Aston Martin gives Vulcan track car AMR treatment

ASTON Martin has used the Goodwood Festival of Speed to reveal an even more savage version of its Vulcan racecar, with the track-only monster set to get an AMR Pro upgrade package including a suite of dynamic enhancements.

The 611kW V12-powered Vulcan was first revealed at the 2015 Geneva motor show and restricted to an ultra-exclusive production run of only 24 units worldwide.

AMR-fettled enhancements to the Vulcan begin at the car’s nose, with louvered carbon-fibre panels positioned in front of the wheel arches to help reduce aerodynamic lift, while dive planes have been fitted on the sides of the nose to add downforce.

The Vulcan’s huge front splitter has been fitted with turning vanes on its underside to improve steering response, and the addition of carbon-fibre has helped reduce the weight of the engine cover by 5kg.

At the rear, the Vulcan AMR Pro receives a new dual-plane design spoiler, featuring a 20mm upstand on the wing’s rear edge called a Gurney flap, as well as additional 15mm Gurneys on the slotted wing endplates that help maximise the amount of downforce.

The changes help increase downforce from 3150Nm in the ‘regular’ Vulcan to 4000Nm in the AMR Pro version, while the centre of pressure has moved forward for a 47 per cent front bias (up from 41.5 per cent) which Aston says improves traction, steering response and front-end grip.

While owners of the Vulcan are not able to drive their vehicle on public roads, they do receive driving instruction from a team of Aston Martin experts including three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner.

Buyers are able to experience the Vulcan on a number of Formula One circuits such as the Circuit of the Americas in the US, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi and Silverstone in the UK.

The AMR Pro upgrade will be installed by Q by Aston Martin Advanced Operations, with the first deliveries expected to be completed around the third quarter. Work is already underway on the first upgrades.

Aston Martin vice president and chief special operations officer David King said the AMR Pro package was a way for the brand to further improve on the performance of the Vulcan.

“Like anything with a motorsport mindset, once we’d built and delivered all 24 Vulcans we started thinking about how to make it quicker,” he said.

“And so the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro was born. The shorter gearing makes for truly explosive acceleration between the corners, while the aero package’s increased downforce and improved balance gives our customers the all-important confidence to explore the extraordinary performance on offer.” The AMR (Aston Martin Racing) brand was first launched at the Geneva motor show, and earlier this month announced its first production model, with 200 V8 Vantages and 100 V12 Vantages receiving a suite of performance upgrades from the sub-brand.