New versus used: Aston Martin V12 Vantage S or McLaren MP4-12C

However, the Aston does have a limited-slip differential, whereas we know that the McLaren gets a dual-clutch automatic ’box but no LSD. We’ll come back to that.

Inside, the Aston feels as quaint as ever by most industry standards. You get the very obvious impression that it is handbuilt, albeit assembled from fine materials which clothe an aluminium structure that places clear demands on the interior architecture.

The transmission tunnel is high so that the sills need not be, for example. Fit and finish are good but you’re reminded of Aston’s tight budgets when you try to fiddle with the stereo or navigation systems, both of which could do with more than a mere software update.

So it’s the three-year-old McLaren, which can be had with a factory-backed, unlimited-mileage warranty, that actually feels more modern inside. Fit, finish and material choices were things that McLaren nailed from the very start, and this one has aged well. 

Less convincing at its launch, and still so in this MP4-12C today, are the shape of its seats, which lack support under thigh and laterally. They’re also electrically controlled by some switches located baffingly on the front of the seat base, out of view and bearing no resemblence to the seat itself. You get used to it, I suppose. 

Having flat seats is not a criticism that you’d level at the Aston, particularly in this V12 Vantage S form, which gets extremely heavily sculpted buckets. McLaren might argue that its chairs are more comfortable on longer journeys and more suited to daily use. It’s plausible.

Certainly, the McLaren’s ride is still a thing of wonder that makes a 12C a genuinely usable everyday car, its linked hydraulic suspension masking bumps and ruts in a way that no current supercar – nor most family cars, to be honest – can approach. 

Its engine and gearbox excel in daily driving, too. The gearbox’s auto mode is intelligent enough, and although the shift paddles are stiff, it shifts sweetly in manual mode. 

You don’t notice the turbo lag so much at easier efforts, either.

Aston Martin has a fine history of making grand tourers, too, but the V12 Vantage S isn’t one of them. It is loud, its engine asks to be revved, its gearbox is hesitant at low speeds and the ride is firm. It’ll have you know that it is a supercar, and it would like to be driven accordingly. So I do.

And then the V12 Vantage S reminds you what a brilliant chassis it has; what a great-handling car the Vantage has become. Yes, there’s considerable weight over the nose, but plant it by braking towards an apex and it goes diligently where you aim it.

At that point, there is enough power to let you play with the chassis entirely as you choose. The differntial hooks up, the rear tyres become mobile and it can be steered beautifully on the throttle. Even the gearbox is less irritating when it’s punching through shifts brutally.

Here the McLaren’s shortcomings – its turbo lag and its flat seats – are highlighted. Its balance errs to understeer unless you absolutely nail your trail-braking perfectly, deliberately to unsettle the rear.

Get that right and it is extraordinarily fast on corner exit; get it wrong and you’ll be waiting for the front to come back to you, and both while propping yourself up in the seat. I know that outright handling balance isn’t everything, particularly on the road, where the pace of both makes it almost, but not quite, an irrelevance. 

But what happens at the limit is hinted at at lower speeds, as you exit roundabouts or cleave a line onto a slip road. The Aston feels mobile and alert; the MP4-12C clean and capable.

The Vantage offers a superior noise, too. A sense of drama. Theatre. Ultimately, given that most owners will sit in a Range Rover from day to day and get the supercar out when the weather is good and there are no clients to visit, drama is good. From that perspective, the Aston gives you more love and, ultimately, that tells in the verdict.

The verdict