ASTON MARTIN DBX S

Supercar turbos and copious carbon make for a faster, lighter super-SUV

- MATT SAUNDERS

This latest halo version of Aston Martin's DBX, the S, seeks to redistribute a few bragging rights among the owners of top-ranking super-SUVs – and we would be naive to imagine those were unimportant.

Using new enlarged twin-scroll turbochargers taken from Aston's Valhalla hypercar, the Mercedes-AMG-sourced V8 in this car now tiptoes beyond the 715bhp headline power output of the Ferrari Purosangue's atmospheric V12. The V8-engined plugin hybrid Lamborghini Urus SE offers more still (789bhp) but is also 0.1sec slower-accelerating to 62mph than this new Aston.

One way or another, then, this S version gives DBX devotees fresh objective justification to back up the subjective sense that their everyday-use, any-occasion supercar on stilts must surely be the best luxury car in the world – and worth every penny of its £210,000 departure price.

The emphasis there is very much on the departure bit, though. In addition to the extra 20 ponies, your DBX S can weigh up to 47kg less than an equivalent DBX 707 (which, having originally been the special model, now rather ignominiously becomes the bog-standard one) – provided you're prepared to spend on options such as 23in magnesium wheels, a carbonfibre-composite roof and various other bits of carbonfibre trim and bodywork.

So while it looks uncharacteristically generous for Aston to price the S from the same £210,000 entry price as the 707, it's unlikely that many owners will be getting much change from £250,000 having finalised their orders.