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Aston Martin Vanquish Volante review
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For an open-top car, the Vanquish Volante is commendably stiff
It’s a game the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante knows how to play, and plays it well. Coming betwixt Valkyrie and Valhalla as it does, this is currently the most expensive Aston Martin you can buy, costing over twice what you pay for a convertible Vantage, which really is going some when you think about it and just how much beneath the surface is common to both.
Then again, what you won’t find in any other Aston Martin, current or planned is a V12 engine. Twenty odd years ago, the only Aston you could buy had a V12 under its bonnet, but now it is the exclusive preserve of the Vanquish. And whether you rate it better or worse than the AMG V8 that powers every other Aston is not really the point. The point is that for some, the V12 all by itself is reason enough to buy the car.
Aston is not alone in this. To this day Mercedes-Benz keeps a V12 in production for this very reason, because certain customers won’t settle for anything they see as less, and the fact it’s a single overhead cam design with three valves per cylinder based on an engine that first appeared last century is of no importance. Nor do Vanquish customers care that their V12 is similarly elderly in its origins: it’s a V12, ergo it’s the best. Or so the schtick goes. And the fact such considerations pass me by completely will be of no consequence or interest to those for whom they are everything.
"If I was going to have a convertible Aston, I’d have a DB12 Volante and with the change buy myself a little consolation prize for not having a V12 motor – like a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring"
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Even so, I was taught to report as I find, and I find both the V8 and V12 equally charming. The smaller engine has the thunder, the larger the howl. The V12 has much better pick up from very low revs, not just because it’s over a litre larger than the V8, but is also in a far less stressed state of tune so blows less boost and can therefore afford a vastly higher compression ratio: some 10.5:1 compared to 8.6:1. But as anyone who’s driven a Vantage or DB12 will tell you, they’re not exactly lacking in the get up and go department and to these eyes both are better looking in coupé and convertible form than the Vanquish.
And to me the Vanquish works better as a coupé, because the lightness, additional torsional rigidity (although the Volante is exceptionally good in this regard) and the ability to talk to your passenger mean more to me than feeling the wind in what very little is left of my hair and the (to me worthless) knowledge that everyone can see who’s driving. And if I was going to have a convertible Aston, I’d have a DB12 Volante and with the change buy myself a little consolation prize for not having a V12 motor – like a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring.
I liked this car as much as I could imagine ever liking such a machine. It’s beautifully engineered, commendably stiff, rides well and handles securely. I don’t think the interior, so similar as it is to those of Astons costing less than half as much, is commensurate with the price charged, and I think the price charged is more than the marginal increase in real-world ability the car brings over a DB12.
But that’s my dispassionate view, born from half a lifetime of objective car assessment. And that’s not how prospects will look at it. They’ll see a flagship Aston, with that totemic V12 under the bonnet and badges on the side to prove it, the money won’t be a big deal, they’ll have half a dozen other cars in the shed (at least) and will get it because they’ll feel good about having it, better about driving it because it’s currently the fastest, most powerful front-engined convertible on sale, and because they can. If that’s you, enjoy. I certainly did.
Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Engine:
5204cc, V12, twin-turbo
Transmission:
8-speed auto, RWD
Power:
824bhp @ 6500rpm
Torque:
738lb ft @ 2500rpm
Weight:
2005kg
Power-to-weight:
411bhp/tonne
0-62mph:
3.3sec
Top speed:
214mph
Price:
£360,000 approx
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