Tour de force: An exhilarating test drive of the Aston Martin DBX

The epic sweep of coastline around Scotland’s Isle of Islay is a worthy destination for any grand tour. Here you’ll find wide open skies, rugged inlets and lochs — and, of course, a globally acclaimed whisky industry with hundreds of years of heritage and a heavy, peaty character much favoured by collectors and enthusiasts. It’s also a challenge for a conventional sporting GT, with roads that give way to rough tracks and steep scrambles, along with hedgerows, dips, ditches and potholes.  

The Aston Martin DBX is in its element. A high-riding grand tourer and the marque’s inaugural, highly anticipated luxury SUV, DBX takes this kind of terrain in its stride, providing a perfect blend of practicality, ability and downright sporting brilliance. Carefully honed over years of development, including time spent in the rally stages of Wales, the deserts of the Middle East and the demanding off-road course at the Millbrook Testing Ground, a little uneven tarmac is no trouble whatsoever for DBX’s all-season Pirelli tyres.

The torque provided by the four-litre twin-turbocharged V8 will go through all four wheels if necessary, although there’s a classic rear-drive bias for the best driving dynamics in favourable conditions. Under the skin, there is a bespoke bonded aluminium platform, a clean-sheet design that facilitated the development of an SUV without compromise. 

There are distinct differences, of course, between DBX and its sports car siblings, not least the higher driving position. Yet although you get the far-reaching views and better road placement, driving a DBX is still about sitting within the car, rather than upon it, with a cockpit that envelops the driver without compromising visibility or the sense of space. 

A glass roof that reaches far back above the rear seats accentuates this airy feeling, and there’s plenty of space in the cavernous trunk for all your passengers’ luggage. Islay’s empty roads twist and turn, but they never quite have the space to open this car up. For that, you’ll need a sweeping A road or international motorway, with the kind of surface that reveals just how refined a machine the DBX really is. 

That refinement is carried through to the design. The integral component of every contemporary Aston Martin is its relationship with proportion, staying true to the “golden ratio”, a mathematical division that has descended down through history as a harmonious, balanced form. 

The muscular stance of Aston Martin’s sports cars, with their flowing forms and low centre of gravity, translate especially well to these divisions. DBX posed a different challenge, one that was honed and refined over many iterations as the design was developed through the second half of the past decade. 

DBX also has an undeniable visual connection to the marque’s ongoing design story, from the way the familiar Aston Martin grille defines the shape of the bonnet and front wings, through to the signature Aston Martin headlights that flank it. This gives the front of the car a taut, dynamic and sporting focus, while the gently curving creased shoulder line that runs the length of the car serves to accentuate the rear haunches and long wheelbase, ensuring the visual mass of the car is focused on the rear wheels. The chamfered corners and long wheelbase give DBX a decidedly different set of proportions than its rivals, making it appear both lower, smaller and sleeker with a more overtly sporting appearance. 

DBX doesn’t just look like an Aston Martin — it moves and sounds like one as well. The benefits of months
of finessing are apparent on the more forgiving roads of the homeward journey, mostly in the complete lack of drama the car exhibits under pressure. DBX has an electric anti-roll control system and adaptive air suspension, which work constantly to keep the car cornering flat without betraying the higher ride height or seating position.

The air suspension is particularly helpful off-road, as it can raise the car by 45mm or lower it by 50mm, adapting not only to the loading of the car, but the driving dynamics and road surface. 

The response of the nine-speed 9G-Tronic automatic gearbox can be changed via the six driving modes, ranging from GT, Sport, Sport+, Individual, Terrain and Terrain+. The latter two offer heightened go-anywhere ability, while the most focused, Sport+, offers instantaneous throttle response and a barking exhaust that contrasts strongly with the refined, but muscular GT mode. 

As a result, DBX has extremely broad capabilities, from easy manoeuvrability at parking speeds to pinpoint accuracy at speed. There are many, many firsts for the marque, including Hill Descent Control and the ability to wade through 50cm-deep water. The interior offers huge scope for adding bespoke touches, with an options list that includes special lifestyle accessory packs for keen golfers, cyclists, skiers and even dog walkers. 

It is a novelty to have to step up slightly to enter an Aston Martin, but once inside, the cabin is a harmonious blend of technology, craft and familiarity. Ergonomics are especially advanced, as is the head and leg room, which leads the class. 

The dashboard is clean and contemporary, with screens and switches swathed by hand-stitched Bridge of Weir leather and trimmed with many material options (including walnut, if you choose to go via the marque’s Q by Aston Martin personalisation service). Other options include a six-piece luggage set and a specially designed rear seat saddle bag, finished in traditional saddle leather to match your interior specification. 

Aston Martin expects many customers to designate their DBX as an all-purpose family car. This is a task at which it will excel, bringing new clients to the brand while giving enthusiasts a fresh excuse to seek out new horizons.

See more at magazine.astonmartin.com

Aston Martin is one of the official partners of Sphere's winter 2020 issue. astonmartin.com