Aston Martin’s DBS Superleggera Volante Is a Perfect Flagship Droptop
A convertible top, 211 mile per hour top speed and twin turbo V12 make the DBS Superleggera Volante truly desirable.
While some cars are headline grabbers, others are greater than the sum of their parts. To Harry Metcalfe, the DBS Superleggera Volante is just such a car. Having previously driven the DBS in poor weather, he was interested in seeing how a drop-top version can spice up a daily drive.
Metcalfe first notices the car’s looks, saying, “changing from coupe to Volante has done nothing to change its good looks.” Those good looks come at a price. Coupe prices are already high, and the Volante ads another premium. Throw on the options and this DBS has an eye watering price. “This one, with the options in it, 274,000 GBP,” Metcalfe says.
You do get one amazing car for the price, though. Aside from some criticisms about the interior borrowing parts from Mercedes, Metcalfe is smitten. “The DB11’s brakes were over-servo’d and clumsy in traffic. No more! It’s just a lovely brake pedal when going slowly,” he says. A car that’s easy to live with should be part of the engineering and appeal of a flagship car, and he feels Aston Martin nails it in the DBS. Metcalfe explains, “I often point out when doing these reviews that you spend a lot of time going slowly in cars these days. So it matters what these crazy 211 mile-per-hour cars are like putting around in traffic.”
This brings us back to the point regarding the car being greater than the sum of its parts. The performance is present in the DSB, but the luxury is as well. It’s happiest as a GT car rather than one that chases lap times. Metcalfe notes, “yes it probably lost a bit of torsional rigidity. Every now and then I sense it, but it’s not bothersome in the slightest.” To him the benefit of a civilized open-top drive is more appealing that pace.
In fact, the appeal can’t really be quantified to just stats. “You don’t really buy these cars on straight forward facts and 0-60 figures. It’s on an emotional level and that’s where this DBS Volante really scores,” he says. That has us believing Aston Martin has a world-class flagship that everyone can love.
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