New Aston Martin DBX Proves Itself Off-Road, Shows Off Dirt Drifting Skills

Manufactured in South Wales at St Athan, the DBX is underpinned by the Second Century bonded aluminum platform first seen in the DB11, DBS Superleggera, and V8 Vantage. The engine, however, isn’t the twin-turbo V12 with 5.2 liters of capacity and upwards of 700 bhp.

Mercedes-AMG supply Aston Martin with a 4.0-liter V8, a similar powerplant to the one hiding under the hood of the V8 Vantage. Codenamed M177, this engine also happens to be a little more powerful than that of the V8 Vantage at 542 horsepower (or 550 metric ponies).

Shifting is the duty of a nine-speed automatic transmission from ZF instead of the 8HP from other Aston Martin models, a torque-converter box that’s calibrated for three things. First and foremost, it has to be smooth for daily driving. A different setting tells the tranny to shift higher, thus maximizing the sportiness of the M177. And thirdly, it can also go off-road.

The DBX – as demonstrated by Autocar.co.uk and chassis engineer Matt Becker – has the proper skills to handle its own off the beaten track. As mentioned beforehand, the GT and Sport Plus driving modes are joined by Terrain for light off-roading as well as Terrain Plus.

Be it a dirt-and-rock trail, mud, or water, the pre-production prototype in the following video is much obliged to take all the abuse you can throw at it. Bear in mind we’re dealing with a unibody chassis here, not a body-on-frame SUV designed specifically to tackle rough terrain. For that, you’re better off buying a Jeep Wrangler two-door in Rubicon flavor.

Including the $3,089 destination charge, the most affordable – if you can call it as such – DBX will set you back $192,986 in the United States. Curiously enough, the Bentley Bentayga V8 is a lot cheaper while the Lamborghini Urus is just a little more than $200,000 from the get-go.