BMW M3 CS Crazily expensive hotshoe saloon
You know that new Bentley Continental GT? Perhaps you might like to try an upgraded Aston Martin gran turismo instead. By Ben Barry
HAD ASTON MARTIN engineers rested on their laurels, the new Bentley Continental GT would’ve launched in a blaze of unopposed glory and beaten the top-of-the-range DB11 V12 in all sorts of humiliating ways – 0-62mph, top speed, power… the metrics would’ve been a blood bath. Aston boss Andy Palmer couldn’t let that happen, so in September he told his team to crack on and make the DB11 a bit better.
Just eight months on, we’re driving the finished product. It’s called the DB11 AMR, which stands for Aston Martin Racing, and it replaces the regular DB11 V12 altogether.
The AMR looks subtly different with new carbonfibre bonnet blades and side strakes, some gloss-black detailing and darkened lamp clusters, plus an update for the interior.
To outgun the Bentley by the smallest of margins, peak power increases by 30bhp to 630bhp and the top speed by 8mph to 208mph, while the 0-62mph time is a dead heat at 3.7 seconds. Only the W12 Bentley’s massive 664lb ft peak torque figure can beat the Aston’s unaltered 516lb ft.
The lightly tweaked twinturbocharged V12 impresses with its lusty mid-range, easy speed and keen response. There’s extra spice in the soundtrack courtesy of some well-judged snare-drum crackles on the overrun. Crisper gearshifts help too, and are particularly welcome as we criticised the original car’s fuzzy transmission.
Yet it’s the tweaks to chassis and steering that are more transformative. The steering feels weightier than before, not in a burly way, because the electrically assisted system is still light and pacey enough to shrug off the big Aston’s deep-into-the-amber BMI rating. But there’s definitely a chunkier, more precise kind of feedback. And yet the steering calibration is exactly the same; the chunkiness is a by-product of the chassis upgrades.
The rear subframe bushes are stiffer, the engine mounts uprated, the dampers re-valved to be 10 per cent beefier, and new forged 20-inch alloys save a very significant 3.5kg a corner.
Spring rates, however, are unchanged, with the goal of preserving the smooth
ride we praised on the car’s launch. This works, because the DB11 still flows serenely over an undulating road, and – more impressively – continues to glide over pockmarks. But work the DB11 hard through corners and you notice how much tighter and more precise the chassis feels – particularly the rear, which previously could feel a little loose, especially in its softest setting.
The DB11 is still a big, heavy GT that can’t compromise on comfort, so it’s easy to yearn for something lighter and sharper still, but the balance is sweetly struck given its brief. Remember, too, that the upcoming DBS Superleggera will be more focused still.
The AMR represents a relatively simply but highly effective package of tweaks for the DB11, and just in time for those Bentley Continental GT twin tests. There is, however, one key metric on which the Bentley still wins: price. While the Continental GT costs £159k, the DB11 AMR is £175k – a £10k increase over the DB11 V12. That gives Bentley some respite. But it won’t be taking anything for granted – expect Crewe to have a Speed edition in the works to offer a counter-strike to the AMR’s performance figures in due course.