The Aston Martin DB11 Volante is the drop-top expression of a company rediscovering itself. When Aston Martin peeled the roof off the DB11 in 2018, it did more than add sunshine to the equation. It reintroduced the marque to a new generation of grand tourer buyers who wanted the drama of a luxury convertible supercar with the everyday civility of a genuine cross-country cruiser. This DB11 Volante review digs into the specs, the V8 and V12 configurations, the driving character, and what to know if you're shopping the used market for one.
It arrived at a pivotal moment. The DB11 was the first clean-sheet Aston of the post-2016 revival, and the Volante proved the platform could take a soft top without losing its composure. That matters, because a British grand tourer lives or dies by how it feels with the wind in your hair.
Design and Aesthetics
Aston designers have always understood that a convertible is not just a coupe with the roof removed. The DB11 Volante keeps the low, wide stance and that signature front grille, but the proportions shift in subtle, deliberate ways. The rear haunches feel more prominent with the roof down, and the fabric top folds into a tidy stack that preserves the car's long, tapering tail.
The eight-layer fabric roof was a conscious choice over a folding hardtop. It saves weight, it packages better, and it keeps the silhouette closer to the coupe's when raised. Aston claims one of the quietest soft-top cabins in the segment, and in practice the Volante genuinely hushes down at cruising speed.
Coupe vs Volante Silhouette
Compared to the fixed-roof DB11, the Volante loses the elegant fastback roofline and its clever AeroBlade virtual rear spoiler venting. What you gain is a more theatrical profile and an interior that feels connected to the world around it. Purists will argue the coupe is the cleaner shape. Anyone who has driven the Volante down a coast road at dusk tends to stop arguing.
Engine and Performance Specs
Here is the question everyone asks first: V8 or V12? The DB11 Volante was offered in two flavors, and they give the car two genuinely different personalities.
- 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 (sourced from Mercedes-AMG): around 503 to 528 horsepower depending on model year, with 513 lb-ft of torque. This became the mainstay of the Volante lineup.
- 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12: the flagship early configuration, offering roughly 600 horsepower in DB11 AMR form. Note that most of the V12 output was reserved for the coupe as the range matured, making V12 Volantes the rarer find.
- 0-60 mph: the V8 Volante runs it in about 3.9 seconds; the more powerful V12 shaves that down further.
- Top speed: the V8 tops out near 187 mph, comfortably in supercar territory for an open GT.
The AMG-sourced V8 is not a compromise. Aston fitted its own intake, exhaust, and control software, so it sounds and behaves like an Aston, not a rebadged Mercedes. It's lighter over the nose than the V12, which sharpens turn-in and makes the V8 the better handler for most roads.
Chopping the roof does cost you. The Volante carries roughly 110 kg more than the coupe thanks to structural reinforcement, and the chassis is fractionally softer at the limit. In the real world you rarely notice. Aston reworked the rear suspension geometry and spring rates specifically for the Volante, and the result is a car that feels tied down rather than floppy.
If you want the crispest steering and the lowest running costs, the V8 Volante is the smart enthusiast pick. Save the V12 hunt for the day you find a well-kept, low-mile example at the right price.
Model History and Positioning
The DB11 debuted in 2016 as the cornerstone of Aston's Second Century plan, the seven-year turnaround that eventually gave us the Vantage, the DBS Superleggera, and the DBX. The Volante followed in 2018 and quickly became one of the more visible cars in the lineup, precisely because it landed in the sweet spot between usable daily grand tourer and event-worthy showpiece.
Understanding where the DB11 sits helps you shop it. Below it lived the sharper, more compact Vantage. Above it sat the harder-edged DBS. The DB11 Volante was always the modern Aston Martin built for distance, comfort, and open-top drama rather than lap times.
Then came the DB12 in 2023, which Aston pointedly called a super tourer and which effectively replaced the DB11 with more power and a heavily revised interior. That generational shift is exactly what makes the DB11 Volante interesting now. It's the outgoing car whose depreciation has already done its steepest work while the newer model absorbs the early-adopter premium.
The DB11 was the car that proved Aston Martin could build a genuinely modern grand tourer without losing its soul.
The enthusiast consensus
The Driving Experience
Top down, the DB11 Volante is a grand tourer in the truest sense. It wants to eat miles. The eight-speed ZF automatic shuffles ratios smoothly in GT mode, the ride soaks up broken tarmac, and the cabin stays remarkably calm at highway speed with the wind deflector in place.
Switch to Sport or Sport Plus and the character firms up. Throttle response sharpens, the exhaust wakes up, and the adaptive dampers tighten. There is an honest trade-off here: the Volante is not as knife-edge as a mid-engine rival, and it doesn't pretend to be. It rewards flow, momentum, and confident inputs rather than aggression.
This is a car that begs for the right road. A sweeping coastal route or a mountain pass suits it far better than a tight technical circuit. If you're planning that kind of drive, GarageApp's AI-generated driving routes help you find scenic roads that match the Volante's touring character, and the CarPlay and Android Auto integration keeps navigation and your convoy in sync without fumbling for your phone.
Raise the wind deflector before a long top-down stretch. It cuts cabin buffeting dramatically and lets you hold a conversation at speed, which is the whole point of a GT convertible.
Ownership and Collector Value
Modern Astons depreciate hard in their first few years, and the DB11 Volante is no exception. That's a warning for new buyers and an opportunity for second owners. Cars that stickered well into six figures now trade for a fraction of that, which puts a genuine V8 or V12 Aston Martin convertible within reach of buyers who once considered them fantasy.
What to Check When Buying Used
- Service history: verify a full Aston main-dealer or specialist record. Deferred maintenance on these cars gets expensive fast.
- The soft top mechanism: cycle the roof multiple times and listen for hesitation or misalignment.
- Tires and brakes: carbon ceramic brakes, if fitted, are costly to replace. Confirm pad and rotor life.
- Electronics and infotainment: the early Mercedes-derived system can feel dated; make sure everything functions.
- Cosmetic condition: leather, wood or carbon trim, and paint on a low-production GT dramatically affect value.
Running costs sit where you'd expect for a British grand tourer. Annual servicing, tires, and the occasional larger interval job add up, so budget accordingly. The single hardest part of ownership for many people is finding a shop that actually knows Astons. This is where the community matters more than the dealership.
GarageApp helps solve exactly that. You can use direct messaging with owners to ask local Aston drivers who they trust with their car, and the find nearby Aston owners tools surface people close to you who've already found the good independents. That kind of firsthand intel beats any online review.
Community and Enthusiast Connection
An Aston is rarer than a mainstream marque, which cuts both ways. It's special, but it also means you rarely bump into another owner by accident. Building a network takes effort, and it's the difference between a car that sits in a garage and one that becomes part of a life.
GarageApp's search by make, model, and trim lets you filter down to DB11 Volante owners specifically, which is far more useful than scrolling a generic feed. If you're still deciding between V8 and V12, or weighing a used-market example, the Virtual Garage showcase lets you browse real owner builds and specs before you commit a single dollar.
Getting out to events is half the fun. The local Cars and Coffee and event discovery tools surface concours and marque-specific meets near you, and event attendee visibility shows you who's actually going before you make the drive. Astons draw a crowd wherever they gather, and we recently spotted one at the Sandhills motoring expo, the kind of regional event where these cars find their people.
For the long haul, joining an Aston Martin owner group builds a connection that outlasts the dealership relationship. Add a location-aware social feed and community following and your ownership experience stops being solitary. If you want to bring friends into the fold, GarageApp's referral program makes it easy to grow the circle.
The DB11 Volante rewards the owner who uses it. Drive it, show it, and share it, and the luxury convertible supercar becomes exactly what Aston intended: a grand touring icon that gets better the more you live with it.