David Linklater
Car designers sometimes talk about their work as art. Which is tedious. Cars are not art. Art has an aesthetic purpose, whereas cars have a function to perform. That’s the difference between art and design. And the reason why people who pen cars are called, ahem, designers. Not artists.
Anyway, something that looks amazing and also does something amazing can be just as inspiring as a work of art.
Which brings us to the Aston Martin DB11. It’s a completely new model on a completely new platform – the first clean-sheet effort for the British marque since 2004’s DB9, which also happens to be the model the DB11 ostensibly replaces.
The DB11 has the requisite Aston styling cues, including the signature grille and long bonnet. But it also looks quite unlike anything else in the maker’s range. It looks spectacular, and not just for styling’s sake. It boasts cutting-edge aerodynamics that help it hit 322kmh with not a spoiler in sight.
The whole body is shaped around this aero-design, although much of the important work happens out of sight. In the front wheelarches is a racing-derived design called Curlicue: gills in the lining take air and expel it through apertures on the front guards, to reduce lift. More air is fed through the back of the arch via vents behind the front wheels.
The rear incorporates the Aston Aeroblade. Air goes in through a channel behind the pillars, is fed through a vent (you can see right through if you open the boot and peer towards the front of the car) and creates a jet effect as it’s forced through a tiny grille in the bootlid. Look closely and you’ll also see a sliver of active spoiler that raises only at very high speed. Told you there was hardly a spoiler in sight.
It’s a Grand Tourer, albeit one that can hit 100kmh in 3.9 seconds. The performance is epic at any speed thanks to a 5.2-litre V12 (an evolution of Aston’s existing 5.9-litre unit) with twinturbocharging and 700Nm of torque at 1500rpm. Turbo-lag is just not a thing any more, which is why purist carmakers like Aston are now embracing it.
You can choose from GT, Sport and Sport+ modes for the suspension (engine too, albeit separately), but even in the most extreme setting it’s entirely usable on everyday roads. Or to flip the dynamic equation around, it’s beautifully controlled through corners even in GT mode, with some roll but sensational balance. The alloy DB11 is still a heavy car, but beautifully balanced 51/49 per cent front-to-rear.
There’s still a traditional GT feel to the car, but it is loaded with new-generation technology: not just twin-turbocharging, but also electric power steering and torque vectoring.
There’s plenty of traditional luxury inside the car, but there’s a difference with the DB11: everything’s modern and it all works! That’s not merely because the DB11 is all-new, but also because Aston’s electronic systems are now supplied by MercedesBenz. So the menus and some of the controls are familiar Benz stuff, but when it’s this good who cares? It’s all beautifully integrated into the sumptuouslooking Aston cabin.
While we’re on the subject of aesthetics: there are some weird colours happening with this car, right? The exterior hue is called Arden Green and according to Aston Martin it evokes the ‘‘past glories of Racing Green for a modern look steeped in history’’. It’s a bit of factory favourite as it’s featured in quite a few publicity and advertising images for the DB11.
Mix Arden Green up with the lurid Copper Tan and Bitter Chocolate upholstery of our Launch Edition test car and you have a look Aston has dubbed New Heritage, which is one of six preconfigured colour and trim schemes on offer.
The others are Soft Tech, Shanghai Fashionista, Mysterious Sport, Intrepid Sport and Iconic Craft. Yes, these are real things.
Or you can just go ahead and create your own look from scratch. You don’t have to know art, just what colours you like.