Photo: Aston Martin
Most car enthusiasts who value handling and precision above all don’t like top heavy SUVs, even when they have monster engines. Yet the new Aston Martin DBX might upset that balance.
Firstly, to my eyes it looks better and more purposeful than any of its rivals, even better than the Lamborghini Urus, which would have been my super SUV of choice before the DBX came along. There is something inexplicably dignified about the Aston Martin SUV - it looks like less of a toy, less of a gimmick than the Lambo.
It’s not as if it’s not excessively outlandish looking - it is - but it looks like it was made to be worked hard, not just parked in front of a fancy restaurant with not even a spec of dust on it. Unlike the Lambo, this Aston just looks more like a vehicle you’d hoon around an abandoned surface mine in, not caring whether or not you get it dirty.
This isn’t because it looks more utilitarian than the Lambo - it doesn’t - but it just begs more to be ragged off-road, whereas its other super SUV rivals are still mainly intended to be used on tarmac. Sure, the Lambo has all those modes for various surfaces, but it still prefers asphalt.
To better explain what I mean by this, if I think about modifying the Urus, what I really want to do is give it lower suspension, and sticky track-focused tires, whereas in the case of the DBX, I’d give it proper off-road tires, a winch and at least a couple of spare tires on the roof.
Aston Martin says it really has engineered the DBX to not only work on tarmac. It comes with height-adjustable, three-chamber air suspension as well as adaptive dampers, so it should be able to cope with off-road driving quite well. In the suspension’s highest setting, it raises by 45 millimeters and thanks to the car’s small overhangs, it can actually take you quite far off-road.
Whenever I think of super SUVs like the Urus or the Bentley Bentayga, it’s their exclusive road bias that puts me off the idea of owning one. Sure, they both have gadgets and fair ride height (which can obviously be raised in their case too), but they are a bit ungainly when you actually take them off-road.
The DBX, on the other hand, has a decent wading depth of 50 centimeters and if you check out videos of it going off-road, you’ll see it’s actually pretty good at it (and it strangely doesn’t look ridiculous while it does it). And this makes it much more desirable to me than its rivals, especially since it also happens to be at least as good on tarmac.
In its sportiest mode, the DBX lowers by 15 millimeters and it stiffens up its active antiroll bars (which it possesses, as is the norm among its rival models) resulting in a much more hunkered down and sportier feeling SUV. When in this mode, the car can send all of the engine’s power to the rear axle via the center differential and it’s then shuffled between the two individual wheels via the rear differential.
This makes the car remarkably lively and willing to oversteer on track, all while exhibiting as much roll as a Vantage (or so Aston says). And when you see it being driven hard (and really sideways) on track, it doesn’t look as out of place as you would expect.
Creating the DBX was a huge deal for Aston Martin, not only in making a vehicle that will overcome prejudice, but also one that will bring in the bucks - the U.K.-based sports car maker needs its first ever SUV to be successful in order to ensure its long(er) term survival.
We really have to concede that the Aston Martin DBX has the looks, the luxury, the power and performance to win over even those who might declare themselves haters of the genre. It’s a very good effort from Aston, and it will most likely prove successful. People would have still bought it just because it was an Aston Martin SUV, but the fact that it’s such a nice looking and accomplished model will help seal the deal for others less convinced by the idea.
It’s not as if it’s not excessively outlandish looking - it is - but it looks like it was made to be worked hard, not just parked in front of a fancy restaurant with not even a spec of dust on it. Unlike the Lambo, this Aston just looks more like a vehicle you’d hoon around an abandoned surface mine in, not caring whether or not you get it dirty.
This isn’t because it looks more utilitarian than the Lambo - it doesn’t - but it just begs more to be ragged off-road, whereas its other super SUV rivals are still mainly intended to be used on tarmac. Sure, the Lambo has all those modes for various surfaces, but it still prefers asphalt.
To better explain what I mean by this, if I think about modifying the Urus, what I really want to do is give it lower suspension, and sticky track-focused tires, whereas in the case of the DBX, I’d give it proper off-road tires, a winch and at least a couple of spare tires on the roof.
Aston Martin says it really has engineered the DBX to not only work on tarmac. It comes with height-adjustable, three-chamber air suspension as well as adaptive dampers, so it should be able to cope with off-road driving quite well. In the suspension’s highest setting, it raises by 45 millimeters and thanks to the car’s small overhangs, it can actually take you quite far off-road.
Whenever I think of super SUVs like the Urus or the Bentley Bentayga, it’s their exclusive road bias that puts me off the idea of owning one. Sure, they both have gadgets and fair ride height (which can obviously be raised in their case too), but they are a bit ungainly when you actually take them off-road.
The DBX, on the other hand, has a decent wading depth of 50 centimeters and if you check out videos of it going off-road, you’ll see it’s actually pretty good at it (and it strangely doesn’t look ridiculous while it does it). And this makes it much more desirable to me than its rivals, especially since it also happens to be at least as good on tarmac.
In its sportiest mode, the DBX lowers by 15 millimeters and it stiffens up its active antiroll bars (which it possesses, as is the norm among its rival models) resulting in a much more hunkered down and sportier feeling SUV. When in this mode, the car can send all of the engine’s power to the rear axle via the center differential and it’s then shuffled between the two individual wheels via the rear differential.
This makes the car remarkably lively and willing to oversteer on track, all while exhibiting as much roll as a Vantage (or so Aston says). And when you see it being driven hard (and really sideways) on track, it doesn’t look as out of place as you would expect.
Creating the DBX was a huge deal for Aston Martin, not only in making a vehicle that will overcome prejudice, but also one that will bring in the bucks - the U.K.-based sports car maker needs its first ever SUV to be successful in order to ensure its long(er) term survival.
We really have to concede that the Aston Martin DBX has the looks, the luxury, the power and performance to win over even those who might declare themselves haters of the genre. It’s a very good effort from Aston, and it will most likely prove successful. People would have still bought it just because it was an Aston Martin SUV, but the fact that it’s such a nice looking and accomplished model will help seal the deal for others less convinced by the idea.
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