The DBS will launch the new Aston Martin era with one hell of a bang. Set to go into production in October, it'll be quicker than any Aston road car before it, thanks to its massaged V-12. It'll weigh about 220 pounds less than a regular DB9. It'll wear a body kit designed to help it slice through the air more cleanly. And it'll introduce high-tech materials and a new upgraded cockpit for the entire DB line.
The ultimate embodiment of the DB9 coupe, the DBS will replace the muscular Vanquish as the flagship Aston Martin, although senior execs struggle to admit it.
"It'll be our halo car and will have superior performance to the now-aged Vanquish," says Aston's Ulrich Bez, before quickly countering: "It's not the Vanquish successor, but another car to raise awareness of the brand." Adds design director Marek Reichman, "The DBS isn't replacing the Vanquish; it's a standalone product based on the DB9."
Guys, stop talking down the DBS. The $260,000 Vanquish goes out of production shortly. The price of the DBS? About the same. And with just 300 cars to be produced each year, the DBS will be as exclusive as, er...the Vanquish. Still, reading between the lines, Bez and Reichman are clearly leaving room for a new Aston supercar to slide in above the DBS at some point in the future.
At least they can stop acting like caring parents protecting their eldest child from a younger, more talented sibling. When the 450-horse DB9 was launched in 2004, it immediately matched the heavier, pricier Vanquish, which needed some nurturing-well a 51-horse boost-to stay on top. But without the need to protect the Vanquish, the DBS is edgier: lighter, louder, and faster.
Is it a track-day car? "Absolutely," says Reichman. But it won't be a stripped-out street racer like Ferrari's 360 Challenge Stradale. "We want an element of luxury, too. It'll still be swathed in carpet, but a carpet made of lighter materials. There'll still be leather and Alcantara." Bez puts it this way: "The DBS is brutal, but dressed in black tie."
A bit like Daniel Craig's edgier, darker, more intense James Bond, then, though Reichman, who started work on the DBS in October 2005, insists the car's crash-and-burn cameo in "Casino Royale" was never on the original agenda. "Part of my brief was to make the DB9 look more edgy, like a tough guy in a dinner suit," he says. " I wanted to convey strength, power, and agility." One month into the design phase, however, the producers of the James Bond films walked into Reichman's studio, and the seeds were sown for Aston's return to the big screen.
"We didn't design the car for Bond; we wanted a flagship DB9," insists Reichman. "That's what the project is about." Bond, did, however, influence the new Aston's name: Australian George Lazenby drove a DBS in his sole performance as 007 in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." (Lazenby trivia: He served in Australia's SAS [special forces] before becoming one of the world's highest-paid male models and Europe's Marlboro Man.) Reichman says the "S" is appropriate for the car's sporting intent, but it has yet to be decided whether the moniker will appear on the production version of the car.
Whether the DBS is officially Aston's halo model, insiders admit it is the company's technology flagship. Naturally, the car is built on the DB9's aluminum VH chassis, and the exotic materials don't end there. The new body kit is carbon fiber and all business. "Everything is present for an engineering reason, nothing is extraneous," notes Reichman. The new lower bumper section feeds more air to the enlarged radiator and oil cooler and also helps cool the standard carbon ceramic brake rotors.
Additional apertures in the hood help vent heat from the upgraded V-12 underneath, which is likely to kick out about 520 horses. The fenders have been pumped out to cover the wider track and new 20-inch-diameter wheels, and the right height has been dropped 20 mm. Reprofiled sills better manage airflow along the sides of the car, and a large rear diffuser helps improve high-speed stability.
"The DBS is a lighter car with more efficient aerodynamics and more horsepower," says Reichman. "Naturally, that equates to..." With the final specification still to be determined and targets a closely guarded secret, Reichman trails off. But his sentence could be finished thus: "higher performance." With a power-to-weight ratio close to that of a Porsche 991 Turbo, the DBS should run 0-to-60 mph in close to four seconds even, with a top speed naturally north of the DB9's 176 mph.
Inside, Reichman has taken the opportunity to rework the DB9's fiddly ergonomics. "For performance driving, you need the controls at your fingertips," he points out. "We've reconfigured the center stack to make it more functional, more precise." The HVAC and audio controls are now more user-friendly, and the paddleshift automatic trans has been replaced by a regular six-speed manual (an auto will be available on the production version, however).
Despite being completed in six months to meet an April 2006 shot schedule for "Casino Royale," the DBS had been in a holding pattern while Ford negotiated the sale of Aston Martin. But production is now confirmed for the fall.So prepare for sensory overload. The DBS looks gorgeous, the interior materials feel sensational, and the V-12's bark is apocalyptic. Concludes Reichman: "It's a to-die-for car." A sentiment of which James Bond would definitely approve.
Vanquish: One last blast
It's hard to believe the Aston Martin Vanquish is now six years old. Ian Callum's design is a masterclass of British muscle; under the skin is an aluminum and carbon-fiber chassis that makes it still one of the most technically advanced cars Ford has ever produced.
The original Vanquish's 6.0-liter V-12 kicked out 460 horses, which helped make it the fastest, most driveable Aston in decades. With one small exception: the transmission.
The Vanquish came with a clutchless six-speed manual similar in concept to Ferrari's F1 paddleshift. Only problem was the Aston's transmission management software was nowhere near as sophisticated as Ferrari's. Shifts were said to take just 250 milliseconds, but it often felt like the engine and the tranny weren't on speaking terms.
Now, just as the Vanquish is about to go away, it's available with a regular, stick-in-the-center, clutch-on-the-floor six-speed. This Aston Martin Works Service option isn't for the faint-hearted, however: You could buy a brand-new BMW 328i for the same money. Yes, the whole damn thing.
But it's a joy to talk to that V-12, now rated at 520 horse in Vanquish S spec, in your own language, not via a translation service provided by the shifter's ECU. The manual transmission conversion has increased the clarity of feedback and transformed the dynamics to a level that would've frightened the Vanquish's archnemesis, the Ferrari 550 Maranello. And even today, the stickshift Vanquish S makes a compelling old-school alternative to Ferrari's techno-zeitgeist 599 GTB Fiorano. - Nick Trott
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