2022 Aston Martin DBX707 Prototype Drive: The New SUV King?
Based on this early drive, the super-SUV bar may have been raised.
"Watch this." Aston Martin boss Tobias Moers keeps his foot hard on the brake, selects launch control, and pushes the gas pedal to the floor. The revs build with a guttural snarl, then he sidesteps the brake pedal. The Aston Martin DBX707 super-SUV lunges with a roar like a hungry lion, the nine-speed transmission snapping through the upshifts as the twin-turbo V-8 kisses the 7,000-rpm redline. Moers laughs out loud. "It's ridiculous fast," he says.
A tight left-hander. Moers pitches the Aston into the turn and punches the throttle. The tail swings wide, and he catches the motion with an armful of opposite lock. He keeps his foot down, and the Aston exits the turn in a graceful drift, as comfortable and composed as a sports car. Moers grins. "You shouldn't be able to do this in an SUV," he says, shaking his head.
It's good to see the boss enjoying his new toy.
And the Aston Martin DBX707 is very much Moers' toy. His fingerprints are all over Aston's new super-SUV, from the tweaked, AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo under the hood, to the AMG Speedshift MCT wet-clutch nine-speed automatic with its Sport+ mode and launch control function, to the chassis that's been tuned to deliver precision and support without compromising ride comfort.
The DBX707's mission statement is simple: to be faster than a Lamborghini Urus and to handle better than a Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe. And after a brief drive of a production-ready prototype at Aston's compact Stowe Complex test track at Silverstone, England, we're tempted to say, "Mission accomplished."
The DBX707's raw thrust is a given: With 697 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque under the hood, even a 5,000-plus-pound SUV is going to feel quick. This Aston builds speed with relentless intensity, the power delivery so smooth and linear, you must carefully watch you don't hit the rev limiter if you're shifting manually. Moers claims a 0-60-mph acceleration time of less than 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph, and the DBX707 feels every bit that quick.
But what's much more impressive than how the DBX707 goes is how it handles. It feels agile and responsive, not twitchy or straining at its tethers, especially when changing direction rapidly. It has, quite simply, the best, most authoritative front end of any super-SUV in the business, precise in its response and concise in its feedback. Turn in, and the Aston goes exactly where you point it. More important, there's plenty of support from the rear axle, right through from corner entry to exit.
Much of that, Moers says, is the result of a major rework of the front suspension, particularly in terms of its supporting structures. A cross-brace means the front shock top mounts are 55 percent stiffer than those of the standard DBX. A 0.16-inch-thick underbody panel has raised torsional stiffness by 1.3 percent to improve steering response and impact control. Compression and rebound damping have been increased by 20 and 10 percent.
Modifications at the rear include a new e-diff with a higher locking rate, and spring and damper rates that are softer than those at the front. Overall, the electronic active roll system has been recalibrated to deliver 50 percent more torque on low body motions, and the roll control is now more rear-biased at higher cornering speeds to reduce understeer.
As a result, the DBX707 feels remarkably light on its feet, with none of the slightly leaden, nose-heavy feel you get when pushing a Lamborghini Urus or a non-GT Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe—the car Moers' team initially used as a dynamic benchmark—and little of the exaggerated roll and head toss you normally feel in vehicles with a high center of gravity. And although it's tighter and tauter than a regular DBX, the ride is still impressively refined, with no harshness or jitters over small, sharp lumps and bumps.
It still feels more like a grand tourer than a track rat.
The Aston Martin DBX707 is hella fast in a straight line and jaw-droppingly good through the twisty bits. We'll reserve final judgment until we get to spend more time with it on real-world roads a few weeks from now, as well as until such time we can pitch it against its rivals in a proper comparison test. On first impression, though, the DBX707 just might be the new benchmark super-SUV.