First Drive: Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

Today DBS means flagship, Superleggera simply implying – entirely accurately as it turns out – that it is lighter than the DB11 from which it was developed though, at 1,693kg, I’d shrink from actually calling it light.

It is not the most powerful road going Aston Martin to date for that honour belongs to the rare and eclectic One-77 hypercar, but it is among those available to the general public, at least that constituency thereof whose bank accounts bulge to the extent of being willing and able to spend £225,000 on a new car.

So yes its DNA is similar to that of a DB11, but then so is that of a slavering wolf similar to that of a snoozing Labrador. See that gaping, elegantly sculpted mouth? It’s there because that’s the only way the DBS can pass through enough air to keep a 715bhp, twin turbo 5.2-litre V12 engine cool. Interestingly this engine has not been tuned as such to produce this power, for it is identical in every respect bar software to the DB11 engine, it’s just that the latter motor is artificially held back.

But it is the torque you notice, an incredible 663lb ft of the stuff, so those thinking they can just chip their DB11s up to DBS power beware: that’s more than enough to melt the internals of a DB11 gearbox, which is why the DBS has a completely different ZF eight-speed auto, strong enough to handle the job.

It also has largely carbon fibre bodywork, carbon brakes and bespoke suspension settings seeking to split the difference between the super sporting Vantage and the touring-oriented DB11. Options abound, particularly for interior trim, and that’s before you summon up the services of Aston’s ‘Q’ personal commissioning department who’ll accommodate any reasonable tailoring request and plenty of thoroughly unreasonable ones too.

But when you drive it you tend not to spend too much time focussing on your surroundings because you’re too damn busy hanging on. Power figures are wholly misleading because the number always quoted is usually only provided for a nanosecond in each gear, and then only when the car is wrung out to the red line. But torque is available everywhere and from little more than idling speed in the DBS. So when you accelerate, that is what you actually feel. And if I tell you that the DBS will spin its rear wheels on a straight dry road all the way through its first three gears despite a very well located rear axle with an enormous gearbox sitting on it, you may get some idea of what this car can do. It is the first Aston I’ve driven with more immediate performance than can be used more than momentarily on even the best public roads. It is relentlessly, inexorably rapid and, coupled with an iconic V12 soundtrack that’s very little muffled by its turbos, it is quite wonderful too.

Aston Martin engineers freely admit the DBS exists on the limit of what can sensibly achieved using the traditional front-engined rear-drive configuration: any more torque will require some kind of drive – electric in all likelihood – to the front axle. Yet the DBS works remarkably well for even the safety systems are subtle to the point of near total unobtrusiveness. But mete out the torque with your right foot instead, and the DBS just squats down and gets on with it. All such cars have more grip than can be used on the road but the way the DBS disguises both its mass and the length of its wheelbase without the use of rear-wheel steering is remarkable. Despite electric power steering, there is nothing artificial about the way the car feels. It’s poised, communicative and, while inevitably less easy to hurl than a Vantage, this is a fine handling car resistant to understeer and happy to be hoofed around on the throttle when required.

Really it’s only let down by an interior that relies so obviously on Mercedes-Benz electronic architecture. We have to be careful what we wish for here because for 14 years from 2003 Astons had an exquisite but utterly infuriating information interface that hardly worked at all. The Mercedes system by contrast is spectacularly user-friendly and easy to read. But it just doesn’t look right in a £225,000 car.

But that’s really the only quibble here. What’s more, if you want a Super GT that’s more sporting in character than a Bentley Continental GT but less rabid than a Ferrari 812 Superfast, it really is the only act in town. The quite remarkable renaissance of Aston Martin shows no sign of abating.

The Numbers

Engine: 5204cc V12 twin turbo petrol

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive

Power/Torque: 715bhp @ 6,500rpm and 663lb ft @ 1,800rpm

0-62mph: 3.4sec

Top speed: 211mph

Price £225,000