Aston Martin joins the SUV party

[Atachi]

Aston Martin DBX

 

Quote

Aston Martin is just about ready to dip its toes into the SUV game.

Unveiled about four and a half years ago, the Aston Martin DBX concept will morph into a production model at the end of the year. While the nameplate will be carried over unchanged, we can’t say the same thing about the showcar’s sleek styling since the road-going model will lose some of the pizzazz while adding rear doors in the process for better practicality.

Prepare to cross off another brand from the list of automakers that don’t have SUVs as the DBX will be the first high-riding model from Gaydon. Better late than never, the Urus and Bentayga rival has now been caught while undergoing last-minute testing. The prototype had all the final body panels in place, as well as the production-spec headlights and taillights.

A typical Aston Martin trait, pop-out door handles should lend the side profile a cleaner side profile as already seen on another British SUV, the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace. While looks are indeed subjective, there’s no arguing the DBX won’t look like a typical SUV thanks to design influences from the company’s sports cars and grand tourers.

You can tell it’s a high-performance SUV just by checking out at the sheer size of the brakes at both axles, while the look-at-me dual exhausts at the back denote it’s not your average sports utility vehicle. Also noticeable is the roof-mounted spoiler with a central fin, along with a rather large built-in spoiler on the tailgate. At the front, the lower corners of the grille are flanked by what seem to be slightly angled LED daytime running lights.

Underneath the hood will reside AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 at first, with Aston Martin’s own 5.2-liter V12 also packing a pair of turbos to arrive at a later date. The Wales-built SUV is expected to inherit the electrical architecture from Mercedes and probably the infotainment system and some of the switchgear as well judging by a batch of interior spy shots we published back in April. An electrified DBX using Mercedes hybrid tech is reportedly in the pipeline, but it will come after the conventionally powered versions.

 

Series production of the first Aston Martin SUV will kick off in 2020.

Photos: CarPix

https://www.motor1.com/news/367986/aston-martin-dbx-spy-shots/

 

[Hamburger]

Yawn.....

[1fast1]

First Porsche

Then Lambo*

Then Ferrari

Now Aston

Thank goodness for McLaren, hope they remain true to themselves. 

* (with the LM-001 prototype then the limited production LM-002, then finally the Urus. Although I don't consider this much of a betrayal because they started as a tractor manufacturer and their output has been all over the place) 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Turboflat4

[dappercivility]

Pretty interesting, I guess supercar makers realised it is not about how sporty and fast the cars you make anymore. It is also about practicality and increasing one's market share. For young families, unless one is super well heeled, how many can actually buy so many cars to serve different purposes. The volume just ain't sufficient to keep these supercar makers going, especially the smaller ones like aston martin. 

Rolls, Bentley and Lambo now all have their own super sport SUVs. Very interesting to see the rest making theirs soon!

[Spring]

Looks good👍

Whilst Maserati is known as a poor man’s Ferrari, Aston Martin is known as a rich man’s Jaguar?😀

[sake]

I am surprised that Aston Martin is not as desired as i thought it would be.

Surprising that many would prefer a Bentley Conti GT over an Aston.

[1fast1]

39 minutes ago, Spring said:

Looks good👍

Whilst Maserati is known as a poor man’s Ferrari, Aston Martin is known as a rich man’s Jaguar?😀

That's exactly what I used to say. 😂

[1fast1]

16 minutes ago, sake said:

I am surprised that Aston Martin is not as desired as i thought it would be.

Surprising that many would prefer a Bentley Conti GT over an Aston.

Because most Astons are slow. The performance cannot be called supercar standard. The price is another matter lol. 

The new DB11 is different, because even the entry level one uses the engine from my old car - the twin turbo 4 litre V8 from the AMG GT. So it has respectable performance. 

(Aston has some other real super/hypercars but most of the previous gen Astons you see on the road are slow by my standards. Or at least not very fast. It's the same issue Maserati has always faced.)

Bentleys are not supercars, that's not what they're about. They're about high luxury with high performance. And they're direct competitors to RR in that regard. I never considered RR or Bentley making SUVs to be a "surprise" or "betrayal", it's very much in keeping with their image.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Turboflat4

[1fast1]

1 hour ago, dappercivility said:

Pretty interesting, I guess supercar makers realised it is not about how sporty and fast the cars you make anymore. It is also about practicality and increasing one's market share. For young families, unless one is super well heeled, how many can actually buy so many cars to serve different purposes. The volume just ain't sufficient to keep these supercar makers going, especially the smaller ones like aston martin. 

Rolls, Bentley and Lambo now all have their own super sport SUVs. Very interesting to see the rest making theirs soon!

Well, as I said in my previous post, RR and Bentley are not supercar marques, so it's no surprise. But for legitimate supercar marques (technically Porsche should be excluded, but they are a sports car marque and they started the "rot" going with the Cayenne which was basically a tarted up Touareg) it is a let down and a dilution of the brand in my view. 

[sake]

58 minutes ago, Turboflat4 said:

Because most Astons are slow. The performance cannot be called supercar standard. The price is another matter lol. 

The new DB11 is different, because even the entry level one uses the engine from my old car - the twin turbo 4 litre V8 from the AMG GT. So it has respectable performance. 

(Aston has some other real super/hypercars but most of the previous gen Astons you see on the road are slow by my standards. Or at least not very fast. It's the same issue Maserati has always faced.)

Bentleys are not supercars, that's not what they're about. They're about high luxury with high performance. And they're direct competitors to RR in that regard. I never considered RR or Bentley making SUVs to be a "surprise" or "betrayal", it's very much in keeping with their image.

i definitely agree that the Conti Gt is really comfy!

[1fast1]

20 minutes ago, sake said:

i definitely agree that the Conti Gt is really comfy!

Never tried a Bentley or RR. Not my cup of tea lol. The only Merc I've ever had is the GT, so that tells you something. 😂 

I've driven a couple models (V8 and V12) of the previous gen Astons and man are they pigs. V12 is livable but still too slow for the engine capacity and price.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Turboflat4

[sake]

4 minutes ago, Turboflat4 said:

Never tried a Bentley or RR. Not my cup of tea lol. The only Merc I've ever had is the GT, so that tells you something. 😂 

I've driven the previous gen Astons and man are they pigs. 

i am sure you will appreciate cars like Bentley when you reach my age! 🙂

[1fast1]

2 minutes ago, sake said:

i am sure you will appreciate cars like Bentley when you reach my age! 🙂

Er.. How old are you ah? 😂 

[sake]

6 minutes ago, Turboflat4 said:

Er.. How old are you ah? 😂 

emptied my CPF ordinary account last year!

[1fast1]

8 hours ago, sake said:

emptied my CPF ordinary account last year!

Wah OK. Must respect. Still got a few years to go to catch up. 😊

[inlinesix]

10 hours ago, Turboflat4 said:

Because most Astons are slow. The performance cannot be called supercar standard. The price is another matter lol. 

The new DB11 is different, because even the entry level one uses the engine from my old car - the twin turbo 4 litre V8 from the AMG GT. So it has respectable performance. 

(Aston has some other real super/hypercars but most of the previous gen Astons you see on the road are slow by my standards. Or at least not very fast. It's the same issue Maserati has always faced.)

Bentleys are not supercars, that's not what they're about. They're about high luxury with high performance. And they're direct competitors to RR in that regard. I never considered RR or Bentley making SUVs to be a "surprise" or "betrayal", it's very much in keeping with their image.

RR Cullinan and Bentley Bentayga are luxury car on stilt.  It is an off-road version of Phantom and Mulsanne.

[Naughty9795]

Did I remember wrongly that Lotus is working on a SUV😝

[1fast1]

29 minutes ago, Davidtch said:

RR Cullinan and Bentley Bentayga are luxury car on stilt.  It is an off-road version of Phantom and Mulsanne.

I'm actually kind of impressed with the off road capabilities of the Cullinan and Bentayga. Most "SUVs" are not true off-roaders, only glorified soccer mom mobiles.