Shopping Tools * Vehicle History Report Advertisement 2012 Aston Martin Virage and Virage Volante - Auto Shows

Automotive product planners, like nuclear researchers, adhere to a sacred code: Anything that can be split must be split. Nuclear researchers focus their attention on dividing atoms; product planners, on the gaps between existing models. Aston Martin’s staffers are devout practitioners of this religion, and that’s why the company is introducing the Virage, which will split the difference between the basic DB9 and the hard-core DBS.

The Virage is Quicker than a DB9 . . .

The aim with the Virage, Aston explains, is to replicate the Rapide’s driving experience in a two-door package, whether that’s in coupe or convertible form. In other words, the Virage is meant to offer more power and more refinement than buyers would get from a standard DB9, but without the brutality of the DBS. To that end, the Virage sports a 5.9-liter V-12 like those cars, but the engine’s 490 hp—prepare for a surprise—sites the new car perfectly between the 470-hp DB9 and the 510-hp DBS. Torque output for the V-12 is the same as the DBS’s, at 420 lb-ft. Aston says that the Virage will sprint from 0 to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds; based on our experiences testing the car’s bookends, figure on a real-world 0-to-60-mph time in the low fours.

Beyond the engine bay, the Virage’s spec sheet will be familiar to Aston Martin aficionados. The sole gearbox is the same ZF-designed six-speed automatic transaxle also found in the DB9, DBS, and Rapide. Similarly, the Virage gets a new iteration of Aston’s adaptive damping system that now offers ten stiffness settings—five in Sport mode and five in Normal mode.

For times when the gentleman driver wants to gentlemanhandle the car through back roads, the Virage features a dash-mounted Sport button that sharpens the throttle response, speeds up gearchanges, and prevents the transmission from automatically upshifting at redline. (This button is separate from the adaptive-suspension settings.) For stopping, the Virage gets standard carbon-ceramic brakes, and their strength will be especially useful in halting the car from its claimed 186-mph top speed.

. . . And Looks It, Too

The performance enhancements may persuade drivers that the car merits their extra cash over a DB9, but what about impressing valets and other bystanders? Aston’s design team has them covered. The Virage’s front end has been massaged from its humble DB9 origins, with new, sharper headlights reminiscent of the Ferrari 458 Italia’s, featuring a strip of oh-so-fashionable LEDs. Diodes are also integrated into the fender vent, where they serve as side indicators. The aluminum grille is touted as being inspired by that of Aston’s oil-sheik-special One-77—it doesn’t look much different from a DB9’s to us—and the lower part of the front fascia has been reshaped. It now features a blacked-out, trapezoidal lower air intake and flanged corners that flow into restyled rocker panels. There’s more than a hint of One-77 in the styling here, but casual onlookers are still going to see a lot of DB9.

Inside, the Virage is trimmed as opulently as any trillionaire buyer would demand, slathered with seven leather hides provided by Bridge of Weir, a brand that sounds so haute, we got charged five bucks just to write it. A 2+0 configuration is available by order on coupes, meaning the Virage’s rear compartment can be spec’d as a leather-trimmed parcel shelf. This is in lieu of the fixed-roof car’s standard 2+2 layout, which features a leather-trimmed parcel shelf with two seatbelts.

Aston’s latest grand tourer will cost an estimated $210,000 in coupe form, with the convertible Virage Volante commanding an undisclosed premium. We should note that while the horsepower numbers slide between those of the DB9 and DBS just perfectly, the Virage costs just (just!) $20,000 more than a DB9, but a shocking $55,000 less than a DBS. We can’t imagine Aston’s niche-splitting product planners will let this gaping hole go unfilled for too long—after all, it leaves room for a Virage S.

  source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/11q1/2012_aston_martin_virage_and_virage_volante-auto_shows