On this episode of Head 2 Head
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Aston Martin and Jaguar are brands typically associated
00:18 with tasteful restraint and refinement.
00:20 Welcomingly, the V12 Vantage S and XKR-S GT
00:24 take that notion and throw it right out the window.
00:26 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:30 These two are the fastest and most extreme cars
00:33 you can buy from their respective automakers,
00:35 both with around 560 horsepower, carbon ceramic brakes,
00:39 adjustable dampers, and Pirelli P-Zero courses.
00:44 As its name suggests, the V12 Vantage S
00:46 has one packed in its small frame.
00:49 It displaces 5.9 liters-- never mind what the badges say--
00:52 and sends its 566 horsepower to the rear wheels
00:56 through a seven-speed single-clutch automated
00:58 manual.
00:59 It's shorter in length and height
01:01 than the Jaguar by a good margin and weighs 292 pounds less.
01:05 So it has the power-to-weight advantage here.
01:08 Think of this Jaguar as a GT3 or Black Series version
01:11 of the XKR-S. Though it doesn't make any more power
01:14 than that car, with 550 horsepower,
01:17 it really doesn't need any more.
01:18 The GT package instead includes an array
01:21 of aerodynamic improvements that lead to 320 pounds of downforce
01:25 at 186 miles an hour.
01:27 It also has a host of chassis improvements,
01:30 like massively stiffened spring rates, wider front and rear
01:32 track, and a new steering rack.
01:34 The two cars tie in the drag race,
01:50 all the way from 60 miles an hour to the quarter mile.
01:53 The Vantage's transmission wouldn't engage aggressively
01:56 enough off the line, though its higher trap speed shows
01:59 its power and weight advantage.
02:01 The two were similarly close in braking
02:10 and during the figure 8, putting down lateral G averages
02:13 in lap times within tenths of one another.
02:15 (car engine revving)
02:18 (upbeat music)
02:46 So let's talk about how these two compare
02:48 to one another on the road.
02:50 And we're first going to start with the less exciting stuff,
02:52 which is the interior and the controls.
02:55 The Aston has a little bit more of a sense of occasion,
02:58 a little bit more of a show going on here,
03:01 a greater sense of theater with the stitching
03:03 in the seats, the giant shift paddles, and so on.
03:07 The materials, I think, are nicer.
03:10 I like the color of the contrast stitching.
03:12 I like these seats a little bit better.
03:14 And I like the sound of this V12 a little bit more.
03:17 (car engine revving)
03:20 What I don't like is right there.
03:33 The shift quality in this car at low speeds to moderate speeds
03:36 is quite frustrating because there's
03:38 this huge interruption in torque delivery,
03:41 and it makes your head go like this every time you shift.
03:44 So unless you drive it anticipating that constantly,
03:47 lifting your foot off the throttle, it's quite frustrating.
03:50 (car engine revving)
03:51 But when you're at speed, everything sort of cleans up
03:55 and starts getting better.
03:55 Wide open throttle shifts in this car aren't perfect,
03:59 but the kathunk when the gear change happens
04:02 and the sense of torque reappearing is pretty satisfying,
04:06 I have to admit.
04:07 (car engine revving)
04:10 (car engine revving)
04:13 So let's talk about what's good about this Aston.
04:22 I think this Aston gets into corners really nicely.
04:25 I really like the sensation of steering in this car
04:28 and how it's tied to the front axle.
04:30 When you set this car for a corner,
04:32 a couple degrees of wheel into the corner,
04:35 you get this nice sensation of the car hunkering down,
04:38 the rear suspension sort of sinking,
04:39 and the car just sucking into that apex.
04:42 Really nice feeling.
04:43 (car engine revving)
04:47 This is a good feeling, this is a very good feeling.
04:50 (car engine revving)
04:53 Again, you're not managing as much speed as you are
04:55 in the Jaguar, you're not going as fast.
04:57 You're working harder too,
04:59 but you may be smiling a bit more because of it.
05:02 Now, is that better or worse?
05:04 And that's gonna be a person to person thing.
05:07 I really like the way this drives when you're going fast,
05:11 but I know the Jaguar's faster.
05:13 (car engine revving)
05:17 (laughing)
05:36 So V12 sound really cool, V8 sound really cool.
05:39 (car engine revving)
05:43 Now the Assens V12 may be a little bit sweeter,
05:46 but there's a brutality in the sound of this V8
05:49 that I like very, very much.
05:52 When you get on the throttle in sport mode,
05:53 those baffles open up and you get that raw growl.
05:57 It's a very nice feeling.
05:58 (car engine revving)
06:05 This car feels really nice and set up, really balanced.
06:08 It doesn't seem to exhibit any of that entry understeer
06:10 that we know from the F-Type and the XFR-S
06:13 and so on and so forth.
06:14 This thing feels really nicely set up.
06:17 The steering doesn't feel as connected as the Astons is.
06:21 You feel like you're moving the wheel a little bit more,
06:23 but that's okay because you're going faster.
06:25 As far as the interior is concerned,
06:27 I'm disappointed that this doesn't have
06:29 the special touches that the Aston has.
06:31 I mean, sure, some of the materials are different,
06:32 the stitching is different,
06:34 but a lot of this you'd recognize from the standard XK-RS.
06:37 And when you drive this car slow,
06:39 it feels like you're riding in an XK-RS
06:41 that has stiffer suspension.
06:43 It doesn't feel special until you really get on it.
06:45 But when you really get on it,
06:47 it becomes a hell of a driving car.
06:50 (car engine revving)
06:53 I love this part.
06:57 (car engine revving)
07:01 You can carry so much more speed into corners
07:04 than you can in the Aston.
07:05 This front end is just hooked up.
07:07 (car engine revving)
07:11 You feel like you're driving a sort of GT3 car on the road.
07:14 That's not the case, of course,
07:17 but it gives you that vision,
07:18 and that's a very important thing
07:20 and a very cool thing when you're driving this car.
07:22 It feels like, yeah, race car.
07:24 (car engine revving)
07:28 What you notice is the lack of audible impacts
07:30 and the lack of head shake
07:32 and the lack of the way the Aston sinks into a corner.
07:35 This doesn't do that.
07:36 This stays very firm and taut
07:38 and just sort of guides its way around corners.
07:41 It's a very nice driving car, very confident car.
07:44 And while I'm not laughing as much while driving it,
07:48 I am enjoying driving it very much.
07:50 It's not as set-your-hair-on-fire exciting,
07:54 but it will get you around a mountain road faster.
07:57 I think the downside to this car is when you're cruising,
08:00 this car doesn't feel like such an event,
08:03 like such an experience,
08:04 because it just does all the normal car things really well.
08:08 The road is a bit limiting for these cars, though.
08:14 To find out how they really perform,
08:16 we're gonna have to take them to the racetrack.
08:18 (car engine revving)
08:22 (dramatic music)
08:24 (car engine revving)
08:42 XKRS-GT.
08:45 - Yeah, buddy.
08:48 - That's a good sound.
08:50 - Supercharged.
08:51 (car engine revving)
08:53 - Heading into turn one in the Jag.
08:55 It's really a pretty sweet shift for a full-on automatic.
09:02 - It is.
09:02 - It's not a dual-clutch.
09:03 - No, it's much smoother, much better than the Astons.
09:07 - Got a little mush in the shift,
09:11 but boy, it's way, way better than the Astons.
09:14 Okay, I've laid it into the bowl here in the Jag,
09:18 and the steering in the Jag, it's not as quick.
09:22 The car's just not as hyper as the Aston is.
09:25 I don't think it needs to be, frankly,
09:27 but it's a real difference
09:29 in the way the two machines handle.
09:31 - I did like the steering a bit more in the Aston.
09:33 I like that quickness,
09:34 I like that response you got through the wheel.
09:36 - You do, I remember you liked that in the Audi R8, too.
09:39 (laughing)
09:40 Woo!
09:41 And I actually like it a little bit more subdued.
09:43 I find the car easier to control, easier to drive.
09:47 The Jaguar is less likely to make me sweat.
09:49 - Yeah, well, what do you know?
09:51 - Not much.
09:53 (laughing)
09:54 You know I like ripping down this straightaway.
09:56 - It just has that sense
10:01 that it's just getting sucked into the apex.
10:03 You never feel like any resistance happening
10:05 on the front tires.
10:06 - It's got dive planes.
10:08 - That's helping, that's helping.
10:08 - The car actually has some very racy aerodynamic bits.
10:12 I think it's useful here.
10:13 We're doing almost 90,
10:14 and I guarantee you that little wing is helping.
10:17 - I hope so.
10:18 - I'm really thrilled with this new Jag
10:20 because it's such an improvement
10:23 over the Jags I've driven in the past.
10:25 And it's improved in the very exact ways
10:29 that it needed to be.
10:31 I'm suspicious they got a different set of guys
10:33 working on this one,
10:33 because the XK-RS is a really cool car.
10:36 It's got all the ingredients,
10:38 but it oversteers a lot under power.
10:40 - Too much, way too much.
10:42 Jaguar says this is done by a special in-house group
10:45 called the ETO.
10:46 And I don't know how big that group is,
10:48 but I hope they do every Jaguar going forward.
10:50 - I like what they've done here.
10:52 - Absolutely.
10:53 - Car's better balanced.
10:54 It's quiet and refined,
10:57 except for the exhaust.
10:58 When we're going slow, it's quiet.
11:00 When you get on it, it's loud,
11:02 and it really sounds good.
11:03 I enjoy that.
11:04 (car engine roaring)
11:07 (car tires screeching)
11:10 This car stops extremely well.
11:17 It's a very heavily damped car.
11:19 The shocks are doing a lot to control the body.
11:23 Maybe that's part of how they improved the handling
11:26 and the power down.
11:28 But I think it's more than that.
11:29 I think it's in the spring rates.
11:32 You told me yesterday that the front spring rates
11:34 are up 60%.
11:35 - 68.
11:36 - And the rears--
11:37 - 25.
11:37 - Not nearly as much, only 25%.
11:40 It does give the car,
11:41 it's a little bit of push in the middle of the corner,
11:43 but that pushes stability.
11:45 And it makes it possible for us to use this power.
11:49 - Exactly.
11:50 (car engine roaring)
11:53 You can concentrate on just lining up your apexes
11:56 and your braking points and your throttle application,
11:59 and it works because of it.
12:00 - From the passenger seat,
12:01 I could really feel the difference when you were driving.
12:05 The way it put the power down.
12:07 Just, you know, the tiger paws came out and gripped the road
12:11 so much better than the Aston does.
12:12 (car engine roaring)
12:15 It is a very powerful rear wheel drive car.
12:18 So yes, you can spin the tires,
12:19 but that Aston, you are arms and elbows.
12:22 And this car, not so much.
12:24 It's just so refined.
12:25 It reminds me in many ways,
12:27 sorry to say this, of a 911.
12:29 It has the balance, the brakes.
12:31 (car engine roaring)
12:34 (dramatic music)
12:37 - Randy's driving the Aston now.
12:58 I'm gonna brace for silliness.
13:01 - For power oversteer, like this.
13:03 (car engine roaring)
13:06 It's so quick.
13:09 It's kind of like something is barking at you
13:11 and then you slide.
13:12 - It's a reasonably well-balanced car
13:14 until you add the power.
13:16 (car engine roaring)
13:19 And then it does light up those tires.
13:23 It's a combination of power
13:25 and I'm gonna say geometry or shock tuning,
13:29 because the car is really not too loose
13:31 until you go to the power.
13:33 It's too easy.
13:34 It could put power down better.
13:35 (car engine roaring)
13:38 Loving the engine.
13:41 - The engine might be the best part of this car,
13:44 maybe second to the styling.
13:46 This is a beautiful looking car.
13:47 - It's a beautiful car and it's a fabulous engine.
13:51 I like the engine best.
13:52 V12, just so powerful.
13:55 The higher you rev it, the better it gets.
13:57 (car engine roaring)
14:00 (car engine roaring)
14:03 And you know what?
14:10 On the racetrack, this transmission's really not so bad.
14:14 - No, on the racetrack is the only time
14:16 that it actually works.
14:17 I mean, it still seems to be a bit more delayed
14:19 than you want.
14:20 - Yeah.
14:21 - And it can upset the car.
14:22 - It slows you down.
14:23 - Exactly.
14:24 Now, I have to say, I like the steering a lot in this car.
14:27 - It's quick.
14:28 The feel through the front wheels is also very nice.
14:30 - The reason I enjoy it is that it responds well
14:33 to the wheel.
14:34 Like you said, the steering's good.
14:36 The chassis responds really quickly.
14:39 And so, with the power oversteer,
14:41 we always have to be catching
14:42 or dancing this car on the limit.
14:44 - Yes.
14:45 - And the Vantage actually makes that a lot of fun.
14:47 It's a wild ride, really.
14:49 (laughing)
14:49 Very visceral.
14:51 (car engine roaring)
14:53 And when I drive the Aston fast, I'm busy.
14:56 - Yes.
14:57 - I'm tired, a little sweaty.
14:58 I know I've had a workout.
14:59 I enjoyed it, but it was a workout.
15:02 It's a car I find I have to chase all the time
15:05 when I'm going fast at the limit.
15:06 - Looking at the video, it's amazing how much steering input
15:09 you were putting in constantly.
15:11 Your wheels were always dicing back and forth.
15:14 (car engine roaring)
15:17 The Aston's like the Jaguars that we're used to.
15:21 - It is.
15:22 - As soon as you get on the throttle, you're sideways.
15:23 - It is.
15:24 - It handles like the Jaguars we're used to.
15:27 The Jaguar is a far better handling car.
15:30 - Yes.
15:31 - I just think the Jag has a much more refined feel.
15:35 It's more balanced, just works better.
15:39 Both cars are a real trip.
15:42 - Absolutely.
15:43 - A lot of fun on the road.
15:44 - Absolutely.
15:44 - On a road course, though.
15:45 - If you like drifting $175,000 cars,
15:49 this is the one to get.
15:50 (upbeat music)
15:52 (car engine roaring)
15:56 (upbeat music)
15:58 (car engine roaring)
16:01 (upbeat music)
16:04 (car engine roaring)
16:07 (car engine roaring)
16:18 (upbeat music)
16:31 (car engine roaring)
16:34 (upbeat music)
16:36 - The Vantage remains desirable in spite of its flaws,
17:02 which speaks to how much enjoyment it delivers.
17:05 Its driving experience is truly exhilarating,
17:07 and its engine styling and theatrics
17:09 easily make it very lovable.
17:11 You just have to ignore the shortcomings,
17:13 like the transmission or its difficulty in applying power.
17:17 And that becomes increasingly difficult
17:19 when you think of the Jaguar.
17:20 You also have to ignore the fact that it's slower,
17:22 despite being lighter, smaller, and more expensive.
17:26 The XKR-S GT is certainly more technically accomplished,
17:29 performing far better than its weight
17:31 and automatic transmission might suggest.
17:34 The GT transformation then is a dramatic improvement
17:37 to the XKR-S, one worthy of high praise.
17:40 The flexibility it provides
17:42 makes the car endlessly entertaining,
17:44 and of course, extremely fast.
17:46 And that's why the XKR-S GT wins this week's Head to Head.
17:51 (upbeat music)
17:53 (car engine roaring)
17:57 (car engine roaring)
18:00 - What are you trying to do, tickle me?
18:04 Tickle you, yeah, I'll tickle you.
18:06 You probably don't know that song.
18:08 - I don't get that reference right now.
18:09 - That's Cheech and Chong, "Turn That Thing Down."
18:12 It's a whole song.
18:13 - Oh, is it?
18:14 - Oh yeah.
18:14 - Yeah?
18:15 - It's called "Turn That Thing Down."
18:16 You need to hear it.
18:17 It's about a parent walking in on a young teenager
18:22 who's listening to loud music
18:24 when he should be getting ready for school,
18:26 and they have the usual talk.
18:28 You get your little fanny perpendicular.
18:31 I'm not going to school.
18:32 And why not?
18:33 'Cause I'm sick.
18:36 It's pretty good, I know the whole thing.
18:38 Okay.
18:39 (laughing)
18:40 Those drug addicts.
18:41 (upbeat music)