SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Aston Martin is arguably one of the most storied British brands. Much like Saville Row or James Bond or Harrods, there's not much more that's so quintessentially British.

Personally, I like that.

But times are a changing at the company known for its complicated history. That's because we're seeing the launch of an all-new vehicle that makes the most of its partnership with Mercedes-Benz's AMG division. Known as the DB11, this is the first Aston to feature a twin-turbo V12 care of the three-pointed star.

And that's only the start of it. The VH architecture is gone too. That's a big development because it was in use since the early 2000s. If you're like me and a fan of what Aston brought to the table with the current-gen Vanquish and Vantage sports cars then you know this is something that's on your mind.

If the company abandons what made it great, then what will we be left with?

According to EVO though, we shouldn't be too worried. After driving the prototype, the writer notes that it is a clear improvement over the grand touring DB9 as the vehicle has faster steering, feels lighter, and is more agile and capable of changing direction.

Though the prototype was noted as being a bit rough — it is a prototype, after all — it seems like Aston may not have let AMG spoil what the British company has been known for: Producing the most lively, fun-to-drive grand touring cars.


...

The adoption of turbocharging has done little to dent the noise. The V12 howls that pure, complex tone and throttle response is excellent. It’s not as instantaneous as the Ferrari 488’s engine (no other turbocharged unit is) but it’s very good. Only when you really rev-out the engine do you miss the hard-edged energy of the normally-aspirated engine. If the DB11 can’t quite capture that metallic crispness at the limiter it massively out punches the old engine on corner exits and gives the rear tyres a really hard time. Despite the abundance of torque they put up a real fight and traction is a strong feature of the DB11...




Read Article


DRIVEN: FIRST Impressions Of Aston Martin's All-New DB11 — How Is An AMG'd Aston?

About the Author

Agent00R