We need to be clear that this is the world’s fastest ‘front engine’ convertible. The Bugatti is still much quicker, but once you hear the numbers from the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, you’ll wonder why you need to go faster.
Fitted with Aston’s new 5.2L twin-turbo V12, the Volante has 835PS and 1000Nm of torque (823 horsepower, 737 pound feet of torque). Top speed is a blistering 345km/h (214mph) and zero to 100km/h (0-62mph) comes in at 3.4 seconds. I will say that I didn’t see the top speed being rated with the top down, because of course, you’d want to do that. Good thing, the roof comes up in 16 seconds and down in 14 seconds with an innovative K-fold to keep both occupants out of the weather or two-hundred-mile-per-hour winds.
Aston took quite the gamble and decided to design the coupe and convertible at the same time. They achieved a goal by only increasing the convertible’s weight by a mere 95kg (209lbs), but you won’t notice as the car produces maximum torque at 2500 rpm and holds it until 5000 rpm. Power is fed through the rear wheels with a rear-mounted (and ever ubiquitous) ZF-sourced 8-speed automatic.
The differential, mated to the ZF automatic, is quite special too. The diff can go from locked to unlocked in 135 milliseconds. I can’t wrap my head around that last part, and I’m not sure if it will keep you in or out of a ditch, but I like it. The Electronic Stability Program (ESP) should help the latter to not be an issue unless you’ve done something wrong. Aston is reporting the ESP (modes: On, Track, Off, Wet) has been greatly improved in low and medium speed driving by “shortening” the wheelbase in tight corners and allowing the car to rotate quicker with steering input in the tight bends.
Simon Newton, Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes said, “The drive to ensure Vanquish Volante delivered the same class leading performance as the Vanquish Coupe meant that, from inception, the engineering team worked on both Coupe and Volante simultaneously, allowing us to retain the dynamic capabilities and character of Vanquish Coupe with no compromise upon removing the roof. Optimisations made to the body structure combined with specific chassis tuning ensures that Vanquish Volante makes the same headlines as Coupe for its outrageous performance and capability, now with the extra enjoyment of roof-down driving.”
Carbon ceramic brakes are fitted as standard, which helps lighten the car a bit. The part of the car contacting the road is reported to be Pirelli P ZERO tires, specially designed for the Vanquish Coupe and Volante with summer and winter tires available. The sticky tires are complemented by the fact that the Volante is 75% more rigid than prior flagship Aston convertibles, firmly cementing this new car as a rigid-roofless riot.
Marek Reichman, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer commented, “The opportunity to create a true flagship Volante is rare. The challenge is always to maintain Aston Martin’s core brand DNA and it was vitally important to create the Volante alongside the Coupe in order to deliver excellence in proportion and drama. Vanquish Volante epitomises this; not only is it one of the most breathtakingly beautiful cars ever to wear the nameplate, it goes far beyond the expected and, like Coupe, captures the immense performance and intended purpose of a flagship model. With outstanding visceral design that truly embodies noble beauty and presence on the road, Volante sees no compromises in the elegant packaging of the roof system. Through the collaboration between Aston Martin’s design and engineering teams, Vanquish Volante truly delivers the crown jewel in our core model portfolio.”
Being quite possibly one of the most dramatic and fastest convertibles ever, you might not ever see one this side of Royalty. They’re building Volante convertibles to complement the 1000 total Vanquish production. Famously released 60 years ago with a total production of 37 cars, the Short Chassis Volante of 1965 was soon replaced by the DB6 MkII Vantage Volante and owned by HM Charles III. The royal roots have extended to Prince William for transporting the new Princess of Wales from their wedding reception to St. James Palace.
Cheers!
M. T. Blake
