CAR (UK)

Swings and very fast roundabout­s

The upside of long-haul night flights? The drive home from Heathrow.

- By Ben Miller

Aston Martin DB11 AMR Month 3

The story so far

Unspeakabl­y handsome V12 GT joins us for six months

+ Gorgeous; vaguely practical; sensationa­lly fast; tweaked chassis over original V12 DB11 Expensive; expensive to run; so big and so valuable you can get panicky and paranoid in rush-hour tra c

Logbook

Price £178,495 (£209,350 as tested) Performanc­e 5204cc twin-turbo V12, 630bhp, 3.7sec 0-62mph, 208mph E ciency 24.8mpg (o cial), 21.6mpg (tested) Energy cost 27.5p per mile Miles this month 630 Total miles 3822

It prefers a smooth, Jenson Button-esque touch at the wheel to Mansellian flailings

?? ?? TIME FOR A DETOUR Why hurry home? On countless occasions over the last year or so A14 roadworks have forced me to divert, with the A1 North closed. This time I take the B660 for fun, the sun now above the horizon and the road carpeted with windblown tree debris. Fast and free, the Aston’s in its element. Somehow the car silently communicat­es its preference for a smooth, Jenson Button-esque touch at the wheel rather than Mansellian flailings. WELCOME BACK Well before Covid-19, my night flight from Cape Town gets into Heathrow early on a Sunday morning, sneaking in after the small-hours curfew lifts but before storm Jorge will turn crosswind landings into significan­t yaw events. To the Aston! (Which is squirrelle­d away in Business Parking.) 5 1 4 NEED. COFFEE. NOW The M25 is never quiet but the storm’s helping persuade people to stay home. I get a clear run at the fabulous slip road from T5 onto the M25 (clockwise), then neatly dispatch a roundabout or two before picking up a 24-hour Starbucks. The DB11’s V12 and superbly calibrated gearbox are a joyous pairing, the only perceptibl­e shifts coming between the lower gears when the revs are artificial­ly high, just after start-up. 3 2 A NEW RECORD It’s hardly surprising that a 630bhp V12 and empty roads might conspire to put a new time on the table for this oft-repeated journey. Neverthele­ss, it’s drives like this that help forge a man/machine relationsh­ip (and have you paying above-average attention to the letters falling on the doormat for a fortnight afterwards). 3 My brain’s too addled for podcasts or music so, in the Aston’s very comfortabl­e cockpit, I daydream and cover miles at a faintly astonishin­g rate. It’s incredible what not being held up by dawdling dual-carriagewa­y overtakers will do for your average speed. Damping in GT mode is pliant and cosseting – almost too soft given the AMR’s badging and track-ready aesthetic. SPEED IS 4 1 2 5 DISTANCE OVER TIME nd
TIME FOR A DETOUR Why hurry home? On countless occasions over the last year or so A14 roadworks have forced me to divert, with the A1 North closed. This time I take the B660 for fun, the sun now above the horizon and the road carpeted with windblown tree debris. Fast and free, the Aston’s in its element. Somehow the car silently communicat­es its preference for a smooth, Jenson Button-esque touch at the wheel rather than Mansellian flailings. WELCOME BACK Well before Covid-19, my night flight from Cape Town gets into Heathrow early on a Sunday morning, sneaking in after the small-hours curfew lifts but before storm Jorge will turn crosswind landings into significan­t yaw events. To the Aston! (Which is squirrelle­d away in Business Parking.) 5 1 4 NEED. COFFEE. NOW The M25 is never quiet but the storm’s helping persuade people to stay home. I get a clear run at the fabulous slip road from T5 onto the M25 (clockwise), then neatly dispatch a roundabout or two before picking up a 24-hour Starbucks. The DB11’s V12 and superbly calibrated gearbox are a joyous pairing, the only perceptibl­e shifts coming between the lower gears when the revs are artificial­ly high, just after start-up. 3 2 A NEW RECORD It’s hardly surprising that a 630bhp V12 and empty roads might conspire to put a new time on the table for this oft-repeated journey. Neverthele­ss, it’s drives like this that help forge a man/machine relationsh­ip (and have you paying above-average attention to the letters falling on the doormat for a fortnight afterwards). 3 My brain’s too addled for podcasts or music so, in the Aston’s very comfortabl­e cockpit, I daydream and cover miles at a faintly astonishin­g rate. It’s incredible what not being held up by dawdling dual-carriagewa­y overtakers will do for your average speed. Damping in GT mode is pliant and cosseting – almost too soft given the AMR’s badging and track-ready aesthetic. SPEED IS 4 1 2 5 DISTANCE OVER TIME nd

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