Aston Martin Virage (2011)

Aston Martin Virage (2011) at a glance

The Virage sat between the DB9 and the DBS in Aston Martin's range, alongside the Vanquish family of V12 cars. All models are listed in the Aston Martin catalogue.

History: the return of the Virage name

The name has a history. The original Aston Martin Virage was introduced at the Birmingham motor show in 1988 and built from 1989; it was replaced by the Vanquish in 2000. Wikipedia lists 411 Virage coupés (1989–1996), 101 V8 coupés (1996–2000), 224 or 233 Virage Volantes and 63 V8 Volantes - 1,050 cars by the end of the 2000 model year.

The new Virage of 2011 had a different role. The DB9 had been in production since 2004, and the DBS sat above it as the more powerful, more aggressive model. The Virage was designed to sit between the two. It made its debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2011, and series production at Gaydon started the same month.

The car did not stay long. Production ended in September 2012 after more than 1,000 cars. According to Wikipedia, it was dropped because it was too similar to the brand's other models.

Engine and performance

The Virage uses the 5.9-litre V12 of the DB9, here rated at 365 kW (490 hp) at 6,500 rpm and 569 Nm at 5,750 rpm. Power goes through a six-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters, the Touchtronic II, developed by ZF and mounted at the rear in a transaxle layout.

Wikipedia gives 4.6 seconds from 0 to 60 mph and a top speed of 299 km/h for the coupé.

Virage, DB9 and DBS compared

The three V12 models of the time shared the same 5.9-litre engine family but were tuned differently.

The DB9, designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker and launched at the Frankfurt motor show in 2003, was the base of the family on Aston Martin's VH platform. The DBS, which first appeared in the James Bond film Casino Royale, was the more extreme model and was replaced by the second-generation Vanquish in 2012. When the DB9 was facelifted in October 2012, its new headlights echoed those of the Virage, and its output rose to 380 kW (517 PS).

Chassis and brakes

The Virage has carbon-ceramic brakes, with six-piston front calipers developed by Brembo. It runs on 20-inch wheels with 245/35 tyres at the front and 295/30 at the rear. The coupé weighs between 1,740 and 1,785 kg, depending on equipment.

Design and build

The Virage shares its basic shape and V12 with the DB9. Each car took about 200 hours to build at Gaydon, 70 of them for the interior alone.

Coupé and Volante

The Virage was offered from the start as a 2+2 coupé and as the Volante convertible. The Volante weighs 105 kg more than the coupé, at 1,890 kg, and its boot holds 172 litres - 6.5% less than the coupé.

Legacy

The Virage of 2011 was a short-lived model: Aston Martin withdrew it after about eighteen months because it overlapped too much with its other cars. Some of its design lived on in the facelifted DB9 of 2012, and the line of front-engined V12 grand tourers continued with the DB11 from 2016. For the full story of the brand, see our history of Aston Martin.

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