Two years ago, Aston Martin announced the wild and crazy Vulcan, a specialty track toy of which only 24 were handcrafted into existence as instant legends. They were delivered to specially chosen customers throughout 2016, and since then, Aston Martin instructors—including three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner—have been shaping the buyers into better drivers who can appreciate and properly use such a machine. But as people have been coming to grips with the car’s full potential, Aston Martin’s new performance brand, AMR, has been increasing it. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week, Aston Martin announced the Vulcan AMR Pro, a package that further enhances the car’s aerodynamics, responsiveness, and precision.
The improved performance capabilities have been achieved by redesigning aero elements, adding new ones, reducing weight, and altering gear ratios. Power from the 7.0-liter V-12 remains at 820 horsepower, although shorter gear ratios increase acceleration response.
The improvements literally span from the car’s nose to the tip of its tail. Aston Martin added extraction louvers above the front wheel arches to reduce air pressure and lift, and pairs of carbon-fiber dive planes create additional front-end downforce. A large carbon-fiber splitter has integrated “turning vanes” to increase steering precision, and the hood has been reworked to shed 11 pounds.
The Vulcan’s rear also has a new look, with a redesigned rear wing. While the original Vulcan used a flat, single-bar wing, the new dual-plane wing is much more complex. The wing’s edge has an 0.8-inch Gurney flap, and the wing’s slotted end caps have 0.6-inch flaps.
These pieces all work together to create a roughly 27 percent increase in downforce. Aston Martin points out that it now has even more downforce than the company’s Vantage GTE, which won Le Mans. The changes also shifted the car’s center of pressure forward for better traction and front-end stability.
Unlike the typical scenario, in which improvements apply to newer production models, Aston Martin is simply making the track pack available to the 24 existing Vulcan customers. Should the owners decide they want the improvements, as some already have, Aston Martin Advanced Operations’ Q department will install the upgrades. The Vulcan already cost about $2.3 million, and this addition will run an estimated $200,000. The first cars are expected to be completed in the fall.
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