Aston Martin will showcase the new DB12 Volante at Monterey Car Week in California this week, the droptop coming in as a companion to the recently launched DB12 Coupé.
Up front it packs a lusty 4,0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine delivering 500 kW at 6 000 r/min and 800 Nm between 2 750 r/min and 6 000 r/min. This hand-built engine features modified cam profiles, optimised compression ratios, larger turbos and increased cooling to achieve an increase in output of 34% compared with the DB11.
It accelerates from 0-100 k/h in 3,6 seconds, going on to a top speed of 323 km/h.
Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Amedeo Felisa, says: “For many of our customers, roof down driving is the greatest pleasure. Aston Martin Volantes have captured that emotion and expressed it in a unique style for more than six decades. With the new DB12 Volante we have changed the rules, creating a car that intensifies those feelings by preserving all the purity and exceptional sporting capabilities of the DB12 Coupé. A rare and true sporting convertible in every respect, this is a car to challenge preconceptions and find a new generation of Volante customer.”
To keep all that performance on the road, key structural elements such as the rear suspension upper mounting points and lateral connections, as well as performance additions, including the engine cross brace, boost DB12 Volante global torsional stiffness by nearly 5%.
Thanks to changes to underbody components, including the engine cross brace, DB12 Volante sees a 3,7% increase in global torsional stiffness, along with focussed improvement in lateral stiffness and gains in suspension performance and refinement.
8-speed Transmission
Power is fed through a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission, which like the DB12 Coupe, features a range of shift strategies complimenting each of the dynamic driving modes.
It rides on 21-inch forged alloy wheels fitted with ‘AML’ coded Michelin Pilot S 5 tyres made to Aston Martin’s precise requirements. Braking is provided by cast-iron 400 mm front discs and 360 mm rear discs as standard, with an optional Carbon Ceramic Brake (CCB) system offering increased braking performance, reduced brake fade and a 27 kg weight saving in unsprung mass.
However, it is a convertible cruiser and, central to this is its electrically-operated ‘K-fold’ roof that has a two-stage folding procedure to achieve a 260 mm stack height and it takes14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to closer.
The DB12 range is the first to receive Aston Martin’s next-generation infotainment system. Entirely bespoke and developed from scratch with industry leading suppliers of hardware, UI, UX and audio systems, it is Aston Martin’s first in-house system. It also supplemented by a new Aston Martin customer connectivity app. Developed for iOS and Android it allows interaction, control and feedback to and from the customer’s DB12 via their personal device.
The new system is a fully integrated multi-screen system with full online connectivity and displayed using 10,25-inch Pure Black touchscreen technology with full capacitive single and multi-finger gesture control.
Quantum Logic Sound
Audio partners, Bowers & Wilkins have crafted a 390 w 11 speaker audio system with Surround sound that employs Quantum Logic sound processing.
Marek Reichman, Aston Martin Chief Creative Officer, adds: “The new DB12 Volante is again another emotional Aston Martin design form with a desire to be driven. We’ve sculpted a graceful, muscular exterior shape that reflects its immense capabilities, set atop very advanced structural elements, with a clean, contemporary interior. Crafted through performance design for those who share our joy and happiness for adventuring in cars in the open air, new DB12 Volante is certainly exhilarating to experience and one that adds to our distinctive history.”
Colin Windell – proudly CHANGECARS
