So, while it looks uncharacteristically generous for Aston Martin to price the DBX-S from the same £210,000 entry price as the regular -707, it’s unlikely that many owners will be getting much change from £250k having finalised their orders. That still isn’t quite Purosangue money – but it also doesn’t quite make this car, as standard at least, the clearly distinguished, ‘lightweighted’ proposition you might have expected.
The chassis has been revised as well. Everything starts with the steering rack, which gets a 4%-faster ratio. A bit of extra articulation was liberated at the same time, thus reducing the turning circle slightly to 12.0m. It’s no London taxi, but this does lend credence to chief engineer Andy Tokley’s argument that the DBX doesn’t need four-wheel steering. While that would make it more manoeuvrable, the additional compliance in such a system is detrimental to direct and predictable handling, he says.
To support the more immediate steering, the air springs, adaptive dampers, and electronic anti-roll control (eARC) system have been recalibrated, particularly in the sportier modes. The eARC doesn’t just stem roll for the whole car but, by doing so more on one end of the car than the other, can make it more agile or stable as desired.
If you like the way carbonfibre tends to be used on modern exotic sports cars, you’ll certainly like the way the DBX-S looks. Ours had lashings of the lacquered stuff – from roof to mirror caps to bumpers to diffusers – as well as one of Gaydon’s rather lovely chopped carbon bonnet badges. Taking into account the matt-finish black magnesium wheels and the new black radiator grille as well, it makes for a nicely stealthy look that’s just a little bit understated, but still menacing enough to cause passers by to sneak a second look. If you really want this to land, however, we’d go for a darker shade of paint than the shark-skin-like pale grey of our test car – which contrasted quite starkly with the darker body elements.
