Styling
Styling, and the appreciation of same, is a deeply subjective thing. One person’s art is another’s confusing mess, but I don’t think it’s stretching the bounds of reality to say that this DB12 Volante is, objectively, truly gorgeous. The styling revisions that morphed the
DB11 into the DB12 (the extruded, riveted and bonded aluminium chassis underneath has barely changed) are hugely effective, porting over the massive grille from the old
DBS Superleggera and giving the car a far more muscular appearance. Lopping the roof off has done it no harm at all, not least because the eight-layer soft-top folds up really quite compactly, to a depth of only 260mm (Aston claims this as an in-class best) and sits neatly under a tonneau cover, with hardly any of the hump-back appearance that so often blights a coupe-turned-convertible. There are some, ahem, striking colours available including an oh-so-seventies ‘Magneto Bronze’ (brown, to you and I) or the Caribbean Pearl blue of our test car. Relax - regular silvers and greys are available too. Again, this comes down to personal taste, but for my money, this is a far, far better-looking car than the rival Ferrari Roma.
Interior
The DB12 marked a significant step forward from the old DB11 when it came to cabin quality and layout, and the Volante version carries that over. Instead of the somewhat plasticky cabin of the DB11, you get something far more luscious in the DB12. The big centre console, where you’ll find most of the controls, has clearly been inspired by Porsche, right down to the little flick-switch for the eight-speed ZF transaxle gearbox, but it works well and even though there’s a new touchscreen (which works fairly well, and which uses Aston’s own bespoke software now) thankfully there are still lots of lovely physical switches. Some of these are slightly cheap plastic buttons, but others are beautifully wrought metal roller switches, which are a delight to use. An obvious addition is the toggle switch for the roof, which takes 14 seconds to fold, and 16 seconds to put back up, and which can be done on the move at speeds of up to 31mph. The overall style of the cabin is relatively understated, with few of the dramatic touches you’d find in an equivalent Bentley or Ferrari, but after a while with the DB12 Volante, you start to appreciate that - it’s a more subtle kind of car at its heart, and that seems increasingly pleasing as the miles roll by. Actually, the only bum notes are the steering wheel (which too obviously shows off its Mercedes origins) and the driver’s digital instrument panel, which works fine but looks as if it could have come from any other car - maybe we’re due a return to proper analogue instruments?
Practicality
If you’re looking for useful practicality... look elsewhere. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely fair. The DB12 Volante’s rear seats are almost entirely useless, unless you’re squeezing in very small people for very short journeys. They’re much better used as a repository for small bags, not least because the already compact 206-litre boot shrinks further to 160-litres when the roof is folded. Larger luggage will have to be sent on ahead. The cabin in the front isn’t totally impractical, as there is useful (if shallow) storage space under the armrest and in the door bins, and there’s a storage space under that big centre console too. Space and comfort in the front are top-drawer, though.
Performance
The DB12 Volante’s might 4.0-litre V8 engine is, of course, sourced from Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes owns a stake in Aston) but someone at Gaydon has stuck a screwdriver in the engine management control unit and turned it all the way up to eleven, hence the 680hp and 800Nm of torque. The thing is, at start-up and at low speeds, this engine is almost surprisingly quiet and refined, as befits the DB12’s primary mission as a grand tourer. You can select from Wet, Individual, GT, Sport and Sport+ driving modes, all of which turn the engine’s wick up or down accordingly, and there’s a separate control for the sports exhaust, so you can make things louder or quieter in any mode according to taste.
To really wake the engine up, you don’t need to be in any particular mode, you just need to find the space and safety to shove that big throttle pedal to the stop. When you do that, irrespective of mode, the V8 springs violently into life and loudness, and issues a cultured, well-educated rumble of thunder that sounds very different to the higher pitch of a Ferrari V8, but not quite as muscle-car-y as a regular Mercedes AMG V8. You won’t have much time to consider that, though, as the horizon will by then be accelerating towards you at what seems like Einsteinian speeds. That 3.7-second 0-62mph time seems entirely believable, in spite of the DB12 Volante being rear-drive only, and that top speed of 202mph seems totally do-able, given a suitably long runway (or just some kind of diplomatic immunity). Aston does quote an official fuel economy figure of 23mpg, but we doubt many owners will notice nor care.
Ride & Handling
The DB12 Volante is a big, wide car and - at almost 1,900kg - it’s no lightweight either. So you’ll be expecting it to be a classic GT, all comfort and cosset and not so much with the cornering. Well... Aston does refer to this car as a ‘Super Tourer’ and no, that’s not a reference to 1990s BTCC racing. It means that this is a car with the comfort of a grand tourer, but the performance and poise of a supercar.
Is it? Well, kind of, yes. I mean, the DB12 does definitely err on the side of comfort (as long as you have the adaptive dampers set to Comfort mode, it does a remarkable job of soaking up the worst that Cotswold back roads can throw at it) but it has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. The biggest of those is just how far back in the chassis the V8 engine is set, making this pretty much a mid-engined car. Which you’ll really notice when you find your first truly challenging set of corners and experience just how light and agile the nose of the Volante feels as you swing it from apex to apex. The steering is GT-light, but there is some good and useful feel and feedback, so it’s far easier to guide - accurately - than you’d think. The only real handling limitation is the width, which has you backing off on tighter roads for fear of snagging those big, gorgeous (and expensive) 21-inch forged alloy wheels on a kerb or the edge of a ditch.
The best way to drive the DB12 Volante is to use the big, tactile switch to select Sport mode, but then press the separate suspension button (to Comfort) and exhaust button (to maximum loudness). You can obviously set all this up as a default mode in the Individual setting, but thus established the DB12 Volante has a truly remarkable combination of grip, poise, agility, comfort and sheer speed. It makes for a heady cocktail.
Value
Ummm... Anyone expecting ‘value’ from a £204,000 car is probably barking up the wrong tree, but if it helps the DB12 Volante is a little more affordable than the Ferrari Roma Spider, and a touch more expensive than the
Bentley Continental GT Convertible. All use V8 engines although when it comes to power, the Bentley’s is by far the least potent, while the Ferrari gives away almost 70hp to the Aston. You can pretty easily add £100,000 to the Aston’s list price without trying too hard with the (gloriously time-wasting) online configurator but overall, given that the DB12 Volante has way more power than the Bentley and a good bit more than the Ferrari, and that we reckon it’s much better looking than either, we’ll call the Aston the winner when it comes to value.
Verdict
Cars such as the DB12 Volante are almost closer to being works of art than simple transport. Indeed, it’s far from impossible to imagine a DB12 Volante stuck to the wall of a gallery somewhere, as an exemplar of the car designer’s art. It’s not just skin-deep, either - this is a wickedly fast car, that also happens to be extremely comfortable, and which also, also happens to be far more deft and deployable on tight and twisty roads than you might imagine. It’s fabulous, is what we’re trying to say.
