Just out of the blue Aston Martin came up with a new car, sort of, for the Geneva Motor Show. It’s called the Aston Martin Virage, and it’s basically a DB9 with the Rapide’s face.
Aston says the Virage is the next level of evolution in their VH architecture and offers a more elegant and dynamic and prestigious Grand Tourer than the DB9. But they already have such a car and it’s called the DBS! We have a sneaking suspicion this Aston Martin is made just to fill a gap in the market and not to be a new and amazing AM. That’s not very British to be honest.
Available as both coupe and convertible (Volante) variants, the Virage slots between the DBS and the Rapide. It tries to mix DBS’ sportiness with Rapide’s comfort and luxury. The car’s new aluminium metal front grille is inspired by the One-77 while the bumper has a resemblance to the V12 Vantage. It’s fair to say the Virage is a mishmash of Aston’s various models.
The Virage even has the same front mid-mounted V12 as the rest of the range, but no complaints here because it is a superb powertrain and provides plenty of grunt when you need it and it’s also soft and cuddly when you are not in the mood for fast driving.
In this car, the hand-built 6.0 litre V12 engine produces 490 bhp (365 kW/497 PS) and 570 nM (420 lb. Ft) of torque and through its carbon fibre prop shaft, is mated to a six-speed Touchtronic II automatic transmission mounted on the transaxle contributing to perfect 50:50 weight balance.
The Virage’s dynamics have been tuned to deliver an engaging yet more refined driving experience, where the driver can extract the maximum performance from the car with greater ease. A newly developed Adaptive Damping System (ADS) intelligently ‘reads’ the road to provide optimum road holding, adapting to different conditions. The system now selects up to five different stiffness settings within normal mode, and a further five stiffer settings within sport mode.
As usual you get a sport button that enhances throttle response, gear change ferocity and the overall sportiness.
Aston Martin Virage also comes with Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes as standard. Powerful, resistant to fade and much lighter than conventional cast-iron discs, the CCM braking system means that not only is the overall vehicle weight reduced, but the weight saving at each wheel means that a better balance between ride comfort and handling can be struck. Lower rotational mass also provides improved acceleration.
Each Virage will have 70 man hours of expert craftsmanship lavished on the interior alone to create the famous sophisticated Aston Martin interior. In all, over 200 man hours will be spent handcrafting the Virage at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England as it becomes the tenth major production car to be built there in the space of less than eight years.
Don’t expect to see new things inside the cabin, since it’s pretty much the same as the DBS. But it gets a new fully integrated Satellite Navigation system that has been developed in conjunction with Garmin featuring a 6.5 inch high resolution display uses the latest graphics and maps to visually and aurally guide the driver to their destination.
Standard equipment includes heated seats (Sports seats only), cruise control, satellite navigation, Bluetooth telephone preparation and the powerful 700W Aston Martin Premium Audio System with Dolby® Pro Logic II® and full iPod® integration.
The Virage and Virage Volante are on sale now, even though the pricing is yet to be confirmed!
