Click for more.
Aston Martin in Gaydon today announced the arrival of the new Vanquish Volante. It is the fastest, most powerful open top (Brit speak: convertible – AutoCrat) series production Aston Martin to date. It shares with the coupe the claim as the fastest, most powerful front-engine production car on sale today.
“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,” said a chuffed Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Hallmark.
Click for more.
The new Vanquish Volante is the, well, crown jewel in a model lineage extending back six decades.
The first Aston Martin to receive the name was the Short Chassis Volante of 1965, comprising design elements of both the convertible DB5 that preceded it and DB6 Volante that succeeded it. It is one of the rarest of all production examples, with only 37 built over a one-year period.
Engineering
Providing Vanquish Volante with its energy is Aston Martin’s new twin-turbocharged, 5.2-liter V12 engine. The first V12 to wear the Aston Martin wings was fitted to the DB7 Vantage, launched in both Coupe and Volante for the 2000 model year. In the 25 years since, the power of the marque’s V12 has almost doubled, from 426 PS to 835 PS, with maximum torque seeing similar gains, from 543 Nm to 1000 Nm.
The latest V12 engine in the Vanquish develops maximum torque at just 2500 rpm – precisely half the engine speed required by its forebear – and maintains that 1000 Nm torque peak all the way from 2500-5000 rpm, reaching a maximum speed of 214 mph. Despite this significant increase in performance, total weight of Vanquish Volante has risen by 95 kg, raising the power to weight ratio from 313 hp per ton to 416 hp per ton.
Power is fed to the rear wheels with an eight-speed ZF gearbox located within the rear axle for optimal weight distribution. It incorporates the same rear E-differential (E-diff) of the Vanquish Coupe. Capable of transitioning from fully open to 100% locked in 135 milliseconds, the E-diff provides unprecedented bandwidth and benefits, in Aston’s view. Combined with the latest Electronic Stability Program (ESP) technology, dynamic capability is said to be significantly improved, providing greater agility in low and medium speed cornering whilst offering greater control in oversteer and high-speed lane change conditions. Integral to the dynamic character, it essentially ‘shortens’ the wheelbase in tighter corners by giving it more rotational response to steering inputs, while also providing stability through fast sweeping curves.
The lightweight K-fold roof can be opened in 14-seconds and closed in 16-seconds, and is operable on the move up to 3 1mph (50 km/h) via a metal switch on the center console. Furthermore, the roof can be opened or closed remotely from the key fob, within a two-meter radius of the car. Perhaps more remarkable is the level of thermal insulation directly comparable to Vanquish Coupe. With a class-leading stack height of just 260 mm when retracted, the acoustically enhanced fabric roof can be stowed under the tonneau behind the seats without interruption to the seamless flowing lines of the body.
“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. Optimizations 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,” said Simon Newton, Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Aston Martin Debuts Vanquish Volante
Click for more.
Aston Martin in Gaydon today announced the arrival of the new Vanquish Volante. It is the fastest, most powerful open top (Brit speak: convertible – AutoCrat) series production Aston Martin to date. It shares with the coupe the claim as the fastest, most powerful front-engine production car on sale today.
“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,” said a chuffed Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Hallmark.
Click for more.
The new Vanquish Volante is the, well, crown jewel in a model lineage extending back six decades.
The first Aston Martin to receive the name was the Short Chassis Volante of 1965, comprising design elements of both the convertible DB5 that preceded it and DB6 Volante that succeeded it. It is one of the rarest of all production examples, with only 37 built over a one-year period.
Engineering
Providing Vanquish Volante with its energy is Aston Martin’s new twin-turbocharged, 5.2-liter V12 engine. The first V12 to wear the Aston Martin wings was fitted to the DB7 Vantage, launched in both Coupe and Volante for the 2000 model year. In the 25 years since, the power of the marque’s V12 has almost doubled, from 426 PS to 835 PS, with maximum torque seeing similar gains, from 543 Nm to 1000 Nm.
The latest V12 engine in the Vanquish develops maximum torque at just 2500 rpm – precisely half the engine speed required by its forebear – and maintains that 1000 Nm torque peak all the way from 2500-5000 rpm, reaching a maximum speed of 214 mph. Despite this significant increase in performance, total weight of Vanquish Volante has risen by 95 kg, raising the power to weight ratio from 313 hp per ton to 416 hp per ton.
Power is fed to the rear wheels with an eight-speed ZF gearbox located within the rear axle for optimal weight distribution. It incorporates the same rear E-differential (E-diff) of the Vanquish Coupe. Capable of transitioning from fully open to 100% locked in 135 milliseconds, the E-diff provides unprecedented bandwidth and benefits, in Aston’s view. Combined with the latest Electronic Stability Program (ESP) technology, dynamic capability is said to be significantly improved, providing greater agility in low and medium speed cornering whilst offering greater control in oversteer and high-speed lane change conditions. Integral to the dynamic character, it essentially ‘shortens’ the wheelbase in tighter corners by giving it more rotational response to steering inputs, while also providing stability through fast sweeping curves.
The lightweight K-fold roof can be opened in 14-seconds and closed in 16-seconds, and is operable on the move up to 3 1mph (50 km/h) via a metal switch on the center console. Furthermore, the roof can be opened or closed remotely from the key fob, within a two-meter radius of the car. Perhaps more remarkable is the level of thermal insulation directly comparable to Vanquish Coupe. With a class-leading stack height of just 260 mm when retracted, the acoustically enhanced fabric roof can be stowed under the tonneau behind the seats without interruption to the seamless flowing lines of the body.
“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. Optimizations 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,” said Simon Newton, Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.