Once you build up the willpower to stop looking at the 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante—believe me, that will take some time—and actually open the door you will find yourself behind the wheel of one of the most deceptively wonderful modern cars in existence. B-B-B-B-B-But, I hear you stammer, what about tenths of a second per lap? What about the fact it’s called Superleggera, and at well over two tons it’s anything but super light? And that the interior of this $300,000 car is pretty darn similar to that of the $200K DB11 V8?
Let me ask you a question: You ever watch Game of Thrones? Words are but wind my friends. Also, the interior of a $205K Porsche 911 Turbo S is all but identical to a $100K Carrera. And no one cares.
For the lucky, the privileged, the rich few who can afford the sexiest, best looking convertible built in the last few decades, questions of those sorts aren’t on their radar. The topless version of the DBS isn’t a car as much as it is a meditation, a four-wheeled mandala, an exploration of what can only be termed: the good life. That big V-12 makes 715 horsepower, but it’s also buttercreamy-smooth. Le Corbusier should make chaise longue chairs this cosseting. I’m so relaxed. I’m so happy. I’m so in the wrong tax bracket. This is grand touring, boys and girls.
How does the DBS Superleggera Volante feel when you mash the gas and awaken that 5.2-liter monster motor with the two turbos? Comically, shockingly, disturbingly ballistic. So much power, so much thrust. Whatever else you may say and think about the car, know that there’s no relevant way to critique this engine. It’s the best of British Beef, a perfect roast. Will this engine make it into the upcoming mid-engine Vanquish? Please yes. Tobias, if you’re reading this, you know what to do.
If you happened to miss last year’s World’s Greatest Drag Race, you missed the fact that in the half-mile run the DBS coupe came in second place, surging from fifth place at the quarter-mile mark past breathless rivals. Only the 789 hp, McLaren Senna, a car that weighs over 1,000 pounds less than the Aston, beat it. World’s Greatest Drag Race is really a sub-brand of our annual Best Driver’s Car competition. Last year, the MotorTrend crew voted the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S our winner. I voted for it, too. But the car I most wanted to drive home? The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera.
Yeah, totally. Sure, the DBS doesn’t handle as well as the Porsche and it’s not as quick in the quarter-mile (11.2 seconds versus 11.5, though the Aston does best the 911 in the half-mile). So what? The heart wants, as Woody Allen so infamously said, what the heart wants. Mine’s beating Superleggera. I say the handling’s a damn sight good enough, especially when the top is stowed. My mood turns forgiving.
What about other huge dollar automobiles? Ferraris? Pretty shouty. Lamborghinis? Might transform into a robot. McLaren? I don’t have a NASA fetish. Also, why so serious… 911 GT2 RS Porsches? Those six-cylinder things with engines up their bums? No thank you. Bentley? Fat. Rolls-Royce? Fatter.
Brass tacks. $388,656 is a huge pile of money. Given Aston’s recent stock troubles (it hit as low as $0.37 a share) this orange lovely might be worth as much as Aston Martin the company. A Ferrari 812 Superfast is quicker, is faster, does handle better (perhaps much better), has more V-12 sonic goodness, and a dual-clutch transmission that’s at least an order of magnitude more sophisticated than the ZF 8-speed slushbox Aston saddled the DBS with. The new Porsche Turbo S would beat the Aston silly in any athletic event you can think of, save terminal velocity. A Bentley Continental GT has a finer cabin, looks a third to a quarter as good, and costs $100,000 less.
At the end of the day, just look at this machine. If the raison d’etre for Aston Martin’s continued existence is beauty, the DBS Superleggera Volante makes the company eternal. You should think of this big baller Volante the way you do about a Hispano-Suiza J12. Stunning, massive, rarified, wrapped in mystique, and cosmically destined to be parked on lawn one day, surrounded by winking women in large hats and cigar-chomping menfolk in funny pants.
There’s a charm enveloping the DBS; a thick cut, artisanal, slightly homebrewed charm that’s simply absent from carbon-fibered up Italian, the anal-retentive German, and the British version of the anal-retentive German. A wry smile, a nod, a raised eyebrow, a Roger Moore quality. I’m deeply into this thing.
Right at the moment when thoughts of other cars enter your head, the tip of your middle finger glides against the oversized, hand-stitching on the back of the steering wheel. You realize other cars are for other people. You’re home now, and you’re loved.
| 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante | |
| BASE PRICE | $307,820 |
| LAYOUT | Front-engine, RWD, 4-pass, 2-door convertible |
| ENGINE | 5.2L/715-hp/664-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 48-valve V-12 |
| TRANSMISSION | 8-speed automatic |
| CURB WEIGHT | 4,250 lb (MT est) |
| WHEELBASE | 110.4 in |
| L x W x H | 185.6 x 77.5 x 51.0 in |
| 0-62 MPH | 3.6 sec (mfr est) |
| EPA FUEL ECON, CITY/HWY/COMB | 14/22/17 mpg |
| ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY | 241/153 kW-hrs/100 miles |
| CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB | 1.16 lb/mile |
| ON SALE | Currently |
The post 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante: Beastly Beauty Meets Poetic Wax appeared first on MotorTrend.
[ad_2]
Source link