This new Vantage Roadster nets the same 656 hp twin-turbocharged AMG V8 as its coupe counterpart.
When Aston Martin unveiled the facelifted Vantage early last year, it had teased that a drop-top counterpart will arrive in due course. And it seems that time has finally come, as the British supercar marque has kicked off 2025 with the launch of the updated Roadster variant of its sports car.
Now the big news with this newly-updated Vantage Roadster is of course to be its roof, which is a fabric top with Z-folding action that can apparently be opened or closed at speeds of up to 50 km/h and takes just 6.8 seconds to do so. Aston Martin is currently claiming that this drop-top of theirs has “the fastest fully automatic deployable roof mechanism on the market,” but perhaps more importantly here for this sports car is that its cabriolet conversion added only 60 kg of extra heft over its coupe counterpart.
More impressively too here is that this marginal increase in mass includes for Aston Martin to have added weight-optimised sheer panels to stiffen this sports car’s structure laterally, with the automaker also having recalibrated its new Bilstein BTX dampers and gearbox mountings to accommodate the mass and weight distribution change. The Roadster currently touts a 49:51 front-to-rear weight distribution, with a double wishbone suspension setup featured up front and multi-link setup round its rear.
Just continuing a bit more on the handling front too with this drop-top sports car, all Vantage Roadsters will incidentally leave the factory equipped with custom model-specific Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 AML tires. Hiding just behind them also are a set of a 15.8-inch front and 14.2-inch rear steel brake system chomped on by six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers respectively, with Aston Martin offering those who desire to really stop on a dime the chance to tick the ceramic big brake kit option as well.
As for what lies under the hood of this drop-top meanwhile, the Vantage Roadster shares the same AMG-derived 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 and 8-speed automatic transmission powertrain pairing as its facelifted coupe counterpart. The somewhat Germanic lump up front is apparently good to churn out 656 hp and 800 Nm of torque in this particular application, which is in turn supposedly sufficient of scooting this soft-top to 60 mph (96 km/h) from a standstill in just 3.5 seconds, before it eventually tops out at 202 mph (325 km/h).
Moving on inside, the Roadster’s cabin nets the same new dashboard layout and 10.25-inch central touchscreen that first made an appearance in the updated Coupe last year. All drop-tops further come as standard with an 11-speaker audio system, with there being the option to spec a Bowers & Wilkins system too.
Deliveries of the new Vantage Roadster will begin come the second quarter of this year, with three new colour choices added to its existing palette: Iridescent Sapphire, Satin Iridescent Sapphire, and Bronze Flare. Exact pricing for this drop-top Aston Martin has yet to be announced, but it is understood that it will likely command a £10,000 (RM 55,000) premium over its coupe counterpart.
