm kind of at the limits of the speed
I can carry and talk at the same time.
I have to concentrate.
So, instead of telling you how quick this thing goes,
since we've got the Yas Marina Formula 1 circuit to play on,
let's have a little demonstration instead.
One lap of the track, me and the Vulcan against this.
The V12 Vantage S,
573 horsepower, capable of 205 miles per hour,
the fastest road-going Aston you can buy.
And in it is Darren Turner. He is also seriously quick.
Darren is a two-time class winner at Le Mans.
Not what you call slow, then.
Oh, and just to make things interesting, Darren gets a 20-second head start.
Probably ought to warm the tyres up.
I think they're warm enough, aren't they?
So, with Darren now a good half mile up the road,
let me show you what the Vulcan's really made of.
At 200 miles per hour, this car creates its own body weight in downforce...
so, in theory, you could drive it upside down.
However, in practice...
My face is bending!
Such a positive thing to drive.
And 'cause you've got downforce, you can fling it at these fast turns.
And once you've got through the twisty stuff, more than 800 horses
are ready to close the gap some more.
The power advantage is enormous.
Oh, I can see him. I can see him!
He's got well over 500 horsepower in that thing
and we are catching him like he is standing still.
I get to catch a Le Mans winner.
Look at the way we just come climbing past him.
Oh, yes!
Bye!
The Vulcan really is the very best of Aston Martin,
the very best of British.
It's bruising. It's brilliant.
Chris, in now.
It doesn't challenge the limits of technology, but who cares?
It does make you feel utterly alive.
Chris, do you copy?
This is a car you just want to drive and drive
and drive.
Chris... Oh, come on, Chris.