Aston Martin Reviews

John Carey road tests and reviews the Aston Martin DB11 with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its international launch in Italy.

The DB11 is a grand tourer at heart — but its new V12 propels it to great heights on the test track.

Peter Barnwell road tests and reviews the 2014 Aston Martin Rapide S with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The track focused Porsche 911, the GT3, is up against the the fastest ever Aston, the V12 Vantage S.

The best road for the Vanquish Volante twists through a steep-sided valley. Dial up "sport" mode, set the driver-select suspension to "track" and proceed at pace

The Vanquish Volante is the latest in a long line of V12 Aston Martin convertibles known more for their supermodel good looks and posing prowess than pin sharp handling.

The V12 Vantage S is the combination of everything Aston Martin knows about making a car fun to drive behind the wheel.

Pine plantations, as the apparent preferred location for man's inhumanities, silently have witnessed some mind-numbing events. But rarely have their nuts been shaken by something as spine-chilling as the coarse vibrations of an almost open-ended Aston Martin exhaust. The sound of the latest Aston, the Vantage S, on test distorts and echoes down the perfect vertical line of trees - more the angry noise of an animal in pain than a V8 engine that has been grudgingly enticed to release even more power. Aston Martin developed the V8 Vantage S as an evolutionary model. More power, more torque, more noise and more driver exhilaration has pushed it one step closer to the race track. With a hard-edged seven-speed automated manual and a $275,000 price tag, clearly it's not for everyone.VALUELet me repeat that figure - $275,000. Value for some, possibly, but this is a purchase where value isn't the first port of call. If you want your car right on the edge of performance and yet want a dose of luxury clothed in the world's sexiest car body, then this may represent value.The Vantage S, obviously based heavily on the $250,272 V8 Vantage, doesn't miss out on much in the way of features but there's a sense that this may be an upgrade on a car first made six years ago.Some of the kit includes a Bang & Olufsen audio, iPod/USB connectivity, leather and alcantara, sat-nav and cruise control.DESIGNThis is the most beautiful car in the world. You may disagree, but you'd be wrong. I recognise that it's six years old but it would be a brave man - or woman - who takes on drawing the next shape. Because it is essentially a grand tourer coupe, it's made to be low and fast and carry the bare minimum of people. Instantly, it's going to be big on engine space and light on cabin room. But for those who travel light between European countries at Mach 1, cabin room is sufficient and if the road's smooth, is comfortable.TECHNOLOGYLots to talk about here. It gets the same basic 4.7-litre V8 engine as the cheaper Vantage, but adds an adjustable intake plenum and a lot more spark from the ignition. More air, more spark, more bang. Power goes up 7kW to 321kW at a dizzy 7200rpm and torque rises 20Nm to 490Nm. The gearbox is a Graziano seven-speed automated manual - that Aston calls Sportshift II - integrated with the diff. It's made specifically for this car. It is controlled by the same panel of round buttons - including the must-have Sports switch - atop the centre console but individually selected by the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Aston says shift times are quicker than a manual and the box is 50kg lighter than a dual-clutch system and 24kg down on the standard Vantage's Sportshift I transmission. No manual box is available on the "S". Compared with the standard Vantage, the suspension is firmer, steering quicker with less turns needed, the brakes are grooved as well as vented and the tyres are meatier. Oh, and it goes faster.SAFETYFour airbags, all the electronic aids known to man and a non-existent crash rating. Many expensive, low-volume cars don't carry a crash rating in Europe, the US or Australia. DRIVINGI apologise now for waking up the neighbours when I plunged the glass key into its slot. The noise of the engine cranking is like the precursory gurgling of an aroused volcano and the eight cylinders firing is the explosion of jettonised lava. Honestly, if I could push start it to the bottom of the street I would have. Noise is the essence of a performance car and the Vantage S doesn't disappoint. True, I could have stopped myself from pressing the "Sport" button, but where's the fun in that?Off the mark, at slow speeds, the automated gearbox is sluggish. It needs a lot of revs and feels like it's not connected to the wheels. Upchanges have a frustrating pause between the cogs when left in the auto mode. But use the Sport button and the paddle shifters, keep the engine on the boil above 3500rpm and this is one of the sweetest road rockets around. It doesn't particularly like traffic and occasionally bumped and hopped as the transmission tried to figure out which gear it needed. Away from the grind, up in the hills and out to where the roads cut through pine plantations, it found home. The steering is perfect, the engine response brilliant - to the point of scary - and the glorious noise of the open exhaust brings a broad smile.But the road needs to be relatively smooth for imperfections jiggle the suspension and relay them through the thinly-padded carbon-fibre seats. Tiny switches also make the dashboard initially difficult to operate. But I'm being pedantic. VERDICTThis is where emotion and engineering meet. The Vantage S is built for people who have unrestricted access to sweeping roads, premium fuel and time. I don't.But I understand this car. It's imperfections - loud, firm and awkward at low speeds - are just part of its character and all wash away when you pull on the right-hand paddle and bring up the numeral four on the dash, then five, then six and when the road flattens and stretches, seven.ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE SPrice: $275,000Warranty: 3 years, 100,000km, roadside assistResale: n/aService Interval: 15,000km or 12 monthsEconomy: 12.9 l/100km; 299g/km CO2Safety Equipment: four airbags, ESC, ABS, EBD, EBA, TC. Crash rating n/aEngine: 321kW/490Nm 4.7-litre V8 petrolTransmission: Seven-speed automated manualBody: 2-door, 2 seatsDimensions: 4385 (L); 1865mm (W); 1260mm (H); 2600mm (WB)Weight: 1610kgTyre: Size (ft) 245/40R19 (rr) 285/35R19. Spare tyre none

JAMES Bond drives an Aston Martin, and that's almost good enough for me. Almost. But when the pricetag of the Aston in the driveway hits $470,000 - drive away, no more left to pay - the rules change a bit. That sort of money buys some truly great cars but I cannot help comparing it with the Ferrari California.The Aston scores with brilliant convertible styling, all the luxury you can really want in a two-plus-two convertible, and rock-solid credentials that include two years as the coolest brand of all in Britain.It sits alongside the Virage coupe that costs $371,300 in a 13-car range that starts with the V8 Vantage at $250,272. But the fresh-air Ferrari is more tactile, more emotional, and it doesn't have a paddle-shift automatic gearbox that somehow quits shifting on me for a time during a straightforward run to the newsagent.VALUEOnce again, the colossal pricetag of the Virage means it's impossible for an ordinary person to make a true judgement call. People with half a million for a car that's a toy are more likely to be shopping it against a boat or another holiday house than 24 Hyundai i20s, or pitching it up against the California or Benz SLS roadster in  the driveway next door. But the mid-range Aston - yes, there really are other models that are even more costly, right up to the limited-edition 1-77 at something beyond $2 million in Australia - makes a reasonable case against car like the Jaguar XK-RS, California, Audi R8 Cabriolet and other exotica. TECHNOLOGYAston makes a lot of noise about the car's lightweight aluminium construction, even though it thumps the scales at close to 1900 kilos. So imagine what it could have been. What the alloy structure brings is incredible rigidity, especially for a convertible, and the sort of rock-solid feel that convinces you the car will go on for a long time.And you cannot say that about a Maserati GranCabrio, although the R8 - with its racecar layout, against the Aston's front-mounted V12 - is impressively taut. The British car has its hand-assembled 6-litre V12, adaptive damping in the suspension, carbon brakes, and even an exhaust with bypass valves that mean it can be shoosh quiet around town but howl on the open road.Or noisy all the time if the owner asks for a special switch . . . But an old-school automatic gearbox, even with paddle shifts and six speeds, is off the pace in 2012. DESIGNIt's hard to fault the Virage Volante, except that it looks a lot like the all the other Aston coupes and convertibles. It's a great looking family, but it can be hard to know if you're out on the town with Alec or Billy or Daniel, if you draw a comparison with the Baldwin brothers. It is a droolworthy shape that is beautifully finished, right down to  gorgeous wing mirrors and giant wheels that sit just right in a body  that's almost draped around the rubber. The dashboard looks great, and the steering wheel and other controls have a solidly chunky look and feel, but the car is let down by the details. The satnav screen is too small, although the mapping system is updated and greatly improved, and the digital readouts - including the speedo - wash out badly in harsh Australian sun.And that's before you drop the top. The top itself works extremely well, and seals well to keep noise levels down. The boot is not particularly big, and the back 'seats' barely qualify for anyone with legs, but it's pretty much the same as others in the class.SAFETYANCAP is never going to whack an Aston into a wall, so there is no star rating. Based on Carsguide experience it would probably be a four-star car, and it does have lots of nifty electronics to keep you out of trouble and airbags for both front seat occupants.DRIVINGWheel time in an exotic always gets personal, because the possible play things - remembering that could be a Bentley or a Porsche or a  Ferrari or whatever - are so very different in character. The Aston scores because of its Bond-like strengths, from the masculine styling to the macho V12 and the chunky way it sits on the  road and handles corners. Strangely, and despite 365 kiloWatt and a sprint time of 4.5 seconds to 100km/h, it doesn't feel particularly quick. It's definitely not as big a hitter as the twin-turbo V8 AMG E63 currently in the Carsguide garage, but it does waft along pretty briskly. It's not helped by that weight.The steering feel is good, the brakes are strong, and it's nice as a tourer, but push harder in tight corners and the front wants to push wide until you are hard on the gas. It's definitely not best in class if you want to muscle it around. But switch the adaptive damping to the sport setting and it wakes up and comes alive, with much more bite at the front end, more general composure, and the extra pace to bring a smile. With the engine tweaked to sport, and extra crispness in the throttle to match the barky exhaust, it does a lot better. But it's still not a match for the California, either in punch or personality. And, when the paddle shift goes awol for a while, I wonder again about famed British reliability. The FM radio reception is pretty poor, too.So the Virage Volante is a good car, and a very distinctive one, but a few pennies short of a pound. It's not nice for a Bond-style arrival, but not something to try and outrun any baddies. If I had the money and the choice, and I wanted a speedy droptop to make me feel really good, I'd go for a Ferrari California.VERDICTOne of the best lookers on the road today is not as good as it looks.Aston Martin Virage Volante Price: estimated $470,000 on roadEngine: 6.0 litre V12, 365kW/570NmBody: two-door convertibleWeight: 1890kgTransmission: six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive

Is the Aston Martin Virage the perfect GT car? Owen Mildenhall puts it up against the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in this track review to find out. Aston Martin ViragePrice: from $371,300Engine: 5.9-litre V12 petrol; 350kW/600NmTransmission: 6-speed auto, RWDThirst: 15.0L/100km; 349g/km CO2Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGPrice: from $468,320Engine: 6.2-litre V8 petrol; 420kW/650NmTransmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, RWDThirst: 13.3L/100km; 311g/km CO2