Sharper Still

It promises more power, sharpened handling and a string of other upgrades. We take Gaydon’s new V12 GT for a spin.

- Jack Evans

Responding to an increase in rival offerings, Aston Martin has taken its DB11, boosted the output of that car’s V12 engine, and produced the DB11 AMR. Power has been increased, handling sharpened and exhaust tuned, to produce a car more in line with other grand tourers on the market. Aston Martin’s been keen to stress the DB11 AMR remains a true cross-country cruiser at heart, however, with new upgrades simply giving it better handling without diminishing the car’s comfort levels.

There’s quite an extensive list of upgrades compared with the regular DB11. The most significant is that power upgrade, now 30bhp more than the older car’s 600bhp. The standard DB11 was never lacking punch, but Aston Martin has responded to other, more powerful cars from rival manufacturers (we’re looking at you, Bentley) and thrown some extra horsepower in for good measure. Torque, however, remains the same at 700Nm. AstonMartin has also recalibrated the eight speed automatic transmission for faster shifts, while the chassis has been re-worked to provide better cornering ability without reducing the car’s excellent comfort credentials.