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Written by:
Autocar staff
http://www.autocar.co.uk
03/07/2008 - 04:19 PM
London, UK
Until the DBS stumbled into life towards the end of last year, everything was fine and dandy at Aston Martin. Sales had been steadily increasing across the range, and as each new model appeared journalists and customers alike tended to go weak at the knees with admiration. Aston Martin, you could say, was on a roll. Until it launched the DBS.
It is no coincidence, of course, that the DBS is the first Aston of the modern era to appear since Ford sold the brand to Kuwaiti investors. Yet to blame the DBS’s apparent absence of excellence on the firm’s new owners seems rather unfair. The car will have been conceived and virtually signed off long before they became involved. And right there, in the middle of that last sentence, is where a reality check is required. Because already, it seems, the DBS has been declared an also-ran when it is, in fact, nothing of the sort. Hence the reason we’ve lined it up beside arguably the most able super-coupe in the world: the Ferrari 599.
Were the DBS the clunker some folks would have you believe it is, this comparison would be one of the most pointless things we’ve ever done. But we’re not really into doing pointless things at Autocar. Presumably, then, the DBS – despite being inappropriately burdened with the job of replacing the Vanquish – is good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with its nemesis from Maranello, the deliciously named and undeniably handsome 599 GTB Fiorano. Maybe, maybe not. To find out, we spent two and a half days slithering around Wales, posing in London and driving on some busy, wet roads. And
our conclusions were far from predictable.
The Ferrari’s 6.0-liter V12 engine produces a thundering 611hp at 6800rpm and 448lb ft at 5600rpm, compared with a “mere” 510hp at 6500rpm and 420lb ft at 5750rpm for the Aston’s 6.0-liter V12. The Ferrari engine is a custom unit that draws heavily on the technology used to create the Enzo’s V12, whereas the DBS motor is little more than a DB9 engine that’s been persuaded to produce a bit more poke (60hp more, to be precise).
Bear in mind that, according to our scales, the 599 weighs less than the Aston (3,600lbs against 3,800) and you get some idea of the difference in their pure performance. On paper the DBS looks extremely quick compared with normal cars, hitting 60mph in 4.2sec and 100mph in a useful 8.7sec, and not running out of puff until it hits its 6800rpm limiter in sixth, at 191mph.
But the Ferrari is something else again. It’s nothing short of a monster statistically, screaming to 60mph in 3.7sec and 100mph in 7.4sec, then hitting a top speed of “at least” 205mph.
Never more so than when you climb from one car to the other and begin comparing their cabins. In isolation the Aston has its moment inside. The seat is a deep-bucket item that clamps you firmly in place, and the range of adjustment on the leather-lined wheel is sufficient to allow just about any driver, of any shape or size, to find a good driving position. It’s an important area in which the DBS excels. Yet there are other aspects to the interior that singularly fail to hit the target.
"On paper the DBS looks extremely quick. But the 599 is something else again..." (Autocar photo) » More Photos
It is no coincidence, of course, that the DBS is the first Aston of the modern era to appear since Ford sold the brand to Kuwaiti investors. Yet to blame the DBS’s apparent absence of excellence on the firm’s new owners seems rather unfair. The car will have been conceived and virtually signed off long before they became involved. And right there, in the middle of that last sentence, is where a reality check is required. Because already, it seems, the DBS has been declared an also-ran when it is, in fact, nothing of the sort. Hence the reason we’ve lined it up beside arguably the most able super-coupe in the world: the Ferrari 599.
Were the DBS the clunker some folks would have you believe it is, this comparison would be one of the most pointless things we’ve ever done. But we’re not really into doing pointless things at Autocar. Presumably, then, the DBS – despite being inappropriately burdened with the job of replacing the Vanquish – is good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with its nemesis from Maranello, the deliciously named and undeniably handsome 599 GTB Fiorano. Maybe, maybe not. To find out, we spent two and a half days slithering around Wales, posing in London and driving on some busy, wet roads. And
The Ferrari’s 6.0-liter V12 engine produces a thundering 611hp at 6800rpm and 448lb ft at 5600rpm, compared with a “mere” 510hp at 6500rpm and 420lb ft at 5750rpm for the Aston’s 6.0-liter V12. The Ferrari engine is a custom unit that draws heavily on the technology used to create the Enzo’s V12, whereas the DBS motor is little more than a DB9 engine that’s been persuaded to produce a bit more poke (60hp more, to be precise).
"On paper the DBS looks extremely quick. But the 599 is something else again..." (Autocar photo) » More Photos
Bear in mind that, according to our scales, the 599 weighs less than the Aston (3,600lbs against 3,800) and you get some idea of the difference in their pure performance. On paper the DBS looks extremely quick compared with normal cars, hitting 60mph in 4.2sec and 100mph in a useful 8.7sec, and not running out of puff until it hits its 6800rpm limiter in sixth, at 191mph.
But the Ferrari is something else again. It’s nothing short of a monster statistically, screaming to 60mph in 3.7sec and 100mph in 7.4sec, then hitting a top speed of “at least” 205mph.
"On paper the DBS looks extremely quick. But the 599 is something else again..." (Autocar photo) » More Photos
Never more so than when you climb from one car to the other and begin comparing their cabins. In isolation the Aston has its moment inside. The seat is a deep-bucket item that clamps you firmly in place, and the range of adjustment on the leather-lined wheel is sufficient to allow just about any driver, of any shape or size, to find a good driving position. It’s an important area in which the DBS excels. Yet there are other aspects to the interior that singularly fail to hit the target.
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