The name is Bond, James Bond. I don’t know how many times I’ve told myself this throughout the day. It came to me naturally as I kept reading the name on the steering wheel: Aston Martin. The beautiful DB12 roaring away through the quiet Sunday afternoon in Mumbai, with people watching this piece of art roll down the streets, jaws open, phones out, and confused looks because they've hardly ever seen an Aston on the road.
It’s rare, it’s exclusive, and it’s unapologetic. The DB12 is Aston’s newest tourer, replacing the DB11 with all things modern, including a greener, smaller V8 engine instead of a V12. Ah, well, the drama through the exhaust pipes is out, but the power through the wheels, that’s up. Thirty-seven percent more torque, and that increment comes within one generation change. Surely then, the downsizing can’t be that bad.
VERDICT
It might not ride as softly as the Bentley, but it consumes distances easily. Beyond that, the styling sells the DB12 short. What looks like nothing more than a good facelift conceals a cabin that’s night-and-day better than the old DB11, and dynamics that have given the DB12 newfound athleticism, control, and purpose. This is the most accomplished car I’ve driven in years. Surely, it isn’t the sportiest car in its class, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the best.
Things don’t look as tempting as you start her up. But then, as the car moves along, there are a few things that come to mind immediately - there is a lot of heft that it carries, there is no 4WD or NASA level of technology to manage traction, and neither is there any holding back in terms of how the power is put down. It’s immediate, it’s unrestricted, and it’s ballsy. On a wet day, this is just as scary as a…
The front-mid engine sends all of those 800Nm of twisting forces to the rear wheels. There is no electrification, so the soundtrack from the engine directly translates to brute performance. The Mercedes-sourced engine benefits from modified camshafts, an 8.6:1 compression ratio, overhauled cooling, plus – naturally – bigger turbos; it has gained over 150bhp, and the final figures are more than either the Porsche 911 Turbo or Ferrari Roma can muster.
All of that charges to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox that now boasts a shorter final drive for better sprinting. 0-100kmph in 3.6 seconds, since you’re asking, and still a 325kmph top end. It’s proper fast. More speed than it needs, enough to give the traction a real workout below 100kph and the kind of high-speed thrust to outstrip almost anything. Extra bracing means the all-aluminum bonded platform is seven percent stiffer, but it’s work that’s gone into the damping and body control that has really transformed this Aston.
The engine and chassis work far more harmoniously than before and because the handover between the two is so clean, you can’t tell where the chassis ends and the engine begins. It doesn’t matter how tight or open the corner is; from the moment you turn in, you feel the rear axle compressing and supporting the car’s weight. And it’s engaging, richly satisfying. It gets into a real rhythm, and although it’s not the most dramatic machine to drive, you can’t catch it out.
Anyone who’s driven an Aston Martin before, barring the DB12, will tell you how counterintuitive the interiors felt. Nothing seemed in the right place.
Sitting in the cabin of the DB12, which gets this all-new interior, I can confirm that it has been executed with a lot of thought. And the quality - stitched leather, tactile buttons with such great feedback, a high-contrast screen with a matte sort of a finish to cut off the glare. It feels special, it feels unique. The interior makeover is as significant as the suspension transformation. Rather than vertical lines rising from the center console to bisect the dash, strong horizontal lines have been used, adding width and reducing distraction by mounting the switchgear and screens lower. And rejoice: the screens aren’t Mercedes’ castoffs from a couple of generations back but are now developed in-house, more responsive, and with better graphics. Aston’s first touchscreen, no less.
It looks a lot like a DB11 or DBS. Yes, the overall silhouette remains identical, but here are a few tips to spot the differences - the lights have newer elements, and the reverse-mounted bonnet on the DB11 has now given way to a standard bonnet. And because of the hinges being absent on this side, they’ve been able to give it a wider grille, which is to aid better cooling.
The overall proportions and design language haven’t changed much, but the stance, the way the wheels pack the arches, the vents on the sides… it’s now a more assertive, aggressive, and brawnier car. The DB12 leans towards the ground vacated by the DBS, but it’s slightly less brutish, has less muscle, more tone than that. Many now feel the grille has got out of hand, that it’s too big, but we don’t see that as an issue. Aston knows how to design a handsome machine.
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 671bhp
Torque: 800Nm
Transmission: 8-speed AT
