Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster Gives it All

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster, as the name suggests, ditches the soft top in favor of a more hardcore drive.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage. A lot. As we noted in our drive story earlier this year, shoehorning Aston's snarling 5.2-liter, twin-turbo V-12 under the hood of the Vantage coupé transforms the company's entry-level sports car into a scintillating supercar. The Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster promises the same fury. With a lot more sound.

The engine spec is the same as in the V12 Vantage coupé: 690 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque. That's grunt enough, says Aston, to punch the V12 Vantage Roadster from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, just one-tenth slower than the coupé, and to the same 200 mph top speed. The engine drives the rear wheels through a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and mechanical limited slip differential.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage

As with the coupé, creating the V12 Vantage Roadster required more than just a simple engine swap. Revisions to the suspension include a new adaptive damping system with bespoke settings that are different from those of the coupé, revised bushings, and stiffer front top mounts. Overall body stiffness has been increased with additional front and rear sheer panels, a rear suspension tower strut brace, and fuel tank bracing.

The track has likewise been widened 1.6 inches, and the revised steering calibration is also the same as that of the V12 Vantage coupé. Similarly, the standard wheels are 21-inch, shod with 275/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires up front, and 315/30 items at the rear. Carbon-ceramic brakes—16.1-inch rotors at the front axle and 14.2-inch items at the rear—save 51 pounds of unsprung mass compared with the regular steel brakes. Lightweight forged alloy wheels are available as an option, saving a further 17.6 pounds.

The front bumper, hood, front fenders, and side sills are made from carbon fiber to help save weight. The rear bumper and deck lid are also made from weight-saving composite material. The center-mounted, twin-exit stainless steel exhaust system weighs 15.8 pounds less than the regular Vantage Roadster's exhaust.

Additional bracing required to maintain body stiffness without the roof means the V12 Vantage Roadster weighs almost 200 pounds more than the coupe. Even so, it still has a weight-to-power ratio of just over six pounds per horsepower.

Twelve cylinders and two turbochargers generate a lot of heat in an engine compartment originally intended for a V-8. The full-width, rear facing vent on the redesigned hood helps evacuate hot air, and the grille is 25 percent larger than that of the standard Vantage Roadster.

Aerodynamic upgrades include a larger front splitter, single piece side sills extending from the fender vents, and a new rear bumper with an integrated diffuser. The monster rear wing that on the V12 Vantage coupé generates 450 pounds of downforce at 200 mph is standard, but V12 Vantage Roadster owners who prefer to fly under the radar can choose to order their car without it.

The V12 Vantage Roadster comes standard with Aston's Sports Plus seats trimmed in full semi-aniline leather with the 'wings' quilt and perforation pattern. A carbon fiber performance seat with exposed twill carbon fibre shell and manual six-way adjustment is available as an option, saving 16.1 pounds over the regular seats.

Aston built just 333 V12 Vantage coupés. The V12 Vantage Roadster will be even rarer, with just 249 scheduled to come off the line. And despite a price tag expected to start around $350,000 in the U.S., all are already sold. Like the V12 Vantage coupé, it's an instant classic.

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