The Aston Martin DB 11 has a top speed of 200 miles per hour (320 kmph). It is the first car to be created in the second century plan of the brand. As a historic model, the DB 11 is rich in trivia, but certainly not one to be trivialized.
The DB series has been the quintessential Bond car that rolled into elegant porches and chased femme fatales with equal ease. The DB5 figured in half a dozen JB movies but the DB10 was made only for ‘Skyfall’ and exhibitions ever since. So, the DB11 happens to be the DB to own after DB9. Trivia again.
THE SPECS: 4.0L Bi-Turbo V8 AMG: 503 hp and 675 Nm torque / 5.2L Twin Turbo V12: 600 hp and 700 Nm torque / Weight: 1,875 kg for V12 coupé, 1,760 kg for V8 coupé / Boot: 270 L / L x W x H: 4739 x 1940 x 1279 mm
THE PERFORMANCE: 0 – 100 in 4 sec and 3.8 sec / Fuel economy for V8: 6.5 km/L as tested / Top Speed: 320 km for V12 / 301 km for V8
THE UPSIDE: V8 lives up to performance, Great for long drives, Intuitive navigation, Turbo still sounds good, Better ground clearance than most sports cars
THE DOWNSIDE: Crammed rear, Console design somewhat plain, Smartphone related amenities missing
Watch the Video Review in above window or on Youtube: One Minute Drive channel
The Design
The DB11 is built on a riveted and adhesive-bonded aluminium platform that is designed to hold the future models of Aston Martin, too, like the Vantage of the Superleggera. On this new platform, the DB 11 achieves a 49:51 weight balance for the V8 version and 51:49 for the V12. Quite like it attempts to balance the GT and the Sport aspects of the car.
The Drive
I remember driving the Aston Martin GT4 on the Yas Marina tracks a few months ago. Now, as I gusted along the blackest of blacktops in the UAE, the DB11 seemed to want to annihilate those memories from my “exceptionally exhilarating excerpts” folder of life. Because, while the former captured the raw thrill of motorsport behind a 5-point harness, the DB11 was elegant and easygoing.
The clamshell holds a secret: Under the aluminum bonnet of the V8 is the first ever Mercedes AMG engine to drive an Aston Martin, and that too bi-turbo. The DB11 is the first model since Gaydon’s partnership with Stuttgart, and the first turbocharged series production Aston Martin. Enough of trivia.
This 4.0L Twin Turbo V8 AMG is the same engine that powers the Mercedes C63S and the Mercedes GT. As decreed by tradition, there is a 12-cylinder engine too – a 5.2L powerhouse that is twin-turbo charged, too. The V8 makes 503 hp and the V12, 600hp. There is hardly any turbo lag felt and a casual sprint to the 100 kmph mark recorded 5.1 seconds. Actually, the V8 model claims a 0-100 in 4 seconds while the V12 can do it in 3.8 sec, or even 3.6 sec, going by one of the tests. It should be no surprise when you consider that the two models are set apart in torque by a mere 25 Nm (The V12 makes 700 Nm and the V8 brings up 675) and the V8 weighs 115 kg less.
As I sped off with eight cylinders spitting fire, the enormous torque seemed to possess the rear wheels for a slithering start. The DB 11 quickly climbs to beyond 6000 rpms and ascends each gear in steady, quick steps until the 6th gear, from where it finds a settled glide. The eight-speed transmission is power-fed even in the fifth gear, and the machine doesn’t have to resort to a grating downshift for a quick boost. This balances the delivery of the immense power on tap with a reasonable fuel economy. On slow urban drives, it is an appalling under-5 km/l but hey, does that really surprise you? On a reasonably adventurous mix of driving, I could get around 6.5kms per liter.
The DB11 dashboard does not entertain sporty pretensions – there is nothing more than a tachometer – no voltmeters, lap gauges or even a stopwatch! However, While GT pitches in for what most cabins call ‘comfort’ mode, there is a Sport and Sport + mode which allows you to tweak suspension settings also to taut, tauter and track. The drive train and the suspension controls are available at your thumb on the right and left of the steering bar. The paddle shifts peeking from behind the steering are also quite engaging and the mild metallic clink as you tug at them has an inviting feel to it.
Cabin and Controls
Luxury wraps you in leather in every square inch, including the headliners excepting the large inserts on the door sides. It came in purple leather with pink stitching in one and a stark red in another with brief interludes of black lather on the instrument panel and the console. (An unfortunate handicap I faced turned into a rare advantage when that led me into test-driving two of these machines!) In the purple cabin, there was a lot of interplay with carbon fiber, which could be too temperamental for some. Aston Martin – like Bentley – have introduced bold colours alongside the classic ones and they speak volumes of the bold attitude that drives the brand into its second century.
There is something rather functional in the way the multimedia console looks but this is one Aston Martin with a nicely evolved electronics system – ironic for a car that has shared a ‘bond’ with gadgetry, almost all its life. The Aston Martins in real life have focused so much on driving pleasure that these little things about electronics have slipped out of their agenda. For instance, I started off spending too long on the electronic adjustment of the side view mirrors. The good news is that they have finally acknowledged that great driving pleasure involves great cabin arrangements as well, and has called in Daimler AG to conduct the console.
Mercedes has faithfully copied their fitted-tablet sort of screen, turn-dial and touchpad even. The 8” screen on top is not a touch screen. Choices are made between the turn dial, half-eclipsed beneath the touch pad that looks like an ‘aeronautical frog’ in red and black, squatting right in the middle of the console. Under the top layer of air-conditioning controls is the panel for navigation, radio, media and telephone. Besides Bang & Olufsen sound, there is a Blind Spot Monitor, top view and 180º vision camera as well as a fairly comprehensive navigation system whose graphics are pretty impressive in its detail and classy style. A dedicated button can bring on the camera view whenever you want. And there are parking sensors at the front and rear, which signal you when you get close to too close! You really don’t need much more in this GT cabin. Even the rearview mirrors are so wide that there’s no blind spot to tackle at all.
Still Aston Martin has gone the extra mile, by adding an all-important button, never seen in an Aston Martin before – one that moves the armrest electronically. Under which there is just enough space to stack your mobile and wallet. Which incidentally sums up the storage provisions if you overlook some shallow doorsill space. The cup holders are nice though, and subtly folded away until you want them released.
Family Drive
The leather is as comfortable as it is luscious but it is the legroom that really decides things. So even though there are four seats, the rear two are best reserved for children. They can sit in comfort but won’t get far trying to get a glimpse of the outside world through the high windows. But hey, they can listen to the Bang & Olufsen Beosound or better still, the bang & sputter that the DB11 makes.
The seat adjustments in front can be conveniently accessed as they are, along with heating/cooling buttons, placed on either side of the central console tunnel. The only inconvenience in the cabin is the absence of a grip for those in front, especially because the car does display an aggressive surge when you nudge the accelerator at slow speeds. For a British brand, the air-conditioning was good. There is no sunroof but if you prefer the open sky, there is a Volante version now available.
As for luggage, the DB 11 has a grand-tourer-worthy boot that can carry a weekend’s worth for two people. Designed for safety perhaps but rather inconvenient is the insistence of the car to allow its boot to open only after the engine is stopped. What is very unlike a sports car is the fact that it doesn’t graze every bump it rolls over and can mostly keep its very expensive lower bumpers above sidewalks and kerbs.
The essential Aston Martin DB11
The car is such a consummate cruiser, that even in the tightest of corners, it sways and settles down into every degree of the turn like a true GT. That said, if your weekend mission is to conquer the tracks, this Aston Martin can easily turn up its sleeves, throat and throttle. However, by filling a luscious cabin with an exceptional navigation system and multimedia for regular people, the DB11 lives its daily life as a great grand tourer.
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