Gaydon, England - More than two years after the debut of the Coupe version, Aston Martin has whipped the covers off its elegant new Vantage Roadster, and as far as convertibles go it has a unique claim to fame.
According to Aston Martin, the electrically operated fabric roof can open and close quicker than any other convertible on the market. To that end, the Z-fold mechanism can be lowered in 6.7 seconds and raised in 6.8s at speeds of up to 50km/h.
But if you’re buying an Aston Martin you’re clearly after a different kind of speed and while it might not be the fastest open-top in the world, it’s certainly impressively brisk, with the British sports car specialist claiming a zero to 100km/h sprint time of just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 306km/h. That makes it just 0.2s slower than its tin-top sibling, as Gaydon engineers have managed to limit the weight penalty to 60kg.
Under the bonnet you’ll find an AMG-sourced 4-litre twin-turbo V8, good for 375kW at 6000rpm and 685Nm from 2000 revs, and powering the back wheels through an eight-speed ZF transmission.
In dynamic terms, Aston Martin says this open-top variant makes no compromises in terms of feel or refinement, thanks to careful development of the structural shear panels and chassis components.
Of course, it also shares the Coupe’s Electronic Rear Differential and Dynamic Torque Vectoring systems, while the Adaptive Damping and ESP stability control have model-specific tuning, as do the Sport, Sport + and Track chassis modes.
On the design front, you might have noticed that the car in the pictures has a more traditional ‘vane’ style Aston Martin grille in place of the motorsport-inspired ‘hunter’ grille that was introduced on the Coupe model, and if you didn’t like the latter you’ll be pleased to note that the more traditional mouth is now an option on both models. The company is also offering a new range of alloy wheel designs.
As for practicality, while the Roadster does lose some boot space, it still has a luggage capacity of 200 litres, which Aston Martin says is enough to stow a full-sized golf bag and accessories.