It's 2020.
What with COVID-19, Brexit and trade embargoes with China, suddenly the idea of Aston Martin
launching an SUV, well, it doesn't seem so crazy.
But make an SUV they must, because if Aston Martin is to survive and weather this COVID-19
related storm, well, it's got to make a car that, well, people actually want to buy.
And that's an SUV.
After all, you have to ask, why has it taken Aston Martin so long?
After all, Porsche has had a roaring success on its hands with the Cayenne and apparently
73% of existing Aston Martin owners, well, their other car's an SUV.
But I have to say from where I'm sitting, this is quite an experience.
It's quite surreal as I scrape and slide around this really slippery woodland course in an
Aston Martin, especially since in this leather-lined luxury cabin, it feels like a Aston Martin,
as you'd expect.
It's actually quite cosseting and enclosed.
I'm not really comfortable in this.
But, do you know what, it's getting around okay.
It's got plenty of traction and just enough ground clearance to...
Ignore those scraping sounds, please.
But yeah, we're through.
It's not quite a Range Rover, but for most it'll do.
The good news for this DBX is it is not a GLS in drag.
This is not a Mercedes SUV that has just had a bit of body work, this is completely new
from the ground up.
It's all aluminium, and the body work is a mixture of aluminium and composite panels,
so it should be light, right?
2245 kilograms is still a bit of a bloater.
Under the bonnet is Mercedes AMG's twin turbo four litre V8, and we know what an absolutely
superb engine that is.
In this guise it produces 405 kilowatts and 700 newton metres of torque.
Now, that is good enough for a 0 to 100 kilometre an hour sprint of just 4.5 seconds and a top
speed of 291 kilometres per hour.
Now, the gearbox from the E63, that's where this car borrows its power train from, was
considered, but eventually ruled out because Aston Martin wanted this car to tow 2700 kilograms.
But there are benefits for the nine-speed auto box.
Firstly, it's smoother than a dual clutch and secondly, well, it can still do this.
Now, the DBX has a few tricks up its sleeve to ensure that it can compete with the very
best performance SUVs in its class.
We're talking about cars like the Range Rover Sport SVR, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and the
Lamborghini Urus.
One of those tricks is it has Aston Martin's new active anti-roll bar technology that stabilises
body roll as you enter a corner.
Now, we're in sport mode now, and there is a notable difference, but it hasn't cancelled
out all roll.
Apparently, if it did that, it makes people quite car-sick.
Perhaps one of the most reassuring things about the DBX is when you're not offroading,
when you're not going flat out on Silverstone's Stowe circuit, it's actually quite comfortable
and quiet and a nice place to soak up the miles.
And that's kind of important, because this is a luxury SUV, so they haven't gone to town,
they haven't made it really hardcore and extreme, but that's probably because a faster, more
hardcore extreme model is on its way later on.
Expect that car to be launched in around 2021.
So we have left the Silverstone circuit now, and we are in the natural habitat of the DBX.
Yep, country roads.
It's here cars like Aston Martin's SUV has to perform.
Because let's be honest, few performance SUV owners will ever take their car on track and
even fewer will ever go off road.
So we're driving the DBX along in the GT mode, which is the default driving mode out of its
five or six driving modes, and it's comfortable.
I mean, it's got a triple chamber air suspension springs plus Bilstein adaptable dampers, and
I think Aston Martin haven't gone for outright comfort because they don't want to compromise
its athleticism.
You know what, along here, this is a typical country bumpy road, a bit like the ones you
get in Australia, this thing rides really, really nicely, and it's quiet.
Turn the silly exhaust off and we're just cruising along with a sort of the deep meaningful
sound of that four litre V8 twin turbo.
In fact, I think this car's probably a bit more comfortable than the Rapide I was last
in, even though it's riding on huge 22-inch alloy wheels.
It seems weird talking about practicality and Aston Martin, but this is a really practical
car.
It's got a 632 litre boot, it's got 40/20/20 split folding rear seats and it's got enough
head and legroom for three adults in the back.
They say three adults over 6'4" will sit in this car comfortably.
Another strange thing about the Aston Martin DBX is behind the wheel, it feels like an
Aston Martin, which sounds ridiculous.
But a lot of SUVs, they try and actually elevate the driver to such an extent, it feels like
you're in a different car, it feels like you're in an SUV, not a car.
The Aston Martin is different.
It feels quite cosseting in here, it's quite...
I don't know, the drive is...
Basically, it feels like a DBS Superleggera on stilts.
There is a glaring omission, though, but it doesn't really affect the Australian market,
yet, and that is that the DBX does not come with any level of electrification yet.
Where others are embracing things like mild hybrid and even full plug-in hybrid tech,
yeah, we don't know when that's going to arrive for the DBX, if ever, so that could limit
its appeal in markets like Europe.
But for us, yep, this is fine, you just use a little bit more fuel.
So there we have it, after a day behind the wheel of Aston Martin's DBX, it's hard not
to come away mightily impressed with what they've done.
For those in the market for a performance SUV, this must be right at the top of your
list.
When it arrives in Australia in Q4, Aston Martin will price this DBX from $357,000.
Now, that's a lot in the marketplace, but for that, you get something that looks great,
drives beautifully and well, just feels like a hand-made car, in a good way.