Open-top 214mph Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is world’s fastest blow-dry
Make sure you pack light – the boot’s tiny
In a fully-expected follow-up to the astonishing Aston Martin Vanquish coupé we drove in October, fans of the British marque can now have their 824bhp, 214mph super-GT with an opening roof in the shape of the new Vanquish Volante – which promises to be one of the fastest ways for rich people to mess up their expensively coiffured barnet.
Prices haven’t been specified but expect the new Vanquish Volante to cost more than the hard-topped model’s £330,000 starting figure, with production of the convertible set to be limited to less than 1,000 units per year.
Monster V12 retained
Although it has only been 25 years since Aston started using V12 engines, the technology has come on leaps and bounds in the interim. So much so that the 5.2-litre twin-turbo unit in the Vanquish Volante not only makes that colossal 824bhp, but also 738lb ft of torque (twisting force) to go with it — some way in advance of the DB7 Vantage of 2000, which produced 420bhp and 401lb ft from its 6-litre unit.
Ultimately, the new Vanquish Volante is almost identical to the coupé, save for the uppermost portion of its bodywork.
Aston has opted to plump for a “K-fold” roof arrangement, which reduces weight and simplifies the hood when it is stowed away, where it only measures 260mm deep when it is piled behind the seats.
Structurally, Aston has had to add 95kg to the kerb weight of the Vanquish to make up for the lost rigidity of a solid roof, and ensure the Volante is as good to drive as the coupé. The firm has also tuned the suspension — including its advanced Bilstein DTX dampers — to cope with the subtly altered distribution of the soft-top car’s mass.
The Vanquish Volante retains the carbon-ceramic brakes of its sibling (which are 27kg lighter than conventional steel brakes), as well as the torque-vectoring system that helps turn the car more sharply.
Specially developed Pirelli P Zero tyres from the fixed-body Vanquish serve the convertible just as well, while the bonded aluminium frame of the Volante is said to make it 75 per cent better for lateral stiffness than the “previous flagship convertible” from the British company — that’ll be the old DBS 770 Ultimate Volante.
Rapid on road, rapid roof
Capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds, placing it a mere tenth-of-a-second behind its lighter hardtop relation, the Vanquish Volante is still a seriously quick car. In fact, Aston says it is the most-powerful front-engined production car in the world right now.
So, a fast car needs a fast roof, and thankfully the Volante has that. The K-fold lid can be opened in 14 seconds and closed in 16 seconds, a process that can be done one of three ways: while the Vanquish is stationary, the owner can press the relevant buttons on the key fob while within two metres of the vehicle to get the process in action; alternatively, they can sit in it while parked and lower or raise the roof with a new metal switch on the console in the cabin; or they can even get on the move and, providing their road speed is no more than 31mph, still operate the hood while travelling along.
Incredibly, Aston says the Volante has the same level of thermal insulation as the Vanquish coupé, which means the multiple layers of its roof will keep occupants nice and toasty inside if the lid is up, but it does take some more space from the already-small boot — 219 litres with the roof raised is down from 248 litres in the Coupé, while the stashed hood reduces the cargo area to just 187 litres; about the same as you’d get in a Fiat 500C.
Like the coupé, the Vanquish Volante has twin 10.25in digital displays inside, for the driving cluster and main infotainment, as well as a high-end, 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround-sound system.
Besides the new roof button, there’s also a switch in the Volante with which you can access the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in a quicker fashion, in order to disable pesky oversight nannies such as lane-keep assist and the speed-limit warning.
Other than that, power continues to flood to the Aston’s rear wheels through an eight-speed ZF transmission, complete with an electronic limited-slip differential.
Continuing a much-vaunted model line
The first car to wear the heralded soft-top nameplate of Aston Martin was the Short Chassis Volante of 1965. It comprised design elements of both the convertible DB5 which had come before it and the DB6 Volante that superseded it, but just 37 examples were built during a one-year production run, making it one of the rarest Aston Martins of them all.
Typically, two-seat Aston convertibles — as with the Vantage relation to the current Vanquish — bear the Roadster name, but even though the new Vanquish Volante lacks for rear seats, it’s still the flagship open-top car so gains the Volante name.
Over the years, “Volante” has been paired up with other glorious Aston nameplates, such as DB6 MkII Vantage Volante, V8 Vantage Volante and Virage Volante, but the V8 and V12 Vantages of the modern era have only ever been known as Roadsters.
Adrian Hallmark, Aston Martin’s CEO, said: “For 60 years, Aston Martin Volantes have defined the art of elegant, sporting, open-top motoring.
“With its stunning looks and outstanding V12 engine producing more power than any other front-engine production car on sale, Vanquish Volante has taken this philosophy to an entirely new level.
“At Aston Martin we are proud to be doing such justice to our heritage while, as the unprecedented performance of the Vanquish Volante shows, keeping our eyes firmly focused on the future.”
Those with deep enough pockets can order their Aston Martin Vanquish Volante right now, with first deliveries expected in Q3 of this year. Just as the UK summer comes to an end… curses.
Related articles
- If you were interested in the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, you may want to read our review of the Aston Martin Vanquish Coupé
- You might also like to read what Will Dron had to say about the DB12
- Also check out the Aston Martin Valiant, a 734bhp track-focused sports car developed for Fernando Alonso
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