Back in June of this year, Aston Martin announced the return of two illustrious names in the guise of the DBS Superleggera. The DBS nameplate was first used in 1967 on William Towns-designed fastback GT and once again this iconic name is gracing the bonnet of a more modern Aston Martin, this time using super lightweight construction technology in a nod to the famous Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera and developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni.
The new DBS Superleggera replaces the highly rated Vanquish S and has beautifully sculpted carbon fibre body panels, giving it muscular styling that’s perfectly paired with its powerful Aston Martin 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12. The bold honeycomb front grille gives the car an aggressive look, while the bonnet’s elongated power bulges and flared nostril bonnet vents create a dynamic sense of speed.
With this amount of power on tap the car will rocket from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds with 100mph coming up in an equally impressive 6.4 seconds. The DBS Superleggera will reach a top speed of 211mph if you can find a straight bit of road long enough!
To help keep the car firmly on the road, Aston Martin have borrowed technology from F1 with a double-diffuser, giving the DBS Superleggera 180kg of downforce at VMAX and surprisingly with no additional drag. There’s also a front splitter and airdam working together to accelerate airflow underneath the front of the car to deliver true downforce and assist cooling by feeding air to the front Carbon Ceramic brakes.
The Aston Martin 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 engine is set low and as far back in the chassis as possible to optimise the centre-of-gravity and car’s weight distribution. It develops a whopping 725PS at 6500rpm and 900Nm from 1800-5000rpm. The exhaust noise is commanding and powerful as you’d expect from an Aston Martin Super GT, setting the pulse racing as soon as you start the engine.
The engine is mated to a new rear-mounted ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox with a mechanical limited-slip differential and torque vectoring which drives the rear wheels and gives the driver precise, predictable and exploitable handling and a lower final drive for eye-watering in-gear acceleration.
The DBS Superleggera’s evolutionary chassis is made with the latest generation lightweight bonded aluminium structure which was first seen on the DB11. It has forged double wishbones at the front and a sophisticated multi-link system at the rear and the latest generation adaptive damping is fitted as standard and gives the driver a choice of three dynamic modes – GT, Sport and Sport Plus.
As you might expect, the DBS Superleggera comes with a high level of standard equipment which includes a 360-degree camera with Parking Distance Display and Park Assist, a DAB plus Bluetooth audio and phone streaming, iPod, iPhone and USB playback audio system as well as an integrated satellite navigation system and Wi-Fi hub.
The beautifully crafted interior can be tailored and personalised to your choice with supple, aromatic leather and Alcantara upholstery coming as standard, as do the Sports Plus performance seats and steering wheel.
You have a choice of two alloy wheel designs, the standard ‘Y’ Spoke Forged Wheel and a Lightweight Twin Spoke Forged wheel, which are 21” in diameter and fitted with Pirelli tyres developed specifically for DBS Superleggera.
Aston Martin President & Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andy Palmer says that the “DBS Superleggera not only marks the return of a great Aston Martin name, but signals our return to the very pinnacle of the Super GT sector. Handsome beyond measure, its lightweight carbon composite and aluminium body is sculpted into a shape with tremendous presence and charisma. Thanks to the remarkable torque available from its twin-turbo V12, DBS Superleggera also packs a breath-taking punch, yet its dynamics have been carefully honed to engage drivers of all ability levels. Immaculately styled, obsessively engineered and outrageously potent, the new DBS Superleggera is every inch the Aston Martin flagship”.
Prices for the new DBS Superleggera start from £225,000 in the UK, EUR 274,995 in Germany and $304,995 in the USA. For more information on this fabulous new Grand GT from Aston Martin, please visit their website: https://global.astonmartin.com
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel and Editor-in-Chief of Our Man On The Ground Travel and Lifestyle Magazine.
Photographs courtesy of Aston Martin
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