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By Jonathan Crouch

The DB12 Volante resets our expectations for what an Aston Martin super sports convertible should be. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 55

The DB12, Aston Martin's consummate sporting luxury GT, is even more desirable in open-topped Volante form. And it's stiffer, more sophisticated and even more beautiful than its predecessor. Like its Coupe counterpart, it's primarily a consummate sporting luxury GT, but can also be dynamically rewarding whenever you need it to be. It's very desirable indeed.

Backgroundword count: 245

We've had Volante-badged Aston Martins ever since 1965. But this, the company says, is the most elegant one yet. You might well agree. Welcome to the DB12 Volante. You might already know a little about the DB12. At its launch in 2023 as a Coupe, it was heralded as the most important car in Aston's history, the first to properly benefit from the marque's new era of Canadian investment. As a result, the car was, in Aston Martin terms anyway, a radically-orientated engineering step forward. As with the Coupe model - and the preceding DB11 Volante - a Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo engine is the only powerplant you can have. Arguably, it's the only one you need: 680PS is quite enough to take on this car's exotic segment rivals and the powerplant's relatively light weight contributes hugely to the deft handling that's claimed to be nearly as sharp as this model's coupe stablemate - and a big step forward from the old DB11 Volante. Of course, there's much else that also accounts for the dramatic improvements in product appeal that have been made here. The brand tried to re-imagine what an Aston Martin Volante should be. Hence a whole range of design and engineering improvements. The result of all this could be a car you'd want not just because it was an Aston Martin but because it's quite simply the best luxury GT convertible you can buy. Is that the case? Let's find out.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 250

So what do we have here? Well much more of an Aston Martin than its DB11 Volante predecessor certainly. Yes, there still a Mercedes-sourced 4.0-litre V8 up-front, but it's apparently now much more bespoke to Aston and gets 680hp - considerably more power than any DB11 ever had. It's mated to a rear-mounted 8-speed ZF automatic transmission with a short final drive ratio that helps the uber-rapid acceleration; 0-62mph in this Volante model occupies just 3.7s (only 0.1s slower than the Coupe) en route to the same 202mph top speed. There are 'GT', 'Sport' and 'Sport+' drive modes, plus an 'Individual' option to set your own parameters - and a 911-style 'Wet' setting for when the road's sodden and you're concerned about deploying all that power through the rear wheels. The DB12 was the first Aston Martin DB to get an electronic rear differential. And also the first to be offered with ceramic brakes. Plus the bonded aluminium platform is 70% more torsionally rigid than it was in the DB11, there's a state-of-the-art ESP system and there's a bespoke-developed set of Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. The spring rates are about 5% stiffer and the engineers claim a 12% reduction in understeer, helped by phenomenal levels of grip. Plus the cam profiles and compression ratios have been enhanced to better support the V8's two larger-diameter turbos. The result of all this takes Aston Martin closer to Ferrari than Bentley in terms of this DB12's roadgoing repertoire. Which was precisely the objective.

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