Imagine all the money you’ll save on therapy if you do this! My brother told me about it before I bought a Miata. The car was a 2010 Grand Touring with an important limited-slip differential. It wasn’t anything special, but it was mine, and it had a soft top. A 2,800-mile road trip proved that my brother was right. Driving the Miata with the top down made me feel better mentally.
When Aston Martin offered me a short test drive in the DB12 Volante last month, I thought right away of that cute little car. This Miata is very different from the one I had before. It has three and a half times as much power, twice as many cylinders, 1,500 pounds more weight, and an advanced eight-speed automatic gearbox instead of a simple six-speed stick. But both can change your mood because they have a retractable cloth top and all the wonderful feels that come with it. Man, those convertibles.
With a base price of $265,000, the DB12 Volante goes up to $339,500 with options in my Caribbean Blue Pearl tester. This makes it a straight competitor for buyers’ money with the Ferrari Roma Spider and Bentley Continental GTC. As part of its “super tourer” marketing strategy, the car company wanted to make a car that was both comfortable for long trips and fast. If this is true, then this set of traits is designed to keep serotonin levels high in the brain.
Even so, the Aston’s twin-turbocharged V-8, which is leased from AMG, makes 671 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, which are a lot more than the Conti GTC Speed’s 612 horsepower and 650 horsepower. The drop-top DB12 takes 0.3 seconds longer to go from 0 to 60 mph than the Ferrari because it is lighter. The DB12 can only go “just” 202 mph, while the Bentley can go 208 mph thanks to its 664 lb-ft of power.
Some doubters might also point the finger at the DB12’s structure, which is very similar to that of the DB11 it succeeds. By changing the suspension mounting points, Aston Martin made the front end fourteen percent stronger. The stiffness in the torso has gone up by 3%. Despite this, the DB12 Volante and its ancestor share many features, as shown by their sizes and general looks.
Of course, those numbers only mean something once you drive cars in computer-aided design (CAD) software instead of real life. The Volante is a very pretty car. The DB12 looks great when it changes from a coupe to a convertible. The huge front grille and beautifully carved headlights stay, but the hardtop’s weirdly detailed C-pillar is gone, bringing out the seductive back fenders. Aston is able to fit the cabriolet roof into a very low tonneau, even though it takes up space in the trunk. This gives the car a rearview mirror and, more importantly, a low and thin profile. The DB12 Volante does very well on the look-back test in the parking lot.
The interior of the convertible is much better than the DB11’s and is almost the same as the coupe’s. The beautiful wood trim on the dashboard, center console, front seatbacks, and door panels of our test vehicle made us think of traditional elegance. But the matte, golden finish gave the car a high-end modernism that was almost Scandinavian. As expected, leather and soft-touch plastics are popular. However, I found the HVAC vents to be a little sticky, even though they looked like they were made of aluminum. You should avoid them and pay attention to the big shift paddles that stick out from the wheel.
The DB11’s ovoid center stack has been swapped out for a more straight-lined and physically pleasing design that shows off Aston Martin’s unique entertainment system. The DB11’s 10.3-inch touchscreen makes the updated Mercedes COMAND interface a lot better. It responds faster and has multi-touch gesture settings that all smartphone users should be familiar with. The DB12 Volante’s biggest flaw is its too-dim screen, which is raised at a 30-degree angle. This makes it completely useless for a tourer that is meant to be driven in bright sunlight.
The DB12 has a four-position drive switch. Could you set it to Sport Plus? This opens up the exhaust, letting the smooth V-8 growl when shifting up, snap when stopping, and pop when going over the speed limit. It also makes the electric handling better and adds weight to match the high levels of communication. As the DB12 Volante sent information to my hands on the sun-drenched, rain-rutted road above Malibu, I had more faith in the Michelin Pilot Sport 5S tires. In the same way, the extra carbon brakes stopped this 3,960-pound convertible with ease.
The Aston Martin’s steel springs, adjustable dampers, and fixed-rate anti-roll bars make it incredibly safe to drive, even in the most accommodating Grand Touring suspension mode. In fact, I liked to set the car’s drive mode to soft suspension, heavy steering, fast throttle, and transmission response, as well as a loud exhaust after some late winter and early spring storms because the roads in my state were cracked and potholed.
It should be illegal not to drive the Aston Martin at high speeds because it is such a great way to experience its well-controlled and padded ride, quick engine, and lots of audio action. However, my unease came back when I got above 8/10ths. When going downhill in tight turns, the DB12 is still a very heavy sports car, so the traction and balancing systems have to work. As I put more force on the car, the “you ran out of talent” electronics became more obvious and annoying, which made me lose faith in both the car and myself. On the way back, I chose to go more slowly and enjoy the view.
Like with my Miata, I understood that if sunshine and a breezy spring were packed up and given to people, their mental health would go through the roof. There is, however, a significant disparity in cost between the two options. The base price of my DB12 tester was $265,000. It came with a great paint job that cost $18,000, a carbon ceramic brake package that cost $14,500, choices for leather, carpet, and wood that cost an amazing $22,900, diamond-turn wheels that cost $6,200, and blackout body jewelry that cost $4,500. There are even $1,000 brown seats that people can pick from.
There are still used Miatas and Mustangs on the market, so anyone looking for a drop-top can find one at a price they can afford. If you can afford it, though, Aston Martin’s newest convertible is a tempting mix of style, speed, and comfort that will make your doctor green with envy.
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