2026 Vanquish Volante Drive: The Aston Martin of Aston Martins

Car and Driver

5 days ago

Posh, high-performance coupes and convertibles have long been Aston Martin's stock in trade. Modern Aston Martin's pursuit of growth—part of its quest for profitability—has seen the brand expand into sports cars, supercars, SUVs, and ultra-low-production variants thereof. But ultrafast, ultraluxe, and ultralovely grand touring coupes and convertibles remain at the brand's core. Cars like the new Vanquish, which arrived last fall as a stunning coupe, and now the Vanquish Volante, its open-top counterpart. Both stand as the ultimate expression of Aston Martin–ness.
That means the Vanquish occupies a loftier perch than the thematically similar DB12, which also is available in Volante form. Differences versus its penultimate sibling can be summarized as: size, style, and motivation. Befitting its status, the Vanquish is the most grandly proportioned of Aston Martin's grand tourers. It is 6.5 inches longer overall, and its wheelbase extends 3.1 inches inches further than the DB12's. All of that extra wheelbase is situated between the base of the windshield and the front axle, as the front of the car effectively stretches forward, a visual totem of the Vanquish's other great differentiator: its V-12 engine, which nestles entirely behind the front axle.
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Aston Martin
The twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V-12 is a fresh design, even as this engine configuration dwindles to a tiny dot in the firmament of modern powertrains. But it burns more brightly than ever, boasting 64 more horses than Aston's last V-12, its 823 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque sent rearward to an eight-speed ZF transaxle, which incorporates an electronic differential. Unleashing that much thrust on public roads (particularly in the crowded environs of New York City) is a challenge, and for a while, we're only able to delve partway into the accelerator's long travel. After crossing the Hudson, we succumb to brief bursts on the Palisades Parkway. They reveal a ferociously reactive powertrain that lets loose a refined roar when provoked. We flap the paddles to extend the music, which is more vocal in Sport than in the standard GT mode, although you can also switch to the louder exhaust mode via a button on the center console.
Far outside the city at last, we're able to give the Vanquish Volante more leash. The ZF gearbox—a torque-converter automatic rather than a dual-clutch—manages to be both ultraquick and supersmooth. Powering out of corners or pummeling empty straights, the V-12 just pulls and pulls, with tremendous torque across a wide band—max grunt is available from 2500 rpm. Even at go-directly-to-jail speeds, there's still so much more. Aston claims a top speed of 214 mph.
Carbon-ceramic brakes, which were optional on the DBS, are standard on the Vanquish. With just one set of hardware to tune for, Aston's engineers were able to dial in fantastic brake-pedal action that responds more to pressure than to travel and yet doesn't feel overly touchy. It perfectly complements the accelerator-pedal effort and even the steering heft, creating harmony among the major controls.
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Aston Martin
There are four drive modes—GT, Sport, Sport+, and Wet—as well as an Individual setting to mix and match from among them. But the changes they effect are subtle. In any mode, the steering remains perfectly weighted and more relaxed than darty. The Aston Martin–blend Pirelli P Zero PZ4s (275/35ZR-21 front, 325/30ZR-21 rear) are certainly low-profile, and yet this Aston never feels harsh, even over broken pavement—of which we encountered plenty in our drive from midtown Manhattan out to the hinterlands and back. The Vanquish is utterly composed over lumpy, twisting two-lanes tackled at extralegal speeds, the chassis tuning allowing enough compliance to keep from upsetting the car. This is a grand tourer, not a racer.
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Aston Martin
Simon Newton, Aston's director of vehicle performance, says that the convertible was developed alongside the coupe, and that they aimed to deliver the same driving performance between the two. They adjusted for the slight weight difference (Aston says the Volante is about 200 pounds heavier with a claimed 50/50 weight distribution) by increasing the rear spring rates and front anti-roll-bar stiffness each by 7 percent. On the subject of stiffness, the convertible adds a structural crossbrace behind the front seats, and there's extra structure across the top of the rear suspension and in the sills.
Like the coupe, the Volante's bonded-aluminum architecture is draped in carbon-fiber body panels. And what panels they are. The Vanquish is, quite objectively, a stunner, no less so in Volante form than as a coupe. The compact-stacking fabric top doesn't interrupt the graceful bodywork when tucked away, and it stows in just a claimed 14 seconds, a feat that can be performed on the move at low speeds. Raise the top (in 16 seconds), and it provides eight layers of insulation from the world outside.
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Aston Martin
The world inside is leather lined and beautifully finished. Like the coupe, the Volante is strictly a two-seater. Those seats are comfortable, and without over-large side bolsters, ingress and egress aren't needlessly challenging. Behind them, small coves can accommodate a small backpack or handbag.
You sit deep in this car, with the beltline up around shoulder level and a fairly high cowl. The slope of the dashboard, scooped-out door panels, and a console that's lower than in the DB12 keep the interior from feeling confining, however. The long hood falls away from view, which can be somewhat disconcerting when parking in close quarters, but there is a dedicated hard button to instantly summon the parking cameras (with a choice of views), which is helpful.
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Aston Martin
Aston has retained physical switchgear in the Vanquish, and that's part of what makes this car so welcoming to the driver. Its most future-techy aspect is the standard integration of Apple CarPlay Ultra. The system takes over not just the central touchscreen but the instrumentation display as well. And while you don't have to hop out of it to operate climate controls or other screen-based vehicle systems, it was otherwise unimpressive. We found the system to be glitchy, Siri to be obtuse, and the phone-based navigation to be useless when we were out of cell range. We ended up quitting out of it in favor of the native navigation.
Really, the Vanquish Volante is about classicism, not the latest gadgetry. The beauty of long-hood-short-deck proportions, the sound and fury of a V-12 engine, and the experience of open-air driving—those are what's central to this car. These desirable elements make the Vanquish Volante the grandest of grand tourers, one that comes at an equally rarefied price: $489,700 (inclusive of destination and, ahem, gas-guzzler tax). The upcoming supercars are sure to be still more expensive, but while you can pay more for an Aston Martin, this grandest grand tourer strikes us as the ultimate Aston Martin.
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Aston Martin
Specifications
Specifications
2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE
Base: $489,700
ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 318 in3, 5204 cm3
Power: 823 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 738 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 113.6 in
Length: 192.5 in
Width: 78.0 in
Height: 51.0 in
Trunk Volume: 7–8 ft3
Curb Weight (C/D est): 4500 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.3 sec
100 mph: 6.7 sec
1/4-Mile: 11.2 sec
Top Speed: 214 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 16/13/21 mpg
Reviewed by
Joe Lorio
Deputy Editor, Reviews and Features
Joe Lorio has been obsessed with cars since his Matchbox days, and he got his first subscription to Car and Driver at age 11. Joe started his career at Automobile Magazine under David E. Davis Jr., and his work has also appeared on websites including Amazon Autos, Autoblog, AutoTrader, Hagerty, Hemmings, KBB, and TrueCar.