AutoWeek - 2008 ASTON MARTIN DBS: Drive another day

Merc1 · 12-05-2007, 02:59 AM

As good as 007 ever had it

James Bond's car is almost ready for you, assuming you have $265,000 to spend and can get in line quickly at your local Aston Martin store. But before you go, you might want to know exactly what you're getting with the 2008 Aston Martin DBS.

Ask Aston CEO Ulrich Bez what kind of car the DBS is, and he gets a little testy. It's absolutely not a replacement for the more roughly hewn Vanquish S, Bez insists, even though the DBS assumes the Vanquish's spot atop Aston Martin's model line. So, is the DBS a sports car or a GT?

"I cannot say, as this is totally dependent on your own evaluation of what is a GT or a sports car," Bez answers. "I can say the DBS is the most potent production Aston Martin ever and one of the most comfortable."

Sounds reasonable, though "potent" and "comfortable" come almost as close to subjective evaluation as "GT" and "sports car" do. We guess it's our job to decide what a DBS is.

We knew the DBS was beautiful when it appeared in the latest Bond film, Casino Royale, nine months before its public unveiling in August at Pebble Beach (This Week, AW, Aug. 27). After a test drive in France, we assure you that this 510-hp, V12 coupe is both potent and comfortable in broad terms. In character, the DBS sits somewhere between Aston Martin's DB9 2+2 and the DBR9 track car: as comfortable and luxurious as the DB9 for two, with more bite. The DBS is an excellent alternative to Ferrari's big, swingin' 599 GTB Fiorano.

The comparison is appropriate, because Aston Martin's model scheme essentially replicates Ferrari's, in concept if not exactly in price. The V8 Vantage sports car is to the DB9 GT as the Ferrari F430 is to the 612 Scaglietti. At the top of the Aston line, opposite the 599 GTB, goes the new DBS--the ultimate in road-going Aston Martin performance. The scheme is working, from Aston's perspective. Having built just 50 cars in one year as recently as 1992, the company built 7200 in 2006 and outsold Ferrari.

The source from which the DBS' potency flows is an evolution of the DB9 V12, which in turn was developed from Ford's modular Duratec V6. Aston engineers call the DBS engine Gen IV. It has new head castings, based on the Le Mans-winning DBRS9 race cars, and a new intake manifold, with a bypass intake port that opens at 5500 rpm to increase airflow. The compression ratio has increased from 10.3 to 10.9. Bottom line: The 6.0-liter DBS V12 generates 510 hp at 6500 rpm, compared with 450 hp from the 5.9-liter DB9 V12, with 420 lb-ft of torque at 5750 rpm. Those engineers say the 7500-rpm redline is conservative, with room to increase output in the future without core design changes.

A dual-plate clutch and carbon-fiber driveshaft carry power through an aluminum torque tube to the rear-mounted, limited-slip transaxle. Ratios in the six-speed manual gearbox (the only choice at launch) are identical to those in the DB9's manual, though the final-drive ratio is lower in the DBS (3.71:1). All of the front-mounted V12's cylinders sit behind the front axle, and the powertrain layout keeps 85 percent of the weight between the wheels.

Everything attaches to a variation on Aston's vertical/horizontal frame--an elegant mix of extruded-aluminum box sections, stamped floorpans and precision castings at key points, such as suspension attachments. The frame is hot- and cold-bonded, aerospace-style, without conventional structural welds. The DBS is the first Aston Martin to use carbon-fiber body panels extensively. Its aluminum roof and doors are identical to the DB9's, but the DBS is 1.6 inches wider. Its hood, fenders and decklid are carbon fiber, coated with a thin epoxy for the same smooth finish as conventional metals and cold-bonded to the frame. At 3737 pounds--ready to drive--the DBS weighs 143 pounds less than the DB9 coupe.

It looks a lot like the DB9, only tauter and a bit lower and more than a bit flashier.

The DBS has more working vents and grilles, a polished five-bar main grille and a very cool carbon-fiber rear diffuser. Standard rims measure 20 inches in diameter, compared with 19 on the DB9.

The DBS is suspended with coil-over shocks and identical wishbones to the DB9's, though its bushings and springs are 50 percent firmer on average. It's the first Aston with a variable damping system, developed with Bilstein. Twin-valve shocks adjust through five stiffness gradients; control software looks for the softest settings in touring mode and the firmest in sport. The DBS is also the first with standard carbon-ceramic brakes. They're huge (15.7-inch rotors front, 14.2 rear) and reduce unsprung weight by some 30 pounds. The hardware is supplied by Brembo and is essentially identical to the carbon-ceramic upgrade on the 599 GTB.

Inside, the DBS is definitely not the Vanquish, which was panned for years for the Ford-parts-bin quality of its cockpit. The newest Aston Martin has the bespoke air of more recent siblings--a combination of milled-aluminum knobs and levers, rich leather and Alcantara and carbon-fiber trim. It has a more handcrafted feel than many expensive sports cars, and it's gorgeous.

The DBS has some minor ergonomic issues--compared, say, with the V8 Vantage. Its three-inch sun visors may be uselessly cool, but the shift/elbow pad in one of the cupholders is just weird. The view from the car is excellent in all directions; the view immediately over the instruments, for many drivers, is nonexistent. You may not see the top edge of the hood, much less the front corners.

Linearity was Aston Martin's development objective, and it has been basically achieved, in both input feel and response. Steering falls on the light side, and the DBS was clearly formed in the modern, all-things-to-everyone supercar idiom: entirely civil and amazingly super, with nearly 1.0 g lateral grip in its Pirelli P Zeros and prodigious acceleration, regardless of speed. At full boot, 3500 rpm seems to be the switch speed where the V12 climbs onto the cam and growls. At about 5500 rpm, there's another intense burst of thrust, and the engine blows a forcefully sweet composition that raises goose flesh. Forget the 700-watt audio system. Glorious sounds from within the DBS might be all the justification a well-heeled enthusiast needs.

The brakes will win some converts, too, and not just because they slow the DBS with enough force to stretch ocular ligaments. Pedal feel is better than we've experienced with other carbon-ceramic rotors--almost like conventional cast iron, even when the brakes are cool. The cringe-inducing, fingernails-on-chalkboard sound has been nearly eliminated.

And the DBS is ever so comfy in profiling mode. Third is the lazy gear, with a torque band broad enough to carry you anywhere from about 25 to 100 mph with decent pull, no lugging and no shifts. The ride is never jarring, and the mechanical whir of gears at low speed is the aural embodiment of precision. Yet there's a hint of trepidation as the driver settles in, perhaps more than what one experiences in a 599 GTB. It's more than the time required to learn where the wheels and corners are, exactly. It's a greater awareness that the driver is steward of a very powerful weapon.

Bond's car will reach U.S. showrooms by spring, though Aston Martin says it has a "two-year order bank" for the 150 to 200 cars earmarked annually for North America (500 worldwide). We won't be offered the thin-shell sport seats available in other markets, as they delete the side airbags. Aston expects a paddle-shift transmission for the DBS by the end of 2008, though it will be a conventional torque-converter automatic. The only options at launch are color and trim, included in the $265,000 retail price.

That's $966 more than a 599 GTB, and the DBS isn't likely to keep up with the Ferrari anywhere. It delivers substantially less horsepower (110 hp less, in fact) and a bit less torque, and it weighs 15 pounds more. Aston claims a top speed of 191 mph, compared with 205 for the Ferrari, and in our estimation, the DBS gives up nearly half a second in 0-to-62-mph times (Aston reports 4.3 seconds). Those spending this kind of cash on a car might be legitimately concerned about Aston Martin's value retention, compared with Ferrari's.

Yet the numbers mean little, in our estimation, and at this moment, this reviewer prefers the DBS. Maybe it's the look, or the focus on a conventional manual rather than an auto-manual transmission, or the extra hint of respect that the DBS commands when you first apply the throttle and let out the clutch. Maybe it's the feeling of well-being or achievement or even wealth that the Aston inspires when you settle in at the wheel.

This is as it should be, according to Bez, who observes with a hint of arrogance, "I don't feel like James Bond when I drive the DBS. He feels like me when he drives it."

SPECS

ON SALE: Spring 2008

BASE PRICE: $256,000

DRIVETRAIN: 6.0-liter, 510-hp, 420-lb-ft V12; rwd, six-speed manual

CURB WEIGHT: 3737 lb

0-62 MPH: 4.3 sec (mfr)

FUEL ECONOMY: 17 mpg (mfr est)

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