WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN UNSTOPPABLE force meets an immovable object? It's a paradox that runs through the Iain Banks novel Walking on Glass, and it's got into my head as I drive the DBS 770 Ultimate across Wales. The DBS is an unmistakably heavy car. The steering efforts reflect this and you sense it when you scythe into a corner. And yet when the twin-turbo V12 comes on boost on just a modest throttle opening, the 770 Ultimate seems to weigh nothing... until you want it to stop or change direction again, and on these dip and dive, nip and tuck Welsh B-roads, you want it to do that a lot.
This last-of-the-line DBS ticks a lot of boxes on the list of 'Things a car can do to intimidate you': it's very expensive, it's very wide, you sit so low you can't see the bonnet, and it's obviously heavy yet ludicrously accelerative. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a nervy, sweaty-palm drive, especially given the rain-slick roads, and yet I'm relishing the challenge, absorbed in the process, engaged with the car and exploiting its considerable strengths to make prodigious progress. This is a DBS like no other before it.
If you polled everyone who's driven what we can now call the standard DBS, asking them what the car needs, the answer 'more power' would come way down the list below a carbon fibre carriage clock and an Alcantara umbrella stand. But more power is what the DBS 770 Ultimate has, the uplift from 715 to 759bhp (770 PS) making it the most powerful series production Aston Martin of all time. It even pips the limited-run One-77 and its 750bhp, 7.3-litre, naturally aspirated V12.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
BEST BUYS AUDI RS
THERE'S NO GETTING AROUND IT: AUDI RS PRODUCTS haven't taken home nearly as many group-test trophies as BMW M cars have over the years.
BMW M3 E46
The E46 was the first M3 to be launched during evo's lifetime, and its unique. unrepeatable character ensures it remains one of the very best
XX RATED
The Spider version of the SF90 XX provides our first taste of Ferrari's track-focused 1016bhp hypercar on the road
RADICAL SR3 XXR & REVOLUTION 500 EVO
No road car pretensions here: the Radical and Revolution sit where race car meets trackday car
ANALOGUE ELISE & ALPINE A110 R
No-expense-spared restomod Elise by Analogue Automotive makes an intriguing pairing with the lightweight, track-focused A110 R
FORD FOCUS ST TRACK PACK & HONDA CIVIC TYPE R
The Civic Type R has so far seen off all challengers, but will it meet its match in the trackday-friendly Focus ST?
TOYOTA GR86 & BBR MX-5
GR86 and supercharged MX-5 look closely matched on paper; how will it prove on the twists and undulations of Cadwell?
PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS
It’s the perfect blend of speed, poise and precision: what better car than the GT3 RS to establish our benehmark lap
TRACK CAR OF THE YEAR
From hot hatches to flyweight sports cars to actual racers, 15 contenders vie to be crowned evo Track Car of the Year 2024
ORANGE RUSH
The new Vantage has the power and speed to take on the mighty Porsche 911 Turbo S, but is it all about the numbers or does it have the ability to engage and entertain too?