There are two dying legendary motor traditions. First, if you like V-12 engines—and who doesn’t—you will see a significant decline in their production in the future. These days, few like to even admit they have a V-12 under the hood; these machines guzzle gas and aren’t particularly green. For example, Bentley Motors recently announced it would stop making V-12s in April 2024. Other producers—not a big list—will likely follow.
Perhaps more importantly, if you are a James Bond fan and hunger for Aston Martin’s DBS models—descendants of the original and marvelous DB5—they, too, will no longer be available in due time. Indeed, Aston Martin is doing what no international master villain has ever done in film: permanently do away with the DBS line. That’s not to say Aston Martin is out of the Bond game. Bet on the Gaydon, U.K.-based manufacturer to come up with a new model worthy of the master spy. A flying Aston Martin?
However, you can still get a powerful but quiet V-12 in the new DBS, a star in the 2021 Bond film Není čas umřít. Unfortunately, the 2023 DBS will be the penultimate version of that line. By the end of the year, the last iteration of its model line, the Aston Martin 770 will arrive. It will provide more horsepower, cost more, and there will be fewer produced.
Jízda
Penta recently had an opportunity to test drive the DBS in Southern California, the driving capital of the U.S. and found it to be a “brute in a suit.”
It is blessed with drop-dead looks, a beautiful GT with sleek lines and wide haunches. Smooth, luxurious, and sexy, the DBS received plenty of double-takes and thumbs up from pedestrians. BMW drivers stopped and snapped pictures.
Penta took the DBS on the famous Angeles Crest Highway, which wends its switch-backed away from the warm Los Angeles Basin to finish on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains in the cool high desert.
The road has plenty of dangerous curves as it goes to 11,000 feet of elevation, including ice and snow up high, while it was 75 degrees down in Los Angeles. The real challenge, however, isn’t staying on the road but dodging others, as it is often crowded with speeding two- and four-wheelers, from Ducatis to Lamborghinis. It’s where local gearheads test their mettle.
The DBS gives a soft drive, meaning the suspension makes you feel comfortable even as you take a curve at speed. Yet when you switch the driving mode from GT to Sport Plus, there is an immediate and definitive tightening up in suspension and steering. You can feel the car hunker down. A word to the wise, don’t use Sport Plus on your typical potholed American street. You will feel every pebble, that’s how in touch with the road the DBS is.
Specifikace
The DBS (US$341,500) comes with, as mentioned, a twin-turbo V-12 engine, its cylinders displacing 5.2 liters, and an 8-speed automatic transmission producing 715 horsepower. Like most cars in its class, it comes with a gearbox that can switch to manual, using gear paddles on the steering column. The car Penta drove had a bevy of options, like a pricey sound system and a titanium exhaust system, which brought the price to US$406,000, but none of them were crucial to enjoying the ride.
There are three driving modes: GT, for diaper runs; Sport, for twisty backroads; and Sport Plus, for high performance. Aston Martin lists the DBS as reaching 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds. Compared to the previous DB11, the DBS has an improved chassis that makes it more comfortable and sportier to drive. Top speed is 211 mph, for when you need diapers in a hurry.
Penta found the DBS adroit, offering a silky ability to take curves with consummate ease. It doesn’t veer from the driver’s intention, as if the car asks you at every turn: “What can I do for you.” Very British.
It’s not as fast as a V-12 Ferrari 812 (US$430,000), 789 horsepower, 3.0 seconds in the zero to 60 mph run, but that’s not the point. Aston Martin strives for comfort as well as performance, a difference to competitors in the same price class, who at times sacrifice some of the former for more of the latter. The DBS provides a unique feel, and is a lot easier to climb into than a Ferrari or McClaren. Of the three, the DBS is what you want for a long drive. Moreover, even if it is a tad slower than some rivals, make no mistake, the DBS is still a rocket sled with an unquenched well of relentless torque and power.
What’s Not to Like? Well, unlike Mr. Bond’s DB5, this DBS is missing bulletproof glass, a passenger ejection seat (always a useful option); an oil slick and smoke-making machine in the rear; and a tire-slashing tool, among other wonderful accouterments cooked up by Q. Well, you can’t have everything, even at this price. Other than that, the DBS is a dream. It’s like riding a fast cloud.
