Aston Martin Vantage Roadster – elegance and beauty rolled in one
It has been a while since I have become really excited about new cars that are flooding the market, but the new Aston Martin Vantage Roadster might just be enough to ignite this old man passion, and through sheer excitement banish my curbed enthusiasm.
The new Roadster is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 510/685Nm coupled to an eight-speed ZF transmission, accelerates from 0-60mph in just 3.7sec and is capable of 190mph with the roof raised. There is a slight increase in weight when we compare the numbers against the Coupe but the lighter Z-fold roof mechanism mated with optimized exterior and interior seen throughout the design, should put your mind at ease just enough to ignore the weight increase.
In recent press conference, Aston Martin President and CEO, Dr Andy Palmer, said of the Vantage Roadster: “Open-top Aston Martins are always firm favourites with our customers, so it’s very exciting to introduce the Vantage Roadster. For many, driving with the roof down is the true definition of the sports car experience as it truly brings your senses to life. Vantage has always delivered the purest of thrills, but in Roadster form that adrenaline rush is set to go to the next level”.
The Vantage loses 150 litres of boot capacity compared with the coupé, keeping respectable 200 litres, which Aston believes to be large enough for a full-size golf bag and its accessories. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Vantage nameplate, Aston has brought back the ‘vane’ grille as an option on both Coupe and Roadster. It Shares the same Adaptive Damping, Dynamic Stability Control, Dynamic Torque Vectoring and Electronic Rear Differential already employed in the coupé, however the Roadster design goes one step further and gains benefits from specific dynamic refinements. These include a bespoke tune for the rear dampers, Adaptive Damping System software and ESP calibration.
As you’d expect from a dedicated sports car, a choice of Sport, Sport + and Track chassis modes – also tuned specifically for the Roadster – give the driver control of its dynamic character and behaviour. Working in harmony with Sport, Sport+ and Track powertrain modes retained from the Coupe offers the ability to progressively increase the car’s overall responsiveness and excitement, meaning the Roadster has a tremendous breadth of ability and feels equally at home on road or race track.
Matt Becker, Aston Martin Chief Engineer, adds: “Convertible sports cars are often seen as compromised when compared to their Coupe equivalents, but the Vantage Roadster remains absolutely dedicated true to its mission of delivering precise, agile and expressive handling dynamics combined with stonking straight-line performance. And of course, there’s the added dimension of driving a great-sounding sports car with the roof down”.
The Vantage range starts at £114,850, with the Recommended Retail Price of the Vantage Roadster starting from £126,950 in the UK, €157,300 in Germany and $161,000 in USA. First deliveries of the Vantage Roadster are scheduled to begin during Q2 2020.
