We?ve pasted the BMW quite severely so far, but this is where it all changes. The biggest car is the most comfortable for starters. Even with the damper control cranked to race, it rides like a Rolls compared to the other two to totally defy expectation. Six has a finely balanced steering and despite being somewhat less responsive than its rivals here, it is typically BMW planted, predictable and dynamic.

Get it bareback with the full 500 ponies dancing and this is the most fun a man can have out of bed v if you have the ability and you know how to drift, this thing is an incredible toy of the extremes.

The Audi delivers what one expects straight off ? it's sensitive to the steering, taut and lets you know exactly what happens in each corner. It rides stiff and hard, but nothing outside of the envelope I expected and its quattro mid-engined set-up sets it in a class alone as its lap time suggests ? it delivers brilliantly on its significant promise.

The Aston Martin is a bit of an anomaly. Look at it and you?d expect it to ride like the BMW, but it?s way too hard ? harder even than my race car and not what you'd expect from Aston Martin. My wife is an Aston freak, but she says she will never own one because it?ll shake her teeth out. A pity and a chink in the Vantage?s so far peerless repertoire.

Happily that stiffness helps translate into brilliant handling and road holding aided and abetted by razor-sharp steering and predictable and confidence inspiring habits. But does it really need to be that hard? Surely that could be significantly improved by relatively small adjustments to the spring and damper set-up? After all, ride is something you live with every moment you drive, while you?ll only use that brilliant handling when the opportunity arises, which on average is quite seldom.

Straight line performance

So, what about straight line performance then?

Well the BMW basically has them trumped in that respect although the Audi gives it a damn good go, especially at higher speeds. But off the mark and rolling on, beware of the BMW. The Aston runs them very close too ? its lighter weight, like the Audi?s, really making a difference to come back pretty impressively at the portly but powerful Beemer.

That?s all quite academic though ? from the lights, these three are close enough matched to allow reaction time to determine the winner, so choose your weapon either way, the difference between these three is you.

Nowhere is that tight envelope of performance between this trio more apparent than on the track.

And believe it or not, the M6 is the slowest of the three ? by the smallest of margins, too. See, no matter how good a power to weight ratio you have, if that proportion is derived out of both high power and excessive mass, a car of similar power to weight achieved by lighter mass and less power will be at an advantage ? physics demands that the heavier car will be compromised, finish and klaar.

A bit of a handful

The M6 brute likes to light up its rear end at the strangest of places and it is thus a bit of a handful ? you soon have a sweat up and the heart beating far faster than in the other two.

But man that BMW is fun, demanding and rewarding to drive at the limit.

The Aston beats the BMW around Kyalami by the smallest of margins ? that stiffness coming to the rescue in ultimate driving to deliver an awesome lap time around the racetrack.

But it can?t match the Audi. That rear-mid engined perfection of balance combined with quattro surefootedness delivers the killer blow on track. You are armed with more confidence in the R8 ? the car inspires it and it is that, which makes the difference.

Totally different, yet similar

So here we have three cars that are so totally different in concept and yet so similar in performance. Two of them ? the Aston and the Beemer ? are flawed in totally different areas and both make up where the other loses out. The Audi does everything well or well enough, but is humbled by its pals where they are so strong.

The Audi is the athlete, the BMW the boxer and the Aston the beauty and besides those demeanours, you can hardly split them when it comes to performance and power.

But this piece is about power and glory and when looked at in that context, they all once again stack up very, very close.

But the Aston Martin is the most beautiful car here by far and that, in the end, is what makes the difference. It gives the Vantage V8 4.7 the tiniest of advantages over the M6 and R8, handing the Aston Martin victory in this shootout.

Choose your weapon either way, the difference between these three is you? If money were no object, which would you pick?