MOMENT OF clarity number one: if you were asked to create a luxury SUV that drove with the alacrity that the Aston Martin name demands, you might seek to pull together a team and a parts toolkit not dissimilar to those behind this car, the most important Aston in the marque’s history.
The pandemic torpedoed Aston’s original DBX launch plans (set for the perfect light and wide-open spaces of California), leaving ever so slightly less sun-drenched Silverstone to host our first meeting with the car is finished, production-ready guise. Aston has an engineering centre on the Stowe circuit, nestled within the flat-out curves of the Grand Prix track, and I get a guided tour with chief vehicle attribute engineer Matt Becker. We head past banks of studious engineers at their desks, up the complex’s airfield style control tower – “Imagine a couple of deck chairs on the roof for the British Grand Prix” – and on into the bustling pit garage-style workshops.
We pause in the last of these garages, its space filled with dampers hung like Spanish hams and, between them, the equipment to strip and rebuild them. It’s here, where the DBX’s enormous air-sprung shocks dwarf those of the Aston sports car hung nearby, that the enormity of the project – “New platform, new factory, new everything,” says Becker – is made abundantly clear, as is Aston’s exciting combination of big OEM backing and passionate, small-volume agility.
This story is from the September 2020 edition of Wheels Australia Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2020 edition of Wheels Australia Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
ROUGH DIAMONDS
GO OUT AND SEE AUSTRALIA. BUY ONE OF THESE AND YOU'LL MAKE IT HOME TOO
WORK IN PROGRESS
WHEN YOUR LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON IT, DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES
RABID RESPONSE
EVEN IF YOU'RE PULLING IN THE FINANCIAL HORNS, YOU WON'T NEED TO COMPROMISE ON FUN
PREMIUM BLEND
HERE'S HOW TO ENJOY CHAMPAGNE ON A VAGUELY BEERY BUDGET
GO LARGE, SAVE BIG
WE BRING YOU A SELECTION OF LARGE FAMILY SUVS THAT ARE UNLIKELY TO BREAK THE BANK
MIDDLE CLASS
THE AUSSIE FAMILY DREAM USED TO BE A QUARTER ACRE AND A PICKET FENCE. NOW IT'S A LITTLE MORE MODEST
SHORTY AWARDS
VALUE FOR MONEY CAN BE A RARE COMMODITY AMONG SMALL SUVS. HERE ARE THREE THAT ANSWER THE CALL
MID SIZE MAX VALUE
THE MEDIUM RANGE SECTOR IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF GETTING ALOT OF CAR FOR YOUR DOLLAR
HATCH MATCH
WANT A HATCH THAT'LL PUT A SMILE ON YOUR DIAL SECOND TIME ROUND? TRY THESE...
MODE ΤΟ ΤΟΥ
PORSCHE'S LATEST HOT 911 IS THE NEW FRONTIER FOR ON-THEFLY CHASSIS ADJUSTABILITY, OFFERING THE DRIVER A WORLD OF CONFIGURATION - BUT IS IT WORTH THE HASSLE?