Aston Martin Vanquish Volante review: A prime example of why V12 engines should live on

Telegraph

3 days ago

The final sum has not been confirmed, but a strongly indicative base price for this 214mph, 823bhp, V12-engined monster is £360,000, compared with the £175,000 you'll be charged for the 202mph, 656bhp Vantage Roadster I tested last year.
How on earth is Aston Martin going to justify the £185,000 difference in price between two such ostensibly similar cars?
Is it the name? Volante has been used to denote open-top Aston Martins since 1965. These days it denotes the DB12 and Vanquish soft-tops, but not the Vantage range which were always known as Roadsters, even in V8 and V12 guises.
Is it the acceleration of 3.4sec from zero to 62mph, which is 0.1sec faster than the Vantage Roadster? It seems unlikely.
Or is it the 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine? A dinosaur in today's parlance, yet there is still strong demand for the synchronised cotillon of a dozen pistons in their bores.
These days, where we're invited to admire the growth pangs of artificial intelligence in much the same way that medieval yokels might gather in front of a particularly impressive turnip, the Vanquish's V12 is the real thing, achieving what it does with the refinement of craft, design and mechanical brilliance.
Sometimes we do count pistons, even if the extra four in the Vanquish effectively cost £46,250 each.
Under the skin
For non-aficionados of the marque, this car is the drophead version of the Mk3 Vanquish I also reviewed last year as Aston goes on a product initiative.
The original Vanquish was first seen as Project Vantage at the 1998 Detroit Auto Show and went on sale in 2001. Designed by Ian Callum, this much-admired (despite its fragile robotised manual gearshift) car set a new tone at Aston and created a legend.
That first Vanquish was replaced by the DBS in 2007, but then had a second generation from 2012 to 2018. That disappeared until the third-generation model last year.
The bodywork design under Miles Nurnberger, Aston's director of design, drips testosterone, but is highly sensitive to colour. Silver doesn't do it many favours; the grille gawps like a lovestruck teenager and the haunches seem too rounded and too large.
With paint such as this midnight-blue (almost black) Chimera hue the thing makes more sense and has greater presence. I can even forgive the orange pinstripe – just.
Revamped V12 engine
The 5.2-litre V12 has received a major revamp, with a redesigned cylinder block and heads, new cam profiles and connecting rods, revised porting and larger injectors.
The Mitsubishi turbos spin 15 per cent faster than in the previous unit and there's water-to-air charge cooling.
This features a boost reserve system which stores boost pressure in the inlet tracts, which is deployed when the driver pushes the accelerator hard at low engine revs when the turbos aren't spinning so fast.
The result is 823bhp at 6,500rpm and 738lb ft of torque at 2,500 to 5,000rpm, which gives a top speed of 214mph and a 0-62mph elapsed time 0.1sec slower than the coupé, which is the fastest road-going Aston Martin; so this must be the second fastest.
The gearbox is a titivated version of ZF's eight-speed quick-shift automatic, which is mounted in a transaxle along with an electronically controlled differential, a first in a V12 Aston.
Step inside
The interior is a combination of old and new, although in this test car there's rather too much of the latter in the form of carbon-fibre trim.
This stuff simply doesn't look like a high-quality material and marks easily – after all, what you are looking at is essentially epoxy resin mouldings with backing.
The screens are mercifully in the background, although the instrument binnacle is small, as is the size of the digits, so pack your bifocals.
Standard sports-plus seats are comfortable and supportive, but can feel a little pinching round the kidneys, while those of a larger persuasion might want to check the options for a wider perch.
There's a feeling of space and room around you (so it should be in a 2.044-metre wide, 4.85-metre-long car), but the door pockets are narrow and tend to spill their content into inaccessible under-seat spaces if you are eager on cornering forces.
There's a shelf behind the seats where handbags and briefcases do battle with the folded hood mechanism and a wind deflector.
The boot, too, will shrink when the roof is folded, from a not desperately good 219 litres to a pretty terrible 187 litres – the coupé has 248 litres.
Weight, before you ask, is 1,880kg dry, which compares with the coupé's 1,774kg dry. Just over 100kg in it, then. Judging by the lack of twist in the chassis, it's all stiffening.
The hood has a slightly odd folding mechanism, but at least it leaves the rear deck flat and it's a proper fabric hood, albeit with strengthening (so it should have, given the top speed).
The detachable wind deflector has all the foldability of a Silver Cross pram, but once in place it does a fair job of keeping the breeze out of your barnet
On the road
Pulling into the bucolic Cotswolds, the engine growls and the eight-speed automatic provides smooth progress. So far, so Vantage Roadster, in fact.
You can feel the body stiffness, which is extraordinary. Surpassing not just the ride quality, which is excellent, but remarkable in the way the Vanquish reacts to the major controls with barely a sniff of slop or twist.
Older sports cars would have a dwell time, fractions or even whole seconds of angular movement during which nothing happened; not here though.
And the sense of control as you turn the steering, with its easy progression off the straight-ahead position with no lost movement, belies the lack of a rigid roof.
Similarly, the standard carbon-ceramic disc brakes are hugely powerful, but with progression and a decent grab upon initial application, meaning you can feel your way into a corner without disturbing the balance too much.
On Fish Hill, the steep and sinuous climb out of Broadway, I push the accelerator pedal a bit (quite a bit) more and twist the cylindrical gear selector from GT to Sport to give the gearbox a bit of a hint.
The engine shrieks, the rear tyres squirm for grip on dry tarmac, the revcounter is approaching 6,000rpm… Now I understand where the money went.
It feels like an old film speeded up for effect, but at the wheel there's a calm as the safety systems and the remarkable differential keep the nose pointed where it was commanded.
Using the less watchful modes of Sport Plus or Individual (where you can independently choose the settings for drivetrain, steering weight and damper response), you can goad this car into lurid cornering antics.
But would you take a third of million's worth to a racing circuit simply to shred a set or two of 21in Pirellis?
What this car does best is a sort of muscular covering of ground, thanks to a well-judged ride and effortless cornering, along with just enough luggage space.
With a brimming sense of occasion, the Cotswolds suddenly seems far too small to contain its continental ambitions. Utah, perhaps? Or lunch in Budapest?
The Telegraph verdict
Strangely, at a time when we're all supposed to be buying EVs, the number of V12 engines on the market is as great as ever. Lamborghini, Ferrari and Aston Martin all have V12 super GTs and even if sales volumes are low, they are still selling.
There's a temptation to say the Vanquish's 5.2-litre blown V12 is as near to peak internal combustion engine as makes no difference, it's remarkable.
And if the Vanquish Volante lacks the pizzazz of the Lamborghini Revuelto hybrid and the suavity of the Ferrari 12Cilindri, it perhaps is the best of both worlds.
The facts
On test: Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Body style: two-door, two-seat, front-engined drophead gran turismo
On sale: now
How much? £360,000 (estimated)
How fast? top speed 214mph, 0-62mph in 3.4sec
How economical? 19mpg (estimated)
Engine and gearbox: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, eight-speed automatic gearbox in a rear transaxle, rear-wheel drive via an electronically controlled limited-slip differential
Maximum power/torque: 823bhp (6,500rpm)/ 738lb ft (2,500rpm)
CO2 emissions: 312g/km (estimated)
VED: £5,490 first year, £620 next five years, then £195
Warranty: three years/unlimited mileage
The rivals
Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider
From £336,500
While the Berlinetta coupé's controversial looks divide opinion, the Spider, while still reminiscent of the classic Daytona, is easier to live with.
A screaming, front-mounted, naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12 delivers 812bhp and a 211mph top speed.
A statement car for those with something to say – as well as places to go.
Lamborghini Revuelto
From £395,535
This replacement for the Aventador is a plug-in hybrid, but the electric shove is to fill in the gaps in the torque curve of the 6,499cc naturally-aspirated V12.
With a 217mph top speed and 0-62mph in 2.5sec, it's a wild ride, though this mid-engined supercar lacks some of the sophistication and turbine smoothness of the Ferrari.