Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-medien
Teased by Aston Martin last September, and steadily nearing its planned debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the all-new DB11 Volante is now being tested at the most thrilling circuit of them all. Compared to previous prototypes of the drop-top take on the luxurious grand tourer, this one has no camouflage at all up front. Only the rear is still concealed by a mystery-laden veil.
Somewhat expectedly from a car with less torsional rigidity than its coupe counterpart, the DB11 Volante rolls and pitches in the corners when driven hard. That doesn’t qualify as a negative for a pretty obvious reason: the DB11 is no Vanquish, and the DB11 is no sports car. For the biggest amount of thrills in the twisties, you’d better wait for the all-new Vantage to enter the stage.
Sporting a somewhat more elegant profile than the fixed-head coupe, the drop-top model pictured in the following gallery has exactly the same 10-spoke directional wheel and rear bumper design as the DB11. What’s obviously missing, however, are a duo of silver-painted air ducts that are meant to channel air to the AeroBlade virtual spoiler. Be that as it may, the Volante is gifted with a physical spoiler that rises out of the decklid 2.5 inches at anything between 50 and 80 mph, depending on the driving mode.
The business end of the 2018 Aston Martin DB11 Volante is made up of a twin-turbocharged V12. The 5.2-liter engine is tuned to produce 600 hp (608 PS) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) as standard, with the rumor mill suggesting that more hardcore flavors are in the offing. A ZF-developed 8-speed automatic transmission is currently the one and only way to swap cogs in the DB11.
Not too long now, Aston Martin will expand the engine range with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 coming courtesy of Mercedes’ skunkworks in Affalterbach. As for the matter of a good old manual box, the all-new Vantage is sure to get one. The DB11, however, has little to no chances of receiving a stick shift.
Sporting a somewhat more elegant profile than the fixed-head coupe, the drop-top model pictured in the following gallery has exactly the same 10-spoke directional wheel and rear bumper design as the DB11. What’s obviously missing, however, are a duo of silver-painted air ducts that are meant to channel air to the AeroBlade virtual spoiler. Be that as it may, the Volante is gifted with a physical spoiler that rises out of the decklid 2.5 inches at anything between 50 and 80 mph, depending on the driving mode.
The business end of the 2018 Aston Martin DB11 Volante is made up of a twin-turbocharged V12. The 5.2-liter engine is tuned to produce 600 hp (608 PS) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) as standard, with the rumor mill suggesting that more hardcore flavors are in the offing. A ZF-developed 8-speed automatic transmission is currently the one and only way to swap cogs in the DB11.
Not too long now, Aston Martin will expand the engine range with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 coming courtesy of Mercedes’ skunkworks in Affalterbach. As for the matter of a good old manual box, the all-new Vantage is sure to get one. The DB11, however, has little to no chances of receiving a stick shift.
Google News