Aston Martin is a car brand that knows what it’s doing. Ever since they started pushing their cars into James Bond movies, they’ve become part of a fantasy every man wished was their real life. But Aston Martin has been on an extended hiatus from the DB series. The last brand new car we got from the company was the DB9 which came out all the way back in 2003. What’s more, that car had some serious issues, thanks to the fact that much of it was still British-made.
The new DB11, however, is a different animal. Under its stunning exterior, the car is essentially the Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe. This means that you get tried and tested Mercedes engineering with an Aston Martin badge stuck on the front of it. And let’s face it: because of the issues that we’ve seen from previous Aston Martins, the change is welcome.
The Aston Martin is an interesting car for a number of reasons, but the main reason is the price. The car comes in at a whopping £154,000 – about £30,000 more expensive than the car that it is based on – the S63. In a sense, that’s to be expected. For the extra £30,000, you get all that Aston Martin exclusivity and branding, something very few people on the road have got. Turning up in an S63 might turn the heads of people who know about cars. But turning up in a DB11 will turn everybody’s head, regardless of whether they know the first thing about cars or not.
But the value proposition of the DB11 gets called into question when the car is compared to the Nissan GT-R. Not only will the GT-R outperform it on the race track (by quite a bit), but it also costs less than half the price. In other words, the price to performance ratio of the DB11 is not so good. Aston Martin hopes to get around this little conundrum by making the car less about racing and more about luxury travel. Whereas the GT-R is a speedboat, the DB11 is a luxury yacht, designed to take you in style from one location to the other.
As the RAC School of Motoring points out, driving is something that needs to be taken very seriously. And this is something that the Aston Martin does, unlike many cheaper, high-performance cars. Not only does it have all the electronic gadgets we’re used to seeing in high-end luxury GTs, but it also has many of the safety features too. The DB11 feels like a far more sensible and complete version of the DB9. Although it was a desirable car, the DB9 simply didn’t have the accessories that modern drivers wanted. It was a high-performance car, but it always felt a decade out of date. The same can’t be said of its successor. The interior feels like a much more habitable place, complete with Bluetooth connectivity, sat-nav and other features from Mercedes. Although Mercedes infotainment systems have been criticized for being a little too complicated, the new version in the DB11 simplifies a lot of the commands, and most drivers will find it more intuitive.
The Ride
James Bond first introduced Aston Martin to the world in a series of high-speed car chases. But the question on everybody’s lips is whether or not the new Aston can perform like it did in the movies. Will it handle like a modern Mclaren, or will it feel more like the SL, a big burly GT that’s only good if you’re going in a straight line?
The car is actually surprisingly quick. When Top Gear tested it on their track, it went round the course around three seconds faster than the S63 and put in a lap time that was quicker than a BMW M3. The steering in the car is good, which is precisely what you need if you’re cruising around winding British roads. And there’s a real sense that you’re connected to the road. The car doesn’t oversteer like the Aston Martins of old used to in the James Bond car chases. Instead, fancy electronics keep the whole thing balanced, despite the huge V-12 engine up front.
It’s worth pointing out that for racers, the car will feel a little strange. It’s been given the luxury GT makeover, meaning that there are no spoilers to generate downforce. This can make the car feel a little unsteady at times.
There was a worry that with German engineering under the hood, the new car from Aston Martin would lose its soul. But this hasn’t happened at all. In fact, the car is better than ever.