Aston Martin reveals new supercar

When the doors open to the Geneva Show next month in Switzerland, you can be sure that the overall theme of the show will encompass green technology and increasing efficiency, so traditional car nuts will rejoice at Aston Martin's announcement that it will launch its showroom-ready V12 Vantage supercar at the event.

It has taken Aston's engineers just 12-months to develop the V12 Vantage from its concept form to a full production car and there is little to distinguish the two.

Aston Martin's designers strove to maintain the Vantage's gorgeous looks in the transformation from V8 to V12 power, though the new car features a new body kit with aerodynamics lessons learned from the company's racing programmes. The intention was to increase downforce with minimal extra drag.

The subtle bodywork changes include a low front splitter, side sills and bonnet louvres, as well as a more pronounced rear lip spoiler. A set of lightweight, diamond-turned 19-inch alloy wheels complements the new look, while the interior has been upgraded with lashings of carbon fibre and Alcantara and new instruments.

As the name suggests, the biggest difference between the V12 Vantage and its V8 brother is found under the bonnet. Aston Martin has fitted a 6.0-litre V12 engine, which produces 510bhp and 420lb.ft of torque - a significant step up from the current V8's 420bhp and 346lb.ft.

Despite the extra mass of the larger engine, Aston has managed to keep weight gain down to just 50kg, which unsurprisingly results in some pretty impressive performance figures: a 190mph top speed for one and 0-62mph in just 4.2 seconds. No doubt the V12 will be even more impressive in the mid-range.

This new supercar promises to be a real drivers' car too. It's fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard and the driver can choose between normal and Sport throttle maps, while the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) may be switched from fully on, to Track mode and even to fully off.

Following on from the new car's unveiling in Geneva on March 3rd, deliveries will begin this autumn, with production limited to between 300 and 500 examples per year. Prices will be announced at the show.

Shane O' Donoghue