Piers Ward is the deputy editor of CAR magazine and orchestrates the magic that happens on its pages each month. From writing features and first drives to instigating daft ideas and organising outlandish photo shoots, Piers is involved in every stage of the magazine cycle.
The Aston Martin DBX S is, at 717bhp, the most powerful ICE SUV you can buy, with a fraction more oomph than theThe headlines for the DBX S are thus: 717bhp , new design elements, Apple CarPlay Ultra , a 47kg diet and the same price as the ‘lesser’ 707.
: Still the best-looking performance SUV; same money as less powerful 707; balance of ride and handling as good as ever, only this time with a larger compressor wheel and more free-breathing exhaust to reduce the back pressure. The torque curve is also flatter above 4000rpm so gives a bit more drama in the upper echelons but the total torque output remains the same as the 707 . So despite the extra power, the 0-62mph time is still 3.3 seconds. Get on the autobahn, though, and the additional power makes more of a difference, reducing the 0-124mph time by 0.3 seconds. Elsewhere, there are more aggressive downshifts from the nine-speed automatic in Sport and Sport+ modes , while the steering has been made five per cent faster. Handily, this also shrinks the car’s turning circle by half a metre without having to resort to four-wheel steer. Aston isn’t against that technology in principle but chief engineer Andy Tokley explained that it’s not something he favours in heavier cars like the DBX. Because you have to insert bushing in the toe links at the rear, ‘it introduces too much flex. It leads to a double response and we didn’t want that’. The design hasn’t changed much and that’s no bad thing – why change what remains one of the best-looking SUVs. Detail buffs will need to note the twin-stacked exhaust pipes, now arranged vertically, as one of the bigger clues that this is the S, along with the new black vaned grille. This is also available in lightweight polycarbonate, which is a marketeer’s way of saying plastic. Speaking of which, the other dieting items are the magnesium wheels , the carbon fibre roof and carbon on bits like the sills and diffuser.Top speed is 193mph and 0-62mph takes just 3.3 seconds. The fuel economy figures weren’t available at the time of writing but we can’t imagine you’d get much more than 20mpg on a cruise.At the risk of sounding overly effusive, the lightweight alterations are immediately obvious and brilliant. Because the magnesium wheels shed so much unsprung mass, it took all of 30 yards driving out of a car park to notice the purity to the steering – not since thehave I felt a system that brings the car to you in such an instantaneous and visceral way. There’s zero corruption through the wheel and it flows around corners beautifully, staying flat and true and giving the driver a superb sense of confidence. That’s helped by the grip levels, which are mighty and almost never-ending, only vaguely starting to give up on tight, downhill corners where the outer front is really loaded up. Like the 707, the S uses the same triple chamber air springs that yield multiple spring rates and combine with Bilstein dampers, where Aston’s engineers can separate rebound and compression. There are also active anti-rolls bars front and rear.has ditched triple chamber air in favour of twin because it argues damper tech has moved on to such an extent it can achieve the same with less. But you can’t argue with the results that Aston is achieving.Bentley Bentayga Speed recently and it’s quite clearly trying to match the Aston’s breadth of ability but falls short – in trying to match the way the DBX twists and turns, Bentley has ended up making the Bentayga less comfortable. The Aston has a wider window. Married to this chassis is an engine that will obliterate any horizon, riding on a wave of torque and power that defies the 2.2 tonne kerbweight. Rivals like the Lamborghini Urus might push out more power thanks to the plug-in hybrid it runs, but honestly, no DBX owner is going to be disappointed. The exhaust in Sport+ belches and pops in all the right places – although is weirdly tamer than the optional Akrapovič pipe in the Bentayga Speed – and settles back in GT when you need to pick your gran up. Any criticisms? There was an occasional lurch from the gearbox where it dropped into the next cog with too much of a bump, upsetting what is otherwise a smooth transmission. And I didn’t like the way it seemed to float a bit at the rear over a mid-corner bump, giving the sense that the rear wheels weren’t exactly tracking the fronts. Tokley told me that it’s as a result of trying to reach a compromise with handling versus comfort, never easy in a car of this size and with this breadth of use cases.Lovely but largely the same as the 707. Lots of leather, nice carbon finish to the door cards but still the same glare off all the piano black in the middle of the dash.and it works well by marrying your instrument display much more closely with what’s being shown in the central touchscreen and the settings on your phone. The second is that all Astons now have a single switch on the central dash that is configurable to turn off the speed limit bong and lane assist, with a double press.Be careful on the optional extras. As you’d expect, the car comes with plenty of standard kit like 360-degree camera, three-zone climate control and Apple CarPlay Ultra, but the options list soon adds up. We specced a car up and without going mad it came to nearly £300k – not that this is any different to how Lamborghini or Ferrari operate.It is a mighty impressive machine and makes the 707 feel like the poorer sibling. With no other Aston badged as 707, surely that name needs quietly retiring and the DBX range simplifying to match with Vantage, DB12 et al. Apart from anything else, I can’t see anyone buying the lesser car now – customers at this end of the market want the top one, a desire that will be helped by the fact that it’s the better car. The matching sticker price is the easiest kicker ever for the salesman.Lamborghini Urus SE hybrid review: a frugal Lambo? Come on, who are we kiddingPorsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid Review: 670bhp flagship driven CAR magazine's deputy editor has a penchant for automotive adventure and trading in quirky, often-unreliable old cars. A veteran of CAR magazine, Autocar, Top Gear and Auto Express, Piers has probably driven it, written it and reviewed it before most.
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