A GRAND TOURER ON STILTS

The DBX707 defies its shape and weight to deliver an experience that feels every bit as Aston as it should

- SANEET DSILVA

There are moments in motoring when you stop being a rational human and become a wide-eyed child again. The Aston Martin DBX707 is responsible for several of them. Moments when it flings its two-tonne form through the air faster than most sports cars. Moments when it barks at the horizon like it is trying to intimidate.

Moments when it conforms indulgence with insanity so smoothly, you wonder if this is the most absurdly brilliant SUV money can buy. Spoiler alert. It just might be.

This is Aston Martin doing what it does best. Being beautiful. Being British. And being bonkers.

Let's start with the brochure numbers.

Power? 697bhp, or 707PS, from a 4.0-litre twinturbocharged V8, which, as most of you petrolheaded folks will know, is born in Affalterbach and heavily reworked by Aston Martin. It sends its power through a nine-speed wet clutch automatic gearbox to all four wheels.

Torque? A monstrous 900Nm, all of it coming in like a tidal wave between 2,750rpm and 4,500rpm. And top speed? 310kmph, in a car that weighs over 2.2 tonnes. It also does 0-100kmph in 3.3 seconds. That's faster than any sensible person needs. But the DBX707 doesn't care much for sensibility. The turbos are bigger. The cooling is more aggressive. The calibration is unique. The power curve climbs relentlessly until the limiter intervenes, and even then, it feels like it has more to give. And it's glorious.

AN SUV BY BADGE, NOT BY NATURE

Aston's first SUV, the DBX, made its debut in 2020, because, of course, it did. Every luxury brand needed one SUV to stay solvent. The standard DBX was quite good, but then they went and did what Aston does best: make it prettier, louder, faster and generally more terrifying.