The only place in the world where this car doesn’t get a second glance
The new DB12 is a blueprint of what a sports car should look like - a grand tourer designed for luxurious long-distance cruising.
We witnessed the disinterest with our own barely believing eyes: in Monaco, even sitting in the driver’s seat of an Aston Martin – even one yet to arrive in showrooms – will not guarantee a second glance. And if anyone does look in your direction, it’s probably because you’ve parked in front of Roman Abramovich’s superyacht in the marina, or someone wearing a six-figure Patek Philippe just walked past the bonnet, pausing to fan themselves with a fistful of €100 notes.
That’s the principality for you, an outlandish pocket of un-real estate where regular parameters of wealth do not apply. Out in the normal world, however, the new DB12 is a certified showstopper, the blueprint of what a sports car should look like.
And it has to be. Aston’s Canadian chairman, Lawrence Stroll, famously pledged to transform the luxury carmaker into the British Ferrari, to reassert its reputation as a proper performance brand and that it isn’t just James Bond’s favourite marque. Oh, and this year also happens to be the 75th anniversary of the revered “DB” nameplate.
No pressure, then, for the DB12 team.
We’re heading towards the fabled Route Napoléon, pootling through quaint villages where locals appear to do nothing but sip tarry coffee and salivate over passing Astons. It’s not unusual for journalists to start these tests in the calmest driving setting before hitting the serious bitumen, which in this case happens to be GT mode.
Lest we forget, the DB12 is, at its heart, a grand tourer designed for luxurious long-distance cruising.
Activating GT mode via the knurled rotary controller does make the world feel suitably smooth and dreamy; with enough food and water, you could spend days in this cabin, with its premium hand-stitched hides, tactile switchgear, new standard 11-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system and all-new in-house infotainment system, which does clever things such as allowing you to read restaurant reviews before booking a table.
On all but the most rutted roads, the refined suspension, along with bespoke, noise-cancelling Michelin Pilot 5 S tyres, helps maintain those prized grand tourer manners.But the DB12 needs to break free from the shackles of polite cruising: if you want to challenge the most recognisable performance brand, you can’t bring a spoon to a knife fight, even if said spoon has a beautiful shape.
The DB12 is in another league, ready for Ferrari fisticuffs though. More than 80 per cent of it is new, says Aston. The 5.2-litre V12 engine from the previous DB11 has been replaced with a lighter twin-turbo, 4.0-litre V8 unit, and yet Aston’s engineers have used a few tricks (larger turbos, modified camshafts, tweaked compression ratios) to coax out an extra 30kW and 100Nm, creating headline figures of 500kW and 800Nm. To cope with this added potency, the bonded aluminium body has been stiffened by seven per cent, and there’s also an improved cooling system.
All of which means the DB12 is a beast—in Sport mode at least. Not utterly terrifying, but brutal enough to induce a mild panic attack if you, ahem, enter your first sharp mountain turn too enthusiastically. Cornering is actually one of the many things the DB12 does brilliantly.
The E-Diff, which sends the required torque to each wheel in a matter of milliseconds, alongside a quick-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission, is a passport to thrilling mid-bend handling and acceleration beyond the apex. Straight-line momentum is also tasty; zero to 100km/h passes in 3.6 seconds and the way it piles on power beyond that speed is astonishing.
We were high on the engine’s subtly menacing growl, and keen to explore the even more brutish Sport+ mode, when unseasonable black clouds loomed over the mountains, giving way to dangerous, squally conditions. This did, however, provide an opportunity to try the DB12’s Wet setting, an automotive safe house where the tyres always feel securely gripped to the asphalt, even when attacking slippery corners.
If anyone can build a sports car that works in the rain, it’s the Brits.The DB12’s exterior styling upgrades (bigger rear haunches, lower stance, new alloy wheels, among others) are relatively conservative, but conceptually Aston has taken a punt, trying to preserve the elegant grand tourer’s heritage while building a ferocious sports car – hence the “World’s First Super Tourer” billing.
That’s a brave claim. And yet they’ve pulled it off. The DB12 is a serious high-performance car. Though you can’t help wondering whether in a car of this shape and weight, the delicate refinement-power balancing act is approaching a tipping point.
In terms of kilowatts, speed and traction, the DB12 is surely close to its theoretical limit.But anything is possible with Aston. Even becoming Britain’s Ferrari. Or getting Australians to pay nearly half a million for a DB12. First deliveries start in September and pricing has just been confirmed as $455,000, or roughly a week’s pocket money if you live in Monaco.
ASTON MARTIN DB12
Engine
4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Power
500kW
Torque
800Nm
Transmission
8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Fuel economy
12.2 litres per 100km
Price
$455,000
