Behold, Aston Martin’s long-awaited replacement to the Vanquish S, a car I called “terrifyingly brilliant” last summer, when I witnessed the car on its way out. Let’s call this new one, oh, I dunno… “positively evil” has a nice ring. Anyway, it’s official name is the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera.
The elegantly named DBS Superleggera not only fills the sizeable performance gap left by the Vanquish S departure, it also resurrects two historically significant Aston names in the process: DBS, which dates back to cars of the late ’60s, and Superleggera (“lightweight” in Italian), which evokes innovative coachbuilding of the past. As one of the most ambitiously modern car companies in the world, one of Aston’s best qualities remains its insistence on honoring the past.
Built on a modified version of the aluminum chassis used by Aston’s sublime, and recently expanded upon, DB11, the new car utilizes unique carbon fiber bodywork to fulfill its lightweight obligations and a newly-massaged version of the DB11’s twin-turbo V12. The 5.5-liter unit conjures 715 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque, which is capable of sending the DBS Superleggera maxes out at a somewhat nutty 211 mph. It’ll hit 62 mph/100 kmh in 3.4 seconds.
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In person, the car seemed long and muscular, but also exuded an intimidating quality, as though it might clamp onto my leg with its spiky, Vulcan-inspired grille and shoot me out through its turbochargers. Aston has kept the Aeroblade and Curlicue aerodynamic features — probably my favorite engineering bit on any current car — but the revised bodywork features a fixed rear wing which presumably does a lot to influence the 397 pounds of max-speed downforce its said to generate. An eight-speed transmission handles the power, and if you’ve got upwards of $300K, your garage will handle housing duties when the car starts shipping at the end of this year.
Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Specs
Engine: 5.5-liter twin-turbo V12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Horsepower: 715
Torque: 664 lb-ft
0-60: 3.3 (est.)
Top Speed: 211 mph
MSRP: $304,995
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