Convertibles have come a long way in the last few decades. Hacking the roof off a stiff coupe used to result in a floppy mess partly compensated by heavy bracing dumping a load of extra weight on top of a bulky folding roof mechanism. Oh, and when up, the roofs weren’t exactly brilliant at acoustic insulation. And sometimes not great at keeping out water, either.
Today, though, stiffer body shells mean chopping a roof off doesn’t have the big impact on rigidity it once did. Weight figures often don’t creep up by that much. Modern, multi-layer fabric roofs, meanwhile, are usually barely any noisier than those made from metal.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante – side, static
All of these advancements really pay dividends when you’re driving a particularly spendy drop-top. Like a £200,000 Aston Martin DB12 Volante. It has eight layers in its fabric roof, which can be opened in 14 seconds and closed in 16 while the car’s travelling at speeds of up to 31mph. Yes, it’s gained over 100kg compared to its tin-top sibling, but the 0-60mph time drops just by just a tenth of a second to a still very fast 3.7 seconds. And finally, emphasising just how tough that soft top is, the top speed is no different at 202mph. Lovely.
Sliding behind the cabin, feeling nice and airy with the roof down, you immediately notice just how different everything is to the DB11 this car replaces. Despite the new model name, really, this is a very heavy facelift, with the DB12 carrying over plenty from its predecessor, but not in here – the interior is completely different. And vastly better.
We’re particularly fans of the chunky start button, surrounding which is a rotary controller to select the drive modes. Prodding it awakes not a V12 (the twin-turbo V12 was ditched from the DB11 in 2022 and died off with the limited-run V12 Vantage and short-lived DBS Superleggera last year), but a twin-turbo V8 borrowed from Mercedes-AMG.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante – interior
Here, it makes 671bhp – far more than the dead V12, and at a much lower weight penalty. The departing 5.2-litre lump weighed a porky 400kg. Aston has been doing some great work in terms of the soundtrack, too – early cars from Gaydon using AMG’s V8 sounded…like they were powered by AMG V8s, but the DB12 has its own distinct acoustic character. It’s a rich, throaty noise that escapes from the exhaust system, and one you’re more than happy to hear when the roof is down.
The DB12’s transition to a sportier, more focused car than its predecessor is just as abundantly clear here as it is for the coupe. Even in GT mode, it’s very firm, and perhaps a little less comfortable than the coupe owing to that extra bracing. There’s also the odd hint of scuttle shake – that arch enemy of cabriolets of old can’t quite be eradicated entirely even at this price, it seems.
Other than that, and – of course – the possibility of infinite headroom, the DB12 Volante offers up much the same driving experience as the coupe. And that’s to say – a jolly good one. It feels very much like a slightly bigger Vantage Roadster, and that’s high-praise. A responsive, pointy front end laps up every corner, while at the back, those fat Michelin Pilot S5 tyres try their best to lay down all of the V8’s power.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante – side, dynamic
They struggle even in optimal conditions. Particularly amusing is just how lenient the traction control is – the system doesn’t seem all that bothered about stopping wheelspin even when very much turned on.
There’s something pleasing about a car that feels like it has just a little too much power for its own good. It makes the DB12 Volante seem like a proper bruiser, like those boxy Vantage models of old. It may have a pretty face, but don’t be fooled, this is a car with a mean side you need to keep in mind when exploring the furthest parts of the throttle pedal travel.
On the road, the car’s at its best in Sport mode. This sharpens everything up noticeably from the base GT mode, without going as far as Sport+, which gives a ride so firm it’s jarring on all but super-smooth roads. Alternatively, you can bung it in Sport+ and turn the adaptive dampers down to either comfort or somewhere in between, with a simple press of a dedicated button on the centre console. Comfort was generally our preference – it’s not like there’s much in the way of body roll even in this softest setting.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante – interior
With the roof down but the windows up, the cabin is reasonably calm, keeping the driver well cocooned from the elements. Once the roof’s up, the DB12 Volante is just as hushed as the coupe, which is to say, not quite as refined as something like a Bentley Continental GT. Those wider tyres do make a fair bit of noise.
While we’re moaning, it’s worth pointing out that the infotainment setup isn’t as big a leap from the DB11 as we might have hoped. The screen is plenty responsive, but a lot of the text and controls on it are curiously small, making operation on the move a bit tricky. Some of the text on the digital instrument cluster is on the smaller side, too.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante – rear
And, of course, the whole thing is extremely expensive. For similar money you can have something like a Bentley Continental GT V8 S Cabriolet, a car which is more polished than the DB12. But it’s also heavier, not as fun to drive and doesn’t look anywhere near as good.
Roof up or down, the DB12 Volante is drop dead gorgeous. Once upon a time for an Aston, those looks would have had to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but here, there’s an awful lot of substance to back them up.