The
DB3 would come just a year later, in 1951, and the much bigger, much
faster DB4 in 1958. This car and its many variants set the template for
lots of Astons to come, including the iconic DB5, which arrived in 1963
-- just in time for Sean Connery to drive one across the screen as James
Bond in “Goldfinger.” (Incidentally, that was one of many inaccuracies
between the film and Ian Fleming’s book, in which Bond drove a DB3.)
The DB6 turned up in 1965, and the DB7…well, the DB7didn’t come until 1994. Yes, a nearly 30-year gap that saw Aston Martin’s minority and majority ownership change countless times, often floating dangerously near insolvency. A big investment from Ford came in the early ‘90s, and out of that came the DB7. The DB9 arrived in 2004 (skipping “8” altogether to avoid the suggestion of anything other than a V-12), while the DB10 was a one-off concept to shuttle Daniel Craig around in “Spectre.”
And that, dear reader, takes us to 11.The DB11 is all new, from front to back, but we’ll start at the leading edge since that’s the most interesting part. Beneath that long, expansive clamshell hood is a 5.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-12 that delivers a healthy 600 horsepower. That’s about 90 more than the outgoing model, but even more impressive is the torque: 516 foot-pounds of the stuff, available from just 1,500rpm.
All that power is routed to the rear wheels through an eight-speed transmission, mounted in the back of the car for better weight distribution. It’s still an automatic, which I must admit is a bit of a disappointment for those of us who enjoy the crisper shifts of a dual-clutch unit -- orindeed, a proper manual. The car rolls on bespoke, appropriately numbered Bridgestone SM007 tires. (Custom LM001 snow tires are also on offer for those who want to cruise four seasons.)
That combination of power, drivetrain and grip will get the car through the 0-to-60 sprint in 3.9 seconds, nearly a second faster than the DB9 and more than enough to impress the most jaded of passengers. However, the DB series is more about covering big miles at speed rather than hustling down the quarter-mile. This car must be the quintessential grand tourer.While the DB11 won't formally go into production for another few months, I was invited to Italy, to Bridgestone's private test facility, for some time behind the wheel of a near-final prototype. Called a VP, this Verification Prototype is "85 percent of the way there" according to Aston Martin Vehicle Attribute Chief Engineer Matt Becker. "The hardware is the same [as the production car], we're just tuning the software."
That still leaves a lot to tweak. Throttle behavior, steering weight, suspension response and hundreds of other dynamic aspects can be all adjusted through code. Getting just one of these wrong could mean an unpredictable, ill-handling machine. Becker tells me of a bit of an unwanted trait they've uncovered in the car: a slight but unfortunate lurch when the rear end hooks upagain after a slide.
The traditional approach might be to stiffen the rear anti-roll bar, possibly compromising ride quality elsewhere. However, thanks to the DB11's new suspension, engineers can briefly adjust the compression and rebound damping at the rear of the car when a slide is detected, absorbing that unwanted shift with no other compromises.
Becker has spent much of the past 18 months of his life testing such iterations to get the DB11 into its current state. Now it’s my turn to get behind the wheel on the track, a tight, twisty circuit designed to push the car's handling to its limit.The most immediately noticeable aspect of the car is how quickly it reacts. The new electric steering is light and yes, perhaps a bit vague in the feedback department, but it is very sharp. The fat, sculpted wheel is an extension of your forearms, the front tires just beyond your fingertips as the car follows a clean, precise line through the turns. There's none of the imprecision one felt when pushing the outgoing car to the limit, though there is a bit of understeer, something Becker plans to address by tweaking the car's new torque-vectoring differential, which will vary brake pressure left-to-right, adding an extra bit of agility.
And what about the engine? First of all, it sounds very good indeed. It isn't quite as operatic as the DB9’s 6.0-liter V-12, but if anything it's more fierce, and the ever-so-slight whistle of the turbos just adds more purpose. There's no digital trickery going on here, nor any extra pipes to duct noise into the cabin. In fact, Aston will offer a "Quiet Start" mode, muting the exhaust for more stealthy getaways. This is something of a necessity considering the DB11 is the first Aston Martin with automatic stop/start, cutting down on fuel wasted while idling. It'd be no good blowing out the windows of the cars around you every time you pull away from a light.
Power is indeed strong and there's no proper turbo lag as such, but the power delivery is a bit uneven at times, with an occasional dip in oomph felt in the middle of the rev range. Hopefully this gets ironed out as the car goes through its final testing.
The overall impression is doubtlessly a thrilling one, especially for such a big car designed to cover big miles in all seasons. The turn-in is eager and the grip fierce, though the rear is more than willing to step out with little prompting. Even with the traction control on and set to track mode, giggle-inducing slides are all too easy.
The DB6 turned up in 1965, and the DB7…well, the DB7didn’t come until 1994. Yes, a nearly 30-year gap that saw Aston Martin’s minority and majority ownership change countless times, often floating dangerously near insolvency. A big investment from Ford came in the early ‘90s, and out of that came the DB7. The DB9 arrived in 2004 (skipping “8” altogether to avoid the suggestion of anything other than a V-12), while the DB10 was a one-off concept to shuttle Daniel Craig around in “Spectre.”
And that, dear reader, takes us to 11.The DB11 is all new, from front to back, but we’ll start at the leading edge since that’s the most interesting part. Beneath that long, expansive clamshell hood is a 5.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-12 that delivers a healthy 600 horsepower. That’s about 90 more than the outgoing model, but even more impressive is the torque: 516 foot-pounds of the stuff, available from just 1,500rpm.
All that power is routed to the rear wheels through an eight-speed transmission, mounted in the back of the car for better weight distribution. It’s still an automatic, which I must admit is a bit of a disappointment for those of us who enjoy the crisper shifts of a dual-clutch unit -- orindeed, a proper manual. The car rolls on bespoke, appropriately numbered Bridgestone SM007 tires. (Custom LM001 snow tires are also on offer for those who want to cruise four seasons.)
That combination of power, drivetrain and grip will get the car through the 0-to-60 sprint in 3.9 seconds, nearly a second faster than the DB9 and more than enough to impress the most jaded of passengers. However, the DB series is more about covering big miles at speed rather than hustling down the quarter-mile. This car must be the quintessential grand tourer.While the DB11 won't formally go into production for another few months, I was invited to Italy, to Bridgestone's private test facility, for some time behind the wheel of a near-final prototype. Called a VP, this Verification Prototype is "85 percent of the way there" according to Aston Martin Vehicle Attribute Chief Engineer Matt Becker. "The hardware is the same [as the production car], we're just tuning the software."
That still leaves a lot to tweak. Throttle behavior, steering weight, suspension response and hundreds of other dynamic aspects can be all adjusted through code. Getting just one of these wrong could mean an unpredictable, ill-handling machine. Becker tells me of a bit of an unwanted trait they've uncovered in the car: a slight but unfortunate lurch when the rear end hooks upagain after a slide.
The traditional approach might be to stiffen the rear anti-roll bar, possibly compromising ride quality elsewhere. However, thanks to the DB11's new suspension, engineers can briefly adjust the compression and rebound damping at the rear of the car when a slide is detected, absorbing that unwanted shift with no other compromises.
Becker has spent much of the past 18 months of his life testing such iterations to get the DB11 into its current state. Now it’s my turn to get behind the wheel on the track, a tight, twisty circuit designed to push the car's handling to its limit.The most immediately noticeable aspect of the car is how quickly it reacts. The new electric steering is light and yes, perhaps a bit vague in the feedback department, but it is very sharp. The fat, sculpted wheel is an extension of your forearms, the front tires just beyond your fingertips as the car follows a clean, precise line through the turns. There's none of the imprecision one felt when pushing the outgoing car to the limit, though there is a bit of understeer, something Becker plans to address by tweaking the car's new torque-vectoring differential, which will vary brake pressure left-to-right, adding an extra bit of agility.
And what about the engine? First of all, it sounds very good indeed. It isn't quite as operatic as the DB9’s 6.0-liter V-12, but if anything it's more fierce, and the ever-so-slight whistle of the turbos just adds more purpose. There's no digital trickery going on here, nor any extra pipes to duct noise into the cabin. In fact, Aston will offer a "Quiet Start" mode, muting the exhaust for more stealthy getaways. This is something of a necessity considering the DB11 is the first Aston Martin with automatic stop/start, cutting down on fuel wasted while idling. It'd be no good blowing out the windows of the cars around you every time you pull away from a light.
Power is indeed strong and there's no proper turbo lag as such, but the power delivery is a bit uneven at times, with an occasional dip in oomph felt in the middle of the rev range. Hopefully this gets ironed out as the car goes through its final testing.
The overall impression is doubtlessly a thrilling one, especially for such a big car designed to cover big miles in all seasons. The turn-in is eager and the grip fierce, though the rear is more than willing to step out with little prompting. Even with the traction control on and set to track mode, giggle-inducing slides are all too easy.
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