The Engineer Car Review: Aston Martin DB11 Volante

It’s getting on for two years since The Engineer first drove the Aston Martin DB11, but there are some significant differences between the V12-engined Coupe that we sampled in 2017 and the new Volante. Most noticeably, Aston Martin has taken a can opener to its best-selling model to create the car you see here. And while that glorious 5.2-litre V12 is still available in the DB11 AMR, the open-topped Volante is currently only available with the 4-litre V8 found in the DB11 V8 Coupe.

At 503bhp, the Volante’s power output is down by 97bhp compared with the DB11 V12 that we drove previously (and 127bhp compared to the more hardcore AMR). On paper, then, it’s not the most encouraging start for the Volante and it faces another problem that engineers have been wrestling with ever since monocoque construction became common in the 1960s: how do you provide adequate stiffness to what is essentially a box when the roof is no longer there?