< H O M E >

Aston Martin DBS Volante. Download Car Photos. High Resolution Photos Wallpapers. Size: 1600 x 1200 pixels. Car Dealers.Auto Dealers.Car Insurance.Progresive Insurance Quote.
Is the open-air DB9 a smidge too pedestrian for your liking? The Bentley Continental GTC Speed not exactly your speed? Now there's another option for all you well-heeled fans of high-performance, top-down British supercars out there -- the Aston Martin DBS Volante. - Think of the 16th convertible in Aston's history as the perfect cocktail: one part drop-top motoring, one part luxury, and one big part performance. Aston Martin claims a convertible DBS was always in the cards, so little work was apparently needed to lose the fixed roof and attach a soft-top. In fact, that's just about all the crew at Gaydon did to create the DBS Volante, which is making its world debut at the 2009 Geneva motor show. - With the exception of the roof, nearly every aspect of the Volante is identical to that of the DBS coupe. Both rocket down the road thanks to a 510-hp, 6.0L V-12 engine that produces 420 lb-ft of torque. Both offer a six-speed manual or six-speed Touchtronic automatic gearbox with manual shifting capability. According to Aston, they'll both do zero to 62 mph in 4.3 sec and top out at 191 mph, and they'll both come to a quick stop thanks to carbon-ceramic brakes. - What then, is different? Well, there's that soft-top for starters. Aston looked into a folding hard-top, but decided on a soft roof instead to save weight. The folks at Gaydon say the Volante weighs in at 3990 lb, just 41 lb heavier than the DBS coupe we recently tested. The roof retracts automatically in just 14 sec and can be operated at speeds of up to 30 mph. Despite losing the fixed roof, Aston says the Volante retains 75% of the chassis rigidity of the coupe. Should you accidentally emulate James Bond's nasty wreck from "Casino Royale," the advanced rollover protection system's two pop-up rollbars are designed to keep your head off the pavement. - Of course, a marque like Aston Martin couldn't just cut the roof off and leave it at that; other changes had to be made to compensate. For example, when it's down, the roof is hidden by a special tonneau cover to preserve the car's beautiful looks. Further, when the top is open, the 13-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo system recalibrates itself to compensate for the loss of the roof and the extra ambient noise. - This certainly isn't your grandfather's convertible, as evidenced by the hydraulic pump that operates the drop-top, which is encased in a special cocoon in an effort to isolate noise and vibrations. Aston says the roof system is its "quietest and most refined" to date. Integrated into the roof's fabric is a layer of Thinsulate material designed to reduce cabin noise and further protect the cabin from the elements.