Radical new DBX707 fundamentally improves Aston Martin’s SUV
Just a couple of months after it popped up overseas, Aston Martin brought a prototype DBX707 to Cape Town to introduce it to the South African market. “It has a far bigger mouth to gulp in all that extra air to keep it cooler,” Aston’s UK and South Africa regional manager Paul Collett smiled as he ushered me around the car. Indeed. 707 designates the fastest Aston Martin SUV yet’s pferd stark, that being a slightly mangier German measure of horsepower.
Superb 520 kW apex predator AMG biturbo V8
Let’s cut to the chase, DBX707 churns out 520 kW and 900 Nm from its superb apex predator Mercedes-AMG biturbo petrol 4-litre petrol V8. 707 also has a few connotations — not least the Boeing that revolutionised air travel for once and for all, so it fits the bill. 707 is also a bit more than just an upgrade. It starts with those looks, which as you’d have gathered by now, are in part to help cool the monster. While simultaneously bringing slipperier aero and reduced drag.
That old Aston Martin grimace in far broader, it’s far chunkier up front. There are greater braking vents dotted along the car to help dissipate heat generatd by those monster 420 front and 390 mm rear carbon-ceramic brake discs. Thy sit pride of place framed by splendidly oversized 23-inch wheels. This is one SUV that really needs a spoiler. Its F1-inspired double diffuser being a case in point as it frames four monsoon drain grade exhaust tips.
There are some changes inside. Like great looking bucket seats up front and all of it tanned in blue and beige with violent green trim in the sampler. 707 has all the infotainment, bells and whistles too. But old Stroll would be well advised to negotiate some prize next generation MBUX bits alongside those F1 power units, AMG V8s and drivelines in future. The current kit seems, well, last season.
DBX707 underpinnings fundamentally retuned
Dig a bit and the active ride control, electronic differential, all-wheel drive and electronic stability control, as well as the steering and basic suspension architecture, are all fundamentally retuned. To deliver ‘the cornering agility, sporting feel and dynamic character of a true sportscar’. But the big news is still under the hood. 155 kilowatts and 200 Nm up on the original that many considered feeble, there will be none of that with the 707!
Such increases would be considered hottish as total output in a hatchback. They come courtesy of induction improvements and new ball-bearing turbochargers, among other tweaks. Aston promises 3.3 seconds to 100 km/h. We hope to proof that when we strap our VBox to it soon. From there, 707 delivers devilish performance. It smashes 160 km/h in 7.6 seconds. And slaughters the quarter mile in under 11 seconds at well over 200 km/h.
Not bad for a 2.3-ton gas burning behemoth. Like the Empire, that strikes back in a claimed 14.4 litre pr hundred fuel claim. So who knows how much it will really get it you drive it feisty. Never mind, Aston Martin will however soon offset all that carbon and appease the bunny huggers with a plug-in hybrid DBX. But then if you are dropping five bar on a car, then what’s a few rand extra at the pumps, between friends?
DBX707 is now without doubt the real deal.
So, rest assured, not that there was anything ever wrong with it, but any reservations anyone ever had about the Aston Martin DBX being a bit feeble, are now forever exorcised in the 707. Yours in South Africa for R5-million, the Aston Martin DBX707 is now without doubt the real deal.
