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The Drive
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Review: Like Riding a Pegasus
The latest car news, reviews, and features. The 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is a triumph of automotive artistry. The design, inside and out, is an exceptional blend of quintessential supercar with refreshing new fixtures. Half the joy of driving it is just appreciating how pretty it is as you walk up to it. The other half? A twin-turbo V12 that'll take you up to 214 mph. The Volante experience is what I imagine riding one of those magical flying horses is like. Y'know, a pegasus. The 12-cylinder Aston Martin Vanquish has historically been, and is once again, the British brand's flagship. The madcap Valkyrie hypercar and extreme Valhalla supercar are more purely performance- and cash-flow-focused. The super grand touring coupe and the drop-top Volante are most emblematic and essential Astons on the road right now. Aston Martin proclaims this is 'the world's fastest, most powerful front-engine convertible,' substantiating that with some head-spinning specs: 824 horsepower, 738 lb-ft of torque, 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 214 mph. According to Aston's Vehicle Performance Director Simon Newton, the top speed is not governed by the position of the roof. I'm sad to say my test loop in and around New York City did not allow me to rate the wind chill at that speed. Aston Martin The V12 sends its power to the rear wheels only, with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission allowing the driver to shift via the paddle shifters. Despite the engine's impressive size and the car's very long hood, Newton said the weight balance was close to 50/50 front and rear because the motor's packed mostly towards the cabin. The drop-top is about 209 pounds heavier than the coupe, but my test car tried to compensate by sporting the lighter $14,400 titanium exhaust. 'Stainless [exhaust system] is a little more, fuller, more rounded,' Newton told The Drive . 'Titanium has a higher-pitched, sense of urgency.' Both the coupe and convertible were developed in parallel. Differences between the two, besides the roof, are reportedly just minimal rigidity enhancements underneath and a 7% increase in spring stiffness on the convertible. Trunk's cargo space is not particularly generous, but there's plenty for a couple's weekend luggage. The rest can be shipped to their vacation villa or luxury hotel ahead of time, after all. The gauge cluster and infotainment screens are substantial, but not annoyingly large, and more importantly, very nicely integrated into the dashboard. Interesting shapes of carbon frame the screens and give them some depth, while Apple CarPlay Ultra lets you run automotive functions like driving modes and climate control without leaving the Apple interface. Refreshingly, quite a bit of the car controls are accessed through beautiful knurled metal knobs that are as much fun to spin as they are nice to look at. The Vanquish Volante's starting price is about $480,000, and personalization can quickly send that way north. A set of 21-inch satin black wheels is $6,700, custom interior colorway is $11,200, and interior carbon trim pieces $28,300. You can get carbon exterior bits too, for about another $33,000. The cheapest option I saw was an umbrella (made in England!) for $600. At this level, it's not about value for money. It's all about vibes. The new Vanquish face and silhouette will be pretty familiar to anyone who has ever seen an Aston Martin, but I absolutely love what the designers did with the unique taillights, exhaust, huge fender vents, and intense hood sculpting. This generation Vanquish does a great job adding just enough unexpected flourishes to make the car feel fresh and interesting while retaining its classy and classic persona. Aston Martin The interior is similarly appointed. Beautiful knobs and switches crafted from exceptionally elite materials abound, and a few key decorative features do a lot of heavy lifting to differentiate the design from everything else out there. Those little wings around the gauge cluster and the gorgeous center console knobs are super cool. I will admit, I felt a little skittish burbling through Manhattan in a convertible car this loud—and I'm not just talking about the exhaust. There were quite a few eyes on me while I idled at stoplights. I assume those who noticed me were trying to figure out if my dad was famous or what—but this is not a machine for a wallflower. Things got a lot more comfortable when I started steaming up alongside the Hudson River. The Vanquish ride is not plush, but it is compliant. NYC potholes are pretty rough, but I didn't hit anything jarring while leaving the city. Once I broke out of the boroughs, I stepped on the throttle a little more and felt the absolute abundance of power accompanied by an insistent intensity of the titanium exhaust note. The exhaust has a loud-mode button, but it's not as instantly dramatic as similar systems I've tested on Porsches and other vehicles. Idle, low-speed loping, and free-revs sound pretty much the same, until you get hard on the gas and the open-valve setting is triggered by a little button on the dash. Then the engine note becomes downright dastardly. Aston Martin I'm sure none of you will be surprised to read that an 800-hp car felt fast—but the big takeaway with this Aston V12 is how unbelievably deep its energy reserve feels. There's a huge sensation of thrust with a fairly modest application of gas pedal, and as your foot goes down, it just keeps climbing and never lets off. It doesn't matter if you hit the gas from a slow roll or a canter—there's a tsunami of power at the ready from pretty much any engine rpm. In a way, this much juice is almost more exciting to experience in a luxury touring car than it is in a pure sports car. When you're strapped into a firm seat and riding on stiff suspension, you expect a snappy response on the throttle. When you're surrounded by the luxurious trappings of private jet—and in a convertible, no less—the rocket-ride whoosh of a twin-turbo V12 can catch you by surprise even after you've been driving for a few hours. The car's not difficult to handle (despite feeling enormous from the driver's seat), but it does manage to be delightfully intimidating. You can scare yourself well before the gas pedal makes contact with the carpet, and no passenger will ever question its 200-plus top speed. There is a Wet Mode that softens power delivery, should slippery conditions dare to arise while you're out road-yachting in your Vanquish. I didn't test this, but even decent drivers will appreciate its existence when needed. I enjoyed some exciting twisty roads around New York's Bear Mountain State Park on a lovely sunny day, which I pretty much had to myself in the middle of the week. The car's certainly enjoyable to link turns with and doesn't beg to be driven hard despite its obvious capability. It's a lot of fun to carve corners in at a relatively socially acceptable speed, then briefly surge on straightaways before being easily reeled back in by its enormous carbon ceramic brakes. I don't even want to think about what your local Aston Martin shop charges for a new set of pads on this thing, but again, if you can buy the car, you probably don't need to read price tags. Aston Martin Only two chinks in the Vanquish Volante's shiny armor manifested themselves during my test drive. I found the cabin to still be fairly noisy even with the roof up. Aston's people said there were eight layers of insulation in the quickly retractable roof, but after my test, I can confirm that you shouldn't expect a similar level of isolation as the hardtop. The other thing is cabin cooling. I taxed the air conditioning hard; it was about 90 degrees and very humid that day. Even with the seat coolers on, it was toasty. Considering some of Aston's best customers live in the Middle East, that might be suboptimal. While not the biggest detractors for a convertible, you're kind of left hoping for a bit more out of a $610,000 car. Sidebar: I was not enamored with Apple CarPlay Ultra. The selectable Apple-style main gauges make the car look like a kiddie toy, and I'd rather just split the main screen between my map and car controls. I could easily be impressed by high-dollar hardware because I usually drive jalopies. However, that's not the case. If anything, my real-life basicness makes me even more dismissive of things as conceptually absurd as a half-million-dollar toy. So from a realist's perspective, there's no financially logical reason to buy one. There never is. But an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is not for people who logically decide their purchases. This is a car for somebody who wants an exceptional motoring experience and can afford it—and I have to admit, it delivers. It's unforgettably gorgeous, fast, smooth, engaging, fun to drive at any speed, and intimidating enough to make you feel alive behind the wheel. If the Pegasus comparison was a little too abstract for you, the Vanquish Volante feels closer to a Fountain powerboat than a car, but considerably less crass. It's hard to imagine a grander touring car. And as far as making the ultimate quintessential Aston Martin, there's nothing I would change about the Vanquish Volante. Aston Martin 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Specs Base Price (As Tested) $483,000 ($610,300) Powertrain 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 | 8-speed automatic | rear-wheel drive Horsepower 824 @ 6,500 rpm Torque 738 lb-ft @ 2,500-5,000 rpm Seating 2 Dry Weight 4,120 pounds 0-62 (100 kph) 3.4 seconds Top Speed 214 mph EPA Fuel Economy (Coupe spec, Volante TBA) 13 city | 21 highway | 16 combined Score 10/10 Spectacularly grand tourer with regal design and a warrior king's bearing.
India Today
12-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Canva now lets candidates use AI during interviews: What this means
Canva has officially changed its technical interview process by introducing AI-assisted coding, allowing and even expecting candidates to use tools like GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Cursor during interviews for engineering roles. The move is a big change in how the company evaluates software engineers, aligning the hiring process with the tools its in-house developers already use on a daily now, Canva's coding interviews, particularly for backend, frontend, and machine learning roles, relied heavily on conventional Computer Science Fundamentals assessments. These tests, which involved solving algorithm-based problems without any external help, were no longer the day-to-day reality at Canva as engineers now regularly depend on AI tools to navigate large codebases and accelerate that this disconnect limited the company's ability to assess true on-the-job performance, Canva has now introduced what it calls "AI-Assisted Coding" interviews. Candidates are not only allowed but also encouraged to use AI during interviews. The company says that the idea is to understand how well they can collaborate with AI tools, how effectively they break down complex problems, refine machine-generated code, and make sound technical decisions. Talking about the trials done for this, Canva head of platforms Simon Newton said, "Our AI-assisted interviews feel more engaging for both candidates and interviewers, and they are providing strong predictive signals about candidate performance. Most importantly, they are helping us identify engineers who can leverage AI thoughtfully and effectively. Exactly the kind of people we want building the future of visual communication," he change comes amid growing debate around the use of generative AI in hiring. While some companies continue to view AI in interviews as a form of cheating, Canva says it is trying to restrict AI use is counterproductive in an industry where such tools are already an integral part of development workflows. Instead, the company is prioritising transparency and encouraging candidates to use AI openly during company revealed that candidates are now judged on how they guide the AI, evaluate its suggestions, and maintain production-level standards in their final solution. The interviews also test how well candidates debug flawed AI code and deal with unclear product requirements."Interestingly, candidates with minimal AI experience often struggled, not because they couldn't code, but because they lacked the judgment to guide AI effectively or identify when its suggestions were suboptimal," Newton said. "We believe the future belongs to engineers who can seamlessly blend human creativity and judgment with AI capabilities," he added.
Miami Herald
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
This is the 823-horsepower 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
It's been a while since the Aston Martin Vanquish has shown its grille in the world of high-end luxury cars, but now, the performance-driven model has made its triumphant return. Aston Martin showed off the coupe version of the Vanquish in the second half of 2024, and nearly four months into 2025, the British automaker has unveiled the 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. While other automakers are shifting away from high-powered engines in favor of more fuel-efficient options, Aston Martin is sticking to satisfying consumer expectations. The Vanquish Volante arrives with a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V12 engine under the hood that powerhouse generates 823 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque, pushing the luxury car to 60 mph in under 3.4 seconds. Aston Martin claims the convertible arrives with a top speed of 214 mph. If that claim is true, then the Vanquish Volante is the fastest series production convertible that the British automaker has ever made. The twin-turbo V12's power is channeled via an eight-speed rear-mounted torque-converter transaxle with an electronically controlled rear differential that improves driver control at high speeds. Inside, the Volante mirrors its coupe twin with a two-tone design and physical controls for important vehicle functions, like stability control and selecting drive modes. Two 10.3-inch displays make up the gauge cluster and infotainment displays. The convertible top, which Aston Martin has dubbed the K-fold, can open in as little as 14 seconds and close in 16 seconds. It can also be operated at speeds up to 31 mph or from the key fob. "The drive to ensure Vanquish Volante delivered the same class leading performance as the Vanquish Coupe meant that, from inception, the engineering team worked on both Coupe and Volante simultaneously, allowing us to retain the dynamic capabilities and character of Vanquish Coupe with no compromise upon removing the roof," said Simon Newton, Aston Martin Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes. While the Vanquish Volante shares the same chassis as the coupe, it's been modified to account for the convertible's extra weight. New Bilstein DTX dampers also provide better wheel control within each drive mode. The Aston Martin Vanquish is a hot model in both its coupe and convertible forms, but you might have trouble getting behind the wheel of one. The British manufacturer is producing a limited, currently unspecified, number of Vanquish Volante models. Between the coupe and Volante models, Aston Martin plans to keep production below 1,000 cars per year. Deliveries are expected to begin in Q3 2025. There's no word on pricing for the Vanquish Volante just yet, either, but orders are now open. The 2025 Vanquish Coupe isn't cheap by any means, starting at around $425,000, and the Volante probably won't be any cheaper. In fact, the convertible model is likely to start around $475,000, but a half-million dollar price tag isn't out of the question. Those numbers aren't surprising considering that the Vanquish is the legendary brand's flagship model, and this is its first year back after a six-year hiatus, after all. The Aston Martin Vanquish has finally arrived in coupe and convertible forms. The return of the flagship model is a major step for the British manufacturer, and, judging from the spec sheet and design philosophy, it's clear Aston Martin is putting their best tire forward. The twin-turbocharged V12 engine is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, and the interior physical buttons are also a nice feature in a world of touchscreens. While we're still awaiting a price, there's no doubt that the Vanquish Volante is a solid flagship model. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This is the 823-horsepower 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
It's been a while since the Aston Martin Vanquish has shown its grille in the world of high-end luxury cars, but now, the performance-driven model has made its triumphant return. Aston Martin showed off the coupe version of the Vanquish in the second half of 2024, and nearly four months into 2025, the British automaker has unveiled the 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. While other automakers are shifting away from high-powered engines in favor of more fuel-efficient options, Aston Martin is sticking to satisfying consumer expectations. The Vanquish Volante arrives with a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V12 engine under the hood that powerhouse generates 823 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque, pushing the luxury car to 60 mph in under 3.4 seconds. Aston Martin claims the convertible arrives with a top speed of 214 mph. If that claim is true, then the Vanquish Volante is the fastest series production convertible that the British automaker has ever made. The twin-turbo V12's power is channeled via an eight-speed rear-mounted torque-converter transaxle with an electronically controlled rear differential that improves driver control at high speeds. Inside, the Volante mirrors its coupe twin with a two-tone design and physical controls for important vehicle functions, like stability control and selecting drive modes. Two 10.3-inch displays make up the gauge cluster and infotainment displays. The convertible top, which Aston Martin has dubbed the K-fold, can open in as little as 14 seconds and close in 16 seconds. It can also be operated at speeds up to 31 mph or from the key fob. 'The drive to ensure Vanquish Volante delivered the same class leading performance as the Vanquish Coupe meant that, from inception, the engineering team worked on both Coupe and Volante simultaneously, allowing us to retain the dynamic capabilities and character of Vanquish Coupe with no compromise upon removing the roof,' said Simon Newton, Aston Martin Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes. While the Vanquish Volante shares the same chassis as the coupe, it's been modified to account for the convertible's extra weight. New Bilstein DTX dampers also provide better wheel control within each drive mode. The Aston Martin Vanquish is a hot model in both its coupe and convertible forms, but you might have trouble getting behind the wheel of one. The British manufacturer is producing a limited, currently unspecified, number of Vanquish Volante models. Between the coupe and Volante models, Aston Martin plans to keep production below 1,000 cars per year. Deliveries are expected to begin in Q3 2025. There's no word on pricing for the Vanquish Volante just yet, either, but orders are now open. The 2025 Vanquish Coupe isn't cheap by any means, starting at around $425,000, and the Volante probably won't be any cheaper. In fact, the convertible model is likely to start around $475,000, but a half-million dollar price tag isn't out of the question. Those numbers aren't surprising considering that the Vanquish is the legendary brand's flagship model, and this is its first year back after a six-year hiatus, after all. The Aston Martin Vanquish has finally arrived in coupe and convertible forms. The return of the flagship model is a major step for the British manufacturer, and, judging from the spec sheet and design philosophy, it's clear Aston Martin is putting their best tire forward. The twin-turbocharged V12 engine is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, and the interior physical buttons are also a nice feature in a world of touchscreens. While we're still awaiting a price, there's no doubt that the Vanquish Volante is a solid flagship model.
Forbes
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Here's A Peak At The 1,064 HP Aston Martin Valhalla
Aston Martin Valhalla The Aston Martin Valhalla has been dubbed the "ultimate driver's supercar'. It uses a flat-plane crank 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 and three electric motors to emit 1,064 bhp. The British car maker ceased production of the ultra-sleek Valkyrie hypercar to make space for the Valhalla. Only 999 units will be built and production begins in the second quarter of this year. Testing is underway in the United Kingdom and on the IDIADA Spanish proving ground. This will be the brand's first plug-in hybrid model and will feature a dry-dump design and a new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The gearbox contains one electric motor while the other two are attached to the front axle, meaning the Valhalla will sprint from 0-to-62mph in 2.5 seconds and barrel onto 217 mph. The car will also develop more than 600kg of downforce at 150mph while in race mode. Although fuel consumption figures haven't been stated, the Valhalla will use a 400v system and a high-voltage battery. Aston Martin Valhalla The Valhalla will also feature an active front and rear wing, a bespoke carbon fiber tub, and carbon fiber body panels. Inside features Apple CarPlay, and two 10.25-inch displays, one for driver gauges and another for infotainment. Simon Newton, Director of Vehicle Performance and Attributes said, 'For the engineering and dynamics teams, the unprecedented dynamic bandwidth that distinguishes Valhalla from its rivals has presented many new opportunities during development. With a combination of 1079PS and 1100Nm via the hybrid powertrain, extreme performance is a given. To harness and refine the power to deliver an exceptional supercar experience on both road and track has meant tireless work has gone into the integration of active aerodynamics and integrated control systems.' Although the Valkyrie is no longer produced, it's still smashing records. The British hyper can beat the Koenigsegg Jesko around the Top Gear Test Track by 1.3 seconds and the Ferrari SF90 by 1.7 seconds, making it the fastest road-legal car to ever lap the track. In 2024, the 1,140 bhp Valkyrie also beat the Silverstone lap record with a time of 1 minutes 56.42 seconds. More than 10 seconds faster than any other road-legal production car. Aston Martin Valhalla on track
