Yahoo Autos Aston Martin DB12 Volante First Drive Review: Drop top, go fast, don't crash
MALIBU, Calif. – The 2024 Aston Martin DB12 Volante may have a 12 in its name, but there are only eight cylinders pumping away under the hood. They’re turbocharged cylinders, though, and thanks to a wealth of upgrades to the AMG-sourced 4.0-liter, they make just a wee bit more horsepower than they did in the DB11. How does an extra 143 sound? That brings the grand total to 671 hp, along with 590 pound-feet of torque, both of which are also considerably more than the DB11’s old V12 option.
Now, while a lot of brands would get to that level of absurd performance and call in the front-axle cavalry, Aston Martin is sticking to its guns hidden behind the headlights. All 671 of those horses still go exclusively to the rear wheels. If you want an all-wheel-drive Aston Martin, the DB you’re looking for has an X on the end.
In related news, it had just rained in the Santa Monica Mountains before my drive. A lot. Typically arid and beige hills were as damp and green as Aston’s homeland. Every third or fourth turn on the various twisting roads had little streams bisecting their apexes … and that’s if the road was open at all. My usual testing playground and photo location were closed due to some mud-related calamity. So, to put it mildly, this particular combination of car and conditions was not ideal, leaving little opportunity to test out its new 3.6-second sprint to 60 mph. Just as it seemed I had driven far enough to dry off the fat Michelin Pilot S 5 tires, I’d hit another mid-turn stream, greasing them up again with water and mud. Now seems like a good time to mention that the DB12 Volante starts at $265,000. This one goes for $323,700.
It's not just the nutty amount of power and immediate, turbocharged torque going to the rear wheels that makes the DB12 such a nail-biter in conditions like this. It’s the fact that it’s so civilized and sedate to drive, a testament to the grand-touring nature of Aston Martin’s DB cars. It’s not some hypercar with a hair-trigger throttle, jarring shifts or teeth-chattering ride that quite obviously is raring to rip your face off if you’re not careful. No, it’s a monster in disguise. Or an assassin, if you prefer. I had to keep reminding myself of that, as one “whoa there” stability control moment while I wasn’t actually pushing the thing was more than enough for me on this day.
So yeah, try to avoid driving the DB12 Volante in the rain. And really, it is a Volante after all, which means “flying” in Italian but “convertible” in Aston Martin. I’m guessing most owners will only back it out of their 10-car garages on days that look more like the one Aston Martin chose to shoot all these pictures. When those owners do venture out, they’ll be able to enjoy an unencumbered presentation of the DB12’s three-mode exhaust, which you alter by drive mode (Comfort, Sport, Sport+) or manually with a button on the very Porsche-like center console. It sounds brilliant when you lay into the V8, with the odd rumble and pop in the most aggressive setting when braking hard (that button glows either orange, red or not at all to indicate which setting it’s in), but it isn’t flamboyant or obnoxious at a steady cruise or even accelerating normally. Again, this is a grand tourer.
And whilst grand touring with the top down, the cabin remains pleasantly wind-free as long as you roll up the side windows and install the pop-up wind deflector. The latter takes up space in the trunk when not in use, but it’s hard to see why you’d ever remove the thing. It certainly isn’t to use the back seat, because only small dogs can fit back there, and they’d probably be cozier under the wind deflector anyway. Still, it should at least be mentioned that Porsche manages to integrate a hidden, power-deploying wind deflector in the 911 Cabriolet.
