Consumer Guide’s Impressions of the 2012 Aston Martin DBX

It will pick up where the DBS leaves off to set a new high for power and performance at 007’s favored car company. James Bond won’t need a rocket belt. Just lots of money.

What We Know About the 2012 Aston Martin DBX

It’s hardly more than a rumor now, though two reliable sources say it will happen and Aston Martin doesn’t categorically deny it. “It” is a new ultimate version of Aston’s well-liked DB9 grand touring coupe. Tentatively labeled DBX and whispered as a 2012 model, it should build on the recently introduced DBS to be the fastest, most powerful car yet seen from James Bond’s preferred motorcar purveyor. Would you believe a 700-horsepower twin-turbocharged V12? That’s the buzz.

Before delving into the 2010 Aston Martin DBX, we need to explain the DBS, which is basically a lighter, more potent DB9 with no back seat and some engineering inspiration from Aston’s DBR9 racer. It uses the company’s 6.0-liter V12, but claims 70 more horsepower than the DB9--520 in all. (Torque is unchanged at 420 pound-feet.) Numerous tweaks liberate the extra ponies, but the main one is a freer-breathing intake system with computer-controlled air-box valves, plus a larger under-bumper front air intake. Curb weight drops about 140 pounds by replacing metal with carbon fiber for the hood, fenders, and door-mirror housings. C-F is also fashioned into a new front air splitter and a rear air diffuser that promote high-speed stability. How fast will it go? Aston quotes 191 mph, about five mph up on the DB9. As Rolls-Royce would say, that’s “adequate” for a 3737-pound sports-luxury coupe with all the comforts and a cabin trimmed in leather, suede-like alcantara, and carbon fiber accents. Off the line, the DBS hits 60 mph in a claimed 4.3 seconds, a half-second faster than Aston’s big, burly V12 Vanquish coupe. Other changes include a wider track, 20-inch wheels (replacing 19s) within subtly bulged fenders, hefty carbon-ceramic disc brakes cooled by dedicated body ductwork, and a grille with five horizontal bars instead of seven. The DBS also gets a redesigned dashboard center stack with more ergonomic controls, a likely update for other Aston models in due course.

Aston insists the DBS does not replace the Vanquish (now phasing out after six years), which sort of confirms the DBX. Alas, it’s hard to say now precisely what it will entail, as design and engineering work has probably yet to start in earnest. Even so, Britain’s CAR magazine recently reported that a 700-horsepower twin-turbo model is on the way--“or so our spies tell us…”

OK, but what else could we say about a 2012 Aston Martin DBX? Well, this boutique automaker has but a single platform for the foreseeable future, so DBX will certainly start with that. But remembering that this aluminum-intensive “VH” architecture can be easily varied for different-size vehicles, the DBX could well emerge as a short-wheelbase DBS with even more carbon fiber in its body. With, say, 300 fewer pounds and 35 percent more muscle, the DBX should have the performance to match any high-power lightweight from Italy or Germany. The logical transmission would be a straight six-speed manual, but a sequential-shift automated manual is equally possible. Either one would mount as a rear transaxle, as in other Astons.

Because company resources are limited, the 2012 Aston Martin DBX would doubtless use off-the-shelf suspension, braking and steering components, though suitably modified and/or upgraded for this car’s higher potential performance. Styling shouldn’t stray far from successful current themes; it’s generally agreed that Aston makes some of the world’s prettiest cars. But the DBX should stand clearly apart, especially if it does, in fact, materialize as a “shorty” coupe. Design chief Marek Reichman could use its resulting new proportions to emulate the look of a production-based racing car, abetted by more aggressive nose and tail contours, wider wheels under bigger fender “blisters,” and perhaps a prominent “ducktail” spoiler as an exclamation point. If the DBS is “brutal, but dressed in a black tie,” to quote Aston CEO Ulrich Bez, the DBX might be the English equivalent of a NASCAR stocker. Hey, stranger things have happened.

Of course, this is all just speculation and could be way wrong. Only time will tell. But whatever the ultimate design and engineering decisions, the 2012 Aston Martin DBX won’t be a raw, uncivilized beast. It may not have all the frills of a DB9 or DBS--gotta watch the poundage, old chap--but we’ll wager it’s just as mechanically refined, long-haul comfortable, and impeccably furnished. Dr. Bez won’t have anything less.

A Notable Feature of the 2012 Aston Martin DBX

We don’t know whether any groundbreaking innovations will show up in the 2012 Aston Martin DBX, though more extensive use of carbon fiber as a structural material would be an advance for this company. Aston started building cars in 1922, and relied for decades on the sort of inventive ironmongery associated with “cottage industry” British carmakers. That all changed when Ford Motor Company bought the place in 1987, bringing big-league discipline and professionalism to Aston design, engineering and manufacturing. The four-party ownership that took over in early 2007 will build on this legacy, especially as it has fairly deep pockets, and Ford still owns a small piece. Though Aston probably won’t enter a “technology race” with the likes of Ferrari or Mercedes, it has tried new things in the past--when it could afford them--so the DBX could well appear with, say, an “active” suspension, fuel-saving cylinder deactivation, or some feature nobody else has thought of.

Buying Advice for the 2012 Aston Martin DBX

Aston projects DBS sales at about 500 per year on a global basis, with the U.S. taking maybe a third to a half at around $265,000 a pop. As the new ultimate Aston, the DBX will be far more exclusive, with yearly worldwide sales of maybe 250, perhaps less. That’s pretty rarefied territory, so you’ll need to act decisively if you want one in your garage.

2012 Aston Martin DBX Release Date: We think sales would begin by mid 2011 after a world premiere at England’s Birmingham Motor Show in autumn 2010.

2012 Aston Martin DBX First Test Drive:
Assuming no last-minute delays to the above timetable, media previews should be on for the first quarter of 2011.

2012 Aston Martin DBX Prices: As noted, the current top dog DBS goes for around $265,000 (U.S. pricing was tentative at this writing), so a faster, flashier, and more-exclusive DBX would be rather more, especially if the dollar keeps declining against the British pound. Of course, a lot can happen in three to four years, but we’ll guesstimate an eventual retail price of around $385,000.

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