Aston Martin Vantage Roadster: Australian price, date, features
Luxury driving doesn't come any more prestige than England's Aston Martin, and we've just found out the details for the Australian launch of the Vantage Roadster.
You don't need James Bond to tell you that Aston Martin sits near the top of the pile when it comes to luxury vehicles. Founded and manufactured in the UK, the company began in the shadows of World War I and has since forged a reputation for style, power and comfort. The ultimate package for the rich and famous, but also available to the average Australian.
Well, as long as you have a thick wallet or a good finance solution.
When will the Aston Martin Vantage Roadster release in Australia?
Aston Martin has revealed that the Vantage Roadster will begin to roll out into Australia in Q3 2020. Orders are open now and as we've seen in the past with the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, the deliveries can drag out for months. As such, make sure your name is at the top of the list.
How much does the Aston Martin Vantage Roadster cost in Australia?
Believe it or not, the AU$315,000 (plus on-road costs) price tag for the Aston Martin Vantage Roadster makes it one of the more affordable cars in the manufacturer's range. The Superleggera starts at $559,000, for example. Note, you'll also cop the luxury car tax for this vehicle.
The Aston Martin Vantage Roadster vs Vantage Coupe
The Vantage Roadster is an evolution of the two-seater, 2018 Aston Martin Coupe Vantage. That car made headlines for pushing Aston Martin into the sports car class, utilising a Mercedes-AMG engine – albeit running on Aston software - to get the best in German engineering while retaining the style and sophistication of English culture.
It was noted for being an absolute thrill to drive. Light, responsive, powerful and with a delicious growl as the brilliant transmission sequenced up the gears.
The Vantage Roadster is effectively the exact same car, but with one major difference. The roof is now fabric, so it can be retracted. Yes, that's right, the coupe has gone convertible. Aston Martin claim it's the fastest opening and closing roof in the market, with a sub-seven-second operation that can be activated at up to 50km/h.
Outside of that, the changes are minimal. Due to a bit of extra meat in the chassis required to handle the lack of a roof, it's 60kg heavier, too – a 4% weight gain. The rear damper is new, and it uses an ESP map. Outside you'll also notice it uses the 'vane' grill.
Unfortunately, the Roadster Vantage doesn't take the opportunity to update its infotainment system to 2020 standards. Such a move would also have allowed for Aston Martin to trim the fat from the dash (so many buttons!) and place some on the screen behind swipe menus as we saw in the Volvo S60.
Although complaining about the interior of this stunning car does feel half-hearted.
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster key features
For those of you who weren't up to speed with the 2018 Vantage Coupe, here's a breakdown of what you can expect from the Vantage Roadster when it releases in Australia Q3, 2020.
- Two-seater
- 0-litre, 510PS/685Nm twin-turbo V8
- Eight-speed ZF transmission
- Maximum speed 305km/h
- 0-100km/h in 3.7sec
- Retract roof in 6.7 seconds
- Raise roof in 6.8 seconds
- 200L of boot space
- Adaptive damping
- ESP Map
- Dynamic Stability Control
- Dynamic Torque Vectoring
- Electronic Rear Differential
- Sport, Sport+ and Track chassis modes
