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As previously promised, the 2021 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster is here. Surprising exactly no one, it looks like a riot and we can’t wait to take one for a spin.
It’s powered by the same AMG-sourced engine found in the Coupe: a 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 making 503 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque. That V8 is exclusively attached—for now—to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. The Vantage Roadster will go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds and top out at 190 mph with the roof intact, 0.2 seconds and five mph slower than the fixed-top variant, respectively.
Operable at speeds of up to 31 mph, the Roadster’s soft-top can go down in 6.7 seconds and be raised in 6.8, apparently making it the fastest fully automatic convertible roof on the market.
As always, unlimited headroom comes at a price and in the Vantage Roadster, the convertible life will come with a weight penalty of 132 pounds. To make up for the extra curb weight and lost structural integrity, Aston has added extra shear panels and chassis parts. It’s also retuned the Vantage’s rear dampers and recalibrated the car’s stability control and Adaptive Damping software.
With the introduction of the Roadster, Aston has also taken the opportunity to announce new options to the Vantage range. Both the Coupe and the Roadster can now be ordered with the new “vane” grille seen pictured here as well as multiple new wheel options. The headlining change for keen drivers, however, would likely be the seven-speed dog-leg manual transmission that’s now available on the Coupe and previously only available on the limited-run AMR.
Aston didn’t say whether or when the Vantage Roadster would get the manual but with the eight-speed auto, it’ll start going out to customers starting in the second quarter of 2020 and start at $161,000.
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