’24 Aston Martin DB12 makes perfect sports car proposition
Romance is dead. The idea of refined, beautiful things is a notion that has been replaced by a postindustrial aesthetic that has utterly ruined product design. It doesn’t matter if it’s distressed denim, a mangy old barn door repurposed as a bathroom door or automobile design that takes its cues from video games. All new design is devised to shock or abuse our sense of beauty.
It’s no wonder that Ralph Lauren’s design vision, one that embraces the greatness of traditional American design, remains so incredibly popular and widely accepted. Or that Aston Martin, and its adherence to traditional sports cars values, remains so beloved worldwide.
That’s what makes the 2024 Aston Martin DB12 one of the world’s great sports cars. But Aston Martin would prefer you call it a super tourer.
If the DB12 looks familiar, it should. It dates to the 1948 Aston Martin 2-liter Sports, now known as the DB1. For 2024, the 75th anniversary of the DB1, the DB12 arrives looking much like its predecessor, the DB11. And indeed, it does wear the DB11’S doors and borrows the DBS’S
roof. But look closely and you’ll see changes. The DB12’S front end is higher and sports a larger grille. The headlamps have been redesigned, as has the front splitter and side mirrors. And look closely at its footwear. It’s the first car in the fitted with Michelin’s new Pilot Sport 5S tires.
Under the hood, you might be expecting to find a V12 — but you’d be wrong. In its place is a Aston-martin-revised Mercedes-amg twin-turbocharged 4.0 V8 engine that produces 671 horsepower and 590 poundfeet of torque. That’s an increase of 34 percent from the DB11. The driveline includes five driving modes: GT, Sport, Sport+, Individual, and, for the first time, Wet.
Hop in the car and you’ll find much the DB11’S perfect driving position remains intact. So too are the power seat switches on the side of the center console. The placement is less than ideal for those with longer legs. Bracing your leg against the center console inadvertently moves the seats, as I discovered to my dismay. And yeah, you could grouse against the minuscule trunk. But this is a sports car — um — make that super tourer. If you need more space, pack lighter or look elsewhere.
But there’s much to like about the center stack, which has been reworked from the DB11. Gone are the round push-buttons for the transmission atop the center of the instrument panel. Instead, a toggle shifter is standard, much like those used on other European cars.
The DB11 is certainly a grand touring car rather than a sports car. In other words, while it could go fast, comfort was nearly as important as velocity. The steering is linear, quick and direct, and the car carves through corners without a trace of wallow, eager to follow the driver’s orders. It stakes out the space between hardcore sports cars like the Ferrari Roma and Porsche 911 Turbo, and grand tourers like the Bentley Continental GT.
And that makes the perfect proposition in a high-dollar sporting driving machine.