fullbore : issue 13 - The Seen

FEATURE : WIDE BOYFULLBOREbecoming wedged-in, causing an almighty tailback and havingthe whole sorry debacle reported by local radio – “An AstonMartin driven by a man in a mauve check shirt is causing chaosin the Hammersmith area this morning…” – was soon dispelledas the Virage slipped neatly through without making contactwith said kerbs.With the good citizens of Barnes and Roehampton now alsohaving had their morning enhanced by the somewhat raucoustones of my ‘Sports exhaust’, I was now out onto the open roadof the A3, and generously sharing the rich and melodious tunesplayed by it with other road users on both sides ofthe carriageway.As you may by now have deduced, this Virage is powered by anaturally-aspirated V8, or to be more precise, the classic TadekMarek-designed 5,340cc motor first seen in the DBS V8 of1970, but with a pair of 16-valve cylinder heads and Weber fuelinjection as introduced on the first Virage of 1988. Originally,Virage coupés produced 330bhp (Volante 300bhp) with 350lb/ft of torque, but by the time this car was built power had beenupped to 349bhp with 369lb/ft.Aston Martin customers in the ‘90s with a voracious appetitefor power and speed could have their needs met by the 6.3-litreVirage, or one of a number of twin-supercharged V8 Vantagehard-top coupes producing up to 600bhp. I road-tested thefactory’s 200mph Works Prepared V600 Vantage demonstratorin late 1998 and on private land not far from Newport Pagnell,and with unsympathetic use of throttle accompanied by cloudsof blue smoke, that car decorated the tarmac with 92 yard-longstreaks of black rubber from a standing start.But this much milder Volante – its V8 motor coincidentallyalso built by Terry Durston – isn’t that kind of car. It acceleratesenthusiastically, but without neck-snapping force.Its character is more long-legged tourer than mind-bendinghot rod. At a steady 80mph cruise the motor is turning at awonderfully lazy 2,000rpm. Add another 500rpm and thespeedo needle would be nudging three figures, and witha 7-second 0-60 time along with a top speed approaching150mph, the big Volante is obviously no canal boat.It’s a good deal more agile than a canal boat too. Back in the ‘90sI described the V8 Vantage as “a bungalow of a car that you canbung into corners with confidence”, and the same holds trueof this Virage. Driven assertively it alters course with an alacritythat defies its size and mass, and it almost goes without sayingthat those road-roller tyres grip the road tenaciously, whethercornering or braking.But this Aston Martin isn’t for turning heads at the race trackor drag strip; it’s for enjoying on the King’s Road, or in sunnySurrey, or better still, en route to Le Mans in June with roofdown and best girl by your side.09