A Sport button up high on the centre console also allows you to dial in a more aggressive steering ratio, exhaust note and shift characteristics, but as it’s up high next to the glass-encased shift buttons, you want to be careful when you’re storming along some curvy back road not to hit the button next to it by mistake: that’s Reverse.
   2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Click image to enlarge |
Compared to the raucous V12 Vantage S, the Vanquish Volante was the impeccably sophisticated grand touring convertible that just happens to fly when pushed. Featuring the same 5.9L V12, even though its cam cover and virtually all Aston’s press material calls it a 6.0L, the 5,935cc engine can push the car to 295 km/h. We never quite made it near that speed over the wonderfully curvy mountain roads near Palm Springs, but tromping on the throttle with a couple of well-timed downshifts will give you the full hair-dryer treatment and an earful of soul-touching bellowing, right past the speed which would leave your car impounded for a week if nabbed by police in Ontario.
The Vanquish Volante also features three-level adjustable shocks, with an electronic brain smart enough to read throttle position, steering inputs and vehicle speed to automatically switch from Normal to Sport to Track settings, or allowing the driver to do it manually. Its Normal is much cushier than the default setting in the V12 Vantage S, the shifts in low-speed traffic much more refined with its six-speed automated manual, though it still can’t touch the comfort/shift quickness duality of more modern dual-clutch systems.
   2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Click image to enlarge |
The interior is also roomier and more opulent, which it should be for an extra 120 large than the top Vantage model, at C$315,200. That’s a huge chunk of extra cheddar for a car with the same engine. But then the Vanquish Volante’s body retains the exotic carbon-fibre body panels of the coupe, save for the fabric roof, which can motor up or down at up to 50 km/h.
Once down, this makes squeezing some unlucky passenger into the +2 rear seat much more realistic than in the low-roofed Vanquish coupe, unless the available wind-deflector is in place that squelches that sadomasochistic possibility.
Yet no matter the Vanquish’s foibles, its crushing beauty makes it all forgivable. Is there a prettier convertible available in the world today? Doubt it. Audi R8 V10? Lower and more aggressive, perhaps, but not nearly as sensuously curved. Lamborghini Aventador droptop? Likely its closest V12 market rival, and certainly more strikingly exotic, but somewhat brash next to the Aston’s feline seductiveness. Ferrari 458 Spider? Tough one, its smoothly integrated folding hardtop likely looks better top up, but once down, it demands attention just a little louder than the Aston lovingly invites it.
2014 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
In the end, though both of these cars show signs of aging engineering, features and interiors, there remains an undeniable authentic appeal to one-percenters turned off by the increasing layers of electronic translators between themselves and the road. The V12 Vantage S is the gifted athlete of the lineup, uncompromisingly addicted to performance, but without punishing its owners to life without air conditioning or door handles. The Vanquish Volante is the blonde bombshell of the lineup, not nearly as athletic as the other V12 models, but good-looking enough that its owners really won’t care.
Pricing: 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Base price: $315,200
Options: N/A
Freight: N/A
A/C tax: $100
Price as tested: (est.) $335,000
Competitors:
Bentley Continental GT Speed Cabriolet
BMW M6 Cabriolet
Ferrari 458 Spider
Lamborghini Aventador Roadster
McLaren MP4-12C Spider
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster
Pricing: 2014 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
Base price: $195,941
Options: N/A
Freight: N/A
A/C tax: $100
Price as tested: (est.) $215,000
Competitors:
Audi R8 V10 Plus
Bentley Continental GT Speed
BMW M6
Jaguar XKR-S
McLaren MP4-12C
Mercedes-Benz SLS Black Series
Porsche 911 Turbo S
Crash test results
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
