Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Aston Martin's DB9 Volante has stunning looks and pace to take on the best from around the world and it's surprisingly affordable for a car of this speed and class. The V12 engine is at the heart of the car's appeal, pumping out 450bhp and with instant grunt from low revs. Inside, the Volante has a hand-crafted feel that is entirely in keeping with an Aston, but it's not as well equipped as it should be. Like the DB9 coupe, where the convertible Volante falls down is on bumpy roads, where the ride is jarring on anything but the smoothest surfaces and shivers are sent through the body.

The beautiful DB9 coupe--featured in our supercar comparison last month--has been around for a year now, and it's time for it to be joined by the DB9 Volante. The VH structure of bonded aluminum sheet and extrusions needed few changes for the DB9 Volante that, although it doesn't have the same torsional stiffness as the coupe, suffers much less from losing its head than most of its competitors. So it doesn't have the cowl shake or creaks and groans that afflict many convertibles. On bad road surfaces there is some murmuring through the steering, but it's not enough to spoil the driving experience. And with the top down, there is more opportunity to savor the aural delights of that mighty V-12 engine. The Volante weighs 130 more pounds than the coupe. It eschews the retractable hardtops that have recently become so fashionable in favor of a conventional folding fabric roof. The top is superlative for its type, fitting snugly so that wind noise is negligible, even at 100 mph, and powering down and under a flush body panel simply by pulling back a switch on the center console. There are no catches to be released or secured, and the whole process of putting the roof up or down takes just 17 seconds. Once open to the elements, wind buffeting is bearable up to about 60 mph but beyond that would benefit from a blocker that Aston is still developing. That, however, will render the rear seats unusable. Now it's true that the rear seats of the DB9 coupe are unsuitable for all but the smallest and youngest human beings, but that is partly because of the difficulty of getting into them. Top down, the rear seats don't gain any size advantage, but they do become more accessible.

Track-day specialists will prefer the DB9 coupe in any case. The Volante isn't meant for such athletics. It has a more gentle suspension--softer springs and a thinner front anti-roll bar, with the rear bar deleted. Aston judged this setup more suited to the cruising for which the convertible will likely be used. Otherwise, mechanically, open and closed cars are identical. Although it is not as focused a high-performance car as the DB9 coupe, there are few disadvantages to offset the joys of open-air driving. With the roof up, the hard-to-reach rear seats are somewhat claustrophobic, and the small, shallow rear window limits the driver's rear vision. Aston says the roof stays firmly in place at its maximum speed, which is limited to 165 mph, 21 mph less than the coupe. It reckons that's as fast as convertible customers will want to go, top up or down.