► It’s the new V12 Vantage Roadster
► Unveiled at Pebble Beach 2022
► 5.2-litre V12 bi-turbo, just 249 made
This is the new 2022 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster, freshly unveiled at Monterey Car Week. It’s the ultimate soft-top Vantage aimed at drivers for whom eight cylinders simply aren’t enough.
Just 249 of the soft-top V12 Vantage will be built and first customer deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter of 2022. They’re in for a treat, judged on what we found in our review of the V12 Vantage coupe.
Fancy one? You’re already too late… Gaydon says it has closed the order books after pre-launch interest soared in the V12 soft-top.
We drive the regular Aston Martin Vantage Roadster
Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster: what’s new for 2022?
This isn’t the first time Aston’s shoehorned its biggest V12 into the compact Vantage bodyshell. Last time this happened, hell was unleashed and you can read our V12 Roadster review from 2014 here. A monstrous V12 in the company’s smallest model is always guaranteed to raise the pulse…
For 2022, Aston Martin has squeezed in the venerable 5.2-litre bi-turbo V12 – and now it’s tuned for a massive 700 metric horsepower, or 690bhp. Fulsome acceleration should be guaranteed by 555lb ft of torque, tamed by a limited-slip differential to keep the car pointing down the road.
The Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster’s top speed is pegged at 200mph while 0-60mph is dispatched in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 3.5 seconds. No manual version is offered; the only transmission is the familiar eight-speed ZF auto.
Roberto Fedeli, Aston Martin Chief Technical Officer, said: ‘We have worked extremely hard to ensure the V12 Vantage Roadster possesses the same potency and dynamism that characterises the V12 Vantage, while surpassing it in terms of raw sensory excitement that you only achieve with roof down driving.
‘With more power and torque than any Vantage Roadster before it, a wide-track chassis with precisely tuned suspension calibration, and up to ten times the downforce of the series production Vantage Roadster, this is a breathtaking machine created for our most enthusiastic customers.’
Wide body for improved stance, handling
The engineering under-bonnet is matched by a serious makeover for the chassis and bodywork. The V12 Vantage Roadster is 40mm wider than a regular Vantage, to make space for beefed-up suspension.
This allows the 21-inch alloy wheels to sit squarer on the road (owners can choose a satin black or diamond-turned shiny finish). Chunky 315/30 Michelin Pilot 4S tyres are fitted at the business end.
Keeping a convertible on the road at 200mph is no easy feat, but Aston Martin is not fitting the coupe’s fixed wing as standard to the roadster; buyers can option it as part of an aero package and seek solace that its extra 216kg of downforce more than makes up for the interrupted lines.
Styling, bodykit
The wider body is heavily reconfigured from the regular Vantage family. The front bumper, bonnet, wings and side sills are made from carbonfibre to save weight, while the rear deck and bumpers are made from composite material. Weightsaving elsewhere includes a 1mm thick stainless steel exhaust pipe to save 7 kilos.
And if you thought that gaping Aston Martin grille was bigger than you remembered, you’d be right: it’s 25% bigger than on regular Vantages, the better to ram more cooling air into the quad-cam 60-degree V12.
That engine really should dominate the driving experience. Mustering a claimed 367bhp-per-tonne, the V12 Vantage Roadster has recalibrated damper and steering settings and huge carbon ceramic brakes all round (measuring a 410mm in diameter at the front!).
How does it drive?