Aston has done the expected and followed up on last year’s brilliant, bold update of the Vantage Coupe with a new open-top Roadster version. Coming with the same visual and interior updates, plus massive hikes in power and torque, this is one of the fastest ways you can mess up your hairdo.
Does it use exactly the same V8 as the Coupe?
Indeed it does: the front-mounted 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed gearbox, delivers peaks of 665hp and 800Nm in the new Vantage Roadster - significant increases of 155hp and 115Nm from the previous version. With a 0-100km/h time of around 3.5 seconds and a top speed beyond 320km/h, this is one seriously swift soft-top.
But fitting a folding roof makes a car heavier, right?
A mere 60 kilos. Aston Martin has fitted the Vantage with a lighter, neat-to-package Z-fold roof, while clever composite materials and structural upgrades ensure the car’s body rigidity is as good as it can possibly be. Like most modern powered soft-tops, it can be raised or lowered while on the move at speeds of up to 50km/h, taking just 6.8 seconds to perform its theatrics, but Aston also says it features eight layers of sound-insulating material to ensure the passenger compartment of the Roadster is just as quiet as that of the Coupe while it is on the move.
And the rest of its chassis is the same as the Coupe?
Yep. Bilstein DTX dampers form part of a suspension set-up that has been tuned to cope with the minimal weight increase and change in its distribution that has occurred in the Vantage Roadster, while the fancy six-dimensional chassis control system is retained too. The brakes are carbon-ceramic efforts, with whopping 410mm discs and six-piston callipers at the front, while the tyres are high-grip Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 items.
What else can you say about the car?
Well, the exterior styling - which employs a much larger radiator grille and bigger headlight clusters, most notably - can be clothed in one of three new colours on the Vantage Roadster, which are Iridescent Sapphire, Satin Iridescent Sapphire and Bronze Flare. To contrast with this, the brake callipers can be specified in another seven finishes, while even the roof itself has four options in this regard, which are red, blue, black, or black and silver.
Inside, the much-improved 10.25-inch infotainment developed in-house by Aston Martin is present and correct, as is a 390-watt, 11-speaker sound system. This latter item can be upgraded to a high-end Bowers & Wilkins surround set-up if buyers so wish.
Have you got a price for all this?
No, but it’s going to be more than the circa-€450,000 you’d need for an Aston Martin Vantage Coupe. Anyway, first customer deliveries should take place before the middle of the year is out.
Adrian Hallmark, Aston Martin’s CEO, said: “The technical and dynamic capability of the new Vantage delivered outstanding performance; far beyond any other preceding Vantage, and it is now seen as a true class leading sports car. Vantage Roadster was no different feat in that it is a fully reinvented experience, with all the benefits of the Coupe and no compromise to refinement or performance through meticulous work by our engineering and dynamics teams. Vantage Roadster delivers a world-class roof-down driving experience like no other.”