That sound. It can only be a V12, and that means that this is the Aston Martin DBS
Superleggera, the Super GT that now replaces the Vanquish S
If it sounds familiar that's because the name is a kind of shell game of Aston
Martin heritage. The first DBS a 1960s William Townes masterpiece, the second a
wider faster and angrier offshoot of the old DB9. Superleggera means superlight
in Italian and while this car saved some weight it's really a callback to
Touring Coachworks, the Milan design house whose lightweight construction
method was used at Aston Martin during the 1960's.
In the past you know Aston Martin was going after basically the same customers
with different cars and now they've really separated the three cars into you
know having swell segmented componentry that completely different buyers would
be interested in. Obviously if you want the most aggressive GT car that you can
get from Aston Martin this is the one
DBS a mark we haven't seen since 2012 last barrel rolled by James Bond that
was the db9 based one Superleggera is a nod to current city touring which did
the design of the old last martin db4 five and six using eight what they
called the Superleggera construction method which was to use small steel
tubes for the structure and then put hand-packed and hammered aluminum panels
over which were gorgeous and that's what made those cars such icons this DBS is
based on the new DB 11 same platform and the same v12 cranked up to 750 and
horsepower 664 pounds-feet of torque this thing is brutal absolutely freaking
zero to sixty in three point four seconds and tops out and it's got the
aerodynamic support for stability at speeds of well over 200 a downforce
producing splitter at the front and a new version of Astin's AeroBlade
wingless foil at the back plus a fixed wing and double diffuser that totals 132
pounds of downforce on the nose 265 on the tail at top speed with a
minimal increase in drag it has to have some special stuff and that is where the
Superleggera comes in a little bit it's not super light but it is a hundred and
fifty four pounds lighter than the DB eleven and that is with the carbon fiber
clamshell carbon fiber deck lid and an optional carbon fiber roof steering may
not have Ferraris double espresso quickness but it does match chassis
responds perfectly the front end feels dead planted the rear a bit lazier to
move but there's no doubt that DBS has the most satisfying driving dynamics in
the Aston Martin GT garage stiffness and roll resistance are somewhere between
the softer DB 11 and harder edge Vantage like those cars the DBS has three
driving modes managing throttle response and active dampers but in all modes ride
quality is still one of Aston Martin's most appealing traits with a mountain of
torque to handle the ZF 8-speed automatic is bang up against its limits
calibration must have been a nightmare mostly it works well sometimes it's just
in the ballpark such as torque converter technology even at this
it's a little bit sharper than the DB 11 and still retains the GT spirit that
makes it great for long distance high speed cruising which is what the GT is
for inside it's the typical C of Scottish Highlands leather the driving
position is low the sports seats are supportive the cockpit feels snug and
the Alcantara covered squarish wheel which still looks odd to my Momo
prototipo tuned eyes does feel good in your hands and of course I mean it looks
gorgeous look at that at that exterior I mean really they've sort of worked out a
lot of the things that I think some people thought were awkward in the DB 11
I never thought so but it is I didn't realize that the DB 11 was such a
divisive shape but in this car they've worked out some of the designs of the
headlights I think are better overall the design just pops with this I think
this is the one they really nailed it typical Aston Martin muscle carbon fibre
clamshell functional Aero and rear decklid and optional composite roof even
if you're on the wrong side of the DB 11 and Vantage styling debate you can't
argue with the looks of the DBS well of course you can and I'll see you in a
comment section at 3:15 this afternoon Aston Martin wouldn't survive if it
didn't share significant parts and geometries across its GT lineup and yes
much of what's underneath the DBS can be found under the DB 11 advantage but
that's a clinical distinction for customers of this Super GT which starts
at around three hundred and ten thousand dollars the question is whether it feels
special enough to justify the premium I'm no economist I think it does