Its body panels are made of pure carbon fibre, as part of a strong focus on lightweight construction, with a keen focus on muscularity and a very individualistic look. We think it’s the right blend of beautiful and sexy, because it denotes the hidden British power-mill underneath: a big 5.2-litre V12 engine, twin-turbocharged to the epic tune of 715 hp and a whooping 900 Nm of torque. We’ve learnt that the new V12 Aston has alos undergone some cosmetic work in regards to its aural experience.
The detailed tuning of the V12 has also come with a new exhaust strategy, complete with active valves and quad tail pipes that are said to give the DBS Superleggera a trademark Aston Martin powerful sound character, particularly in its more aggressive dynamic driving modes. It’s the one thing we believe that Aston Martin have done throughout the years to distinguish itself from the Ferraris and Lamborghinis- it’s powerful and booming exhaust notes. This should be quite the experience, given that it’s the brand’s latest Super GT sportscar.
This up-tuned V12 gives it a casual topspeed of 211 mp/h (340 km/h) and a century sprint time of 3.4 seconds. That’s not bad for a big V12, and more interestingly, it sails up to 100 mp/h (160 km/h) in 6.4 seconds. On these attributes alone, it becomes the Brtish marque’s new SUper GT flagship model, replacing the already mind-blowing Aston Martin Vanquish S. the DBS Superleggera really does seem like a beastly marrying of aggression and athleticism.
Evolving innovative aerodynamic concepts first seen on the DB11 – such as the curlicue and Aeroblade – and then taking things further with an F1-inspired double-diffuser, this means that the DBS Superleggera generates 180 kg of downforce at VMAX: the highest figure ever for a series production Aston Martin apparently.
This added downforce, along with its massive power outputs, are managed by a rear-mounted eight-speed ZF tranny, which features mechanical limited-slip differential and torque vectoring. These are to bring precise, predictable and exploitable handling characteristics and a lower final-drive for explosive in-gear acceleration. So in essence, we believe the aim here with the DBS Superleggera is to combine the traits of a full-blown V12 supercar with the expected refinement of a GT.
The chassis has also been re-worked. It’s the latest generation lightweight bonded aluminium structure, which was first seen on the DB11, but it has been re-enforced with forged double wishbones at the front and a sophisticated multi-link system at the rear.
Latest generation adaptive damping is fitted as standard, with sensors detecting the prevailing driving conditions, as well as the demands the driver is making of the car. Both the powertrain and chassis have a choice of three dynamic modes – GT, Sport and Sport Plus – which can be selected by the driver to intensify or relax DBS Superleggera’s responses according to the needs of the driver.
Despite its outlandish attributes (considering the conservatism with Astons) the DBS Superleggera features a generous level of standard supercar equipment, including keyless entry, tyre pressure monitoring systems and a 360-degree camera with Parking Distance Display and Park Assist. That last one might come in very handy, considering how difficult it looks to park this beast.
Besides that, moe practicality can be found in things like its audio system, which has DAB plus Bluetooth audio and phone streaming, iPod, iPhone and USB playback. There is also an integrated satellite navigation system and wi-fi hub. All the in-car infotainment systems use a central LCD screen, controlled via a central dial. We’re not sure if this has any Daimler/Mercedes design cues, like the one we found in the DB11 we drove recently.
And of course, the DBS Superleggera features a high level of personalisation options. While supple Alcantara upholstery comes as standard, along with the Sports Plus performance seats and steering wheel, there is also a choice of two alloy wheel designs: the standard ‘Y’ Spoke Forged Wheel and the Lightweight Twin Spoke Forged wheel. Both are 21″ in diameter and fitted with Pirellis specifically designed for DBS Superleggera. There is also a choice of striking Designer Specifications, with specially chosen colour and trim combinations selected by the Aston Martin Design Team to accentuate certain aspects of DBS Superleggera’s character.
Last but not least, this Aston Martin DBS Superleggera commands a £225,000 price tag in the UK, EUR 274,995 in Germany and $304,995 in the USA. With deliveries of the DBS Superleggera scheduled to begin in only at the tail-end of Q3 2018, by the time this supercar reaches Malaysia for an official gambit, there might already be a few customers who would have snatched it up for a cool RM1.5 mill thereabouts. Worth it or not, they’ll be the judge.
