Aston Martin V12 Vantage review

There’s a bit of a mish-mash when it comes to the V12’s interior. The optional carbon buckets with supportive pads are striking and surprisingly comfy fast or slow, and there’s a general feeling of raciness from behind the wheel. But the centre console is frankly a bit of a mess, and on the backside of acceptable in a car that costs this much money.

There’s a small screen stuck in the middle of the dash, isolated and barely integrated, and then as you progress down the waterfall of the centre console, a mess of buttons. There are the obvious ones for the gearbox in an arc in the middle (Park, Reverse, a big central glass Start and then Neutral and Drive), but then they seem to fall into a vague logic that frustrates.

You’d get used to it, no doubt, but there’s a lack of coherence that suggests that as functions were added, so was another button. This does not feel as if it was designed to be this busy, and it’s less attractive for it.

It’s kind of impressive in that it looks complicated and technical, but ergonomically it’s not useful, and the ‘V12’ badge in the middle of it all just looks like it’s been robbed off the front wing. Similarly, the Mercedes-sourced control pad and wheel also feel slightly out of place, and although it all works ok, it feels very last-gen. Well made, yes, but look behind the bold colour schemes and initial wow-factor, and you’ll find a car that needs a refresh.