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VIDEO | New Aston Martin DB12 Volante Review – Still A Super Grand Tourer?
Aston Martin has chopped the roof off the new DB12, but does it help or hinder the car?
Words by: Mark Nichol
Published on 18 April 2024 | 0 min read
Aston Martin bills the DB12 as a “super tourer” – a car that combines the speed and excitement of a supercar with the long-distance comfort of a luxury car. The DB12 Coupe hits that brief fairly spectacularly. But this is the Volante version, which is Aston Martin speak for “convertible”.
The thing is, when you turn a coupe into a convertible, it fundamentally affects comfort and performance. This is engineering 101: lose the pillars and metal roof… car gets wobblier… comfort and handling suffer. So you have to fix that by strengthening the chassis, then you have to add a mechanism for getting the roof up and down. Result? The car gets heavier… performance and handling suffer. And you usually pay MORE for this: about £15,000 more in the DB12 Volante’s case, sending the price beyond £200,000. So you might wonder: is it worth it just to get a bit windswept on the way to work? Well, our Alex drove the Volante to find out. Hit play above to watch, and find out everything you need to know about Aston’s latest convertible. And if you’re not already a subscriber to our YouTube channel, hit the logo on the video to subscribe and keep up with the best car videos on the platform.
The thing is, when you turn a coupe into a convertible, it fundamentally affects comfort and performance. This is engineering 101: lose the pillars and metal roof… car gets wobblier… comfort and handling suffer. So you have to fix that by strengthening the chassis, then you have to add a mechanism for getting the roof up and down. Result? The car gets heavier… performance and handling suffer. And you usually pay MORE for this: about £15,000 more in the DB12 Volante’s case, sending the price beyond £200,000. So you might wonder: is it worth it just to get a bit windswept on the way to work? Well, our Alex drove the Volante to find out. Hit play above to watch, and find out everything you need to know about Aston’s latest convertible. And if you’re not already a subscriber to our YouTube channel, hit the logo on the video to subscribe and keep up with the best car videos on the platform.