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Aston Martin DBS Superleggera | Test Drive
I stare at it, trying to find every single secret of that dress of hers that envelops a mechanical masterpiece of incredible abilities in uniting two points on a map called world.
Words by Alessandro Marrone / Photo by Gian Romero
We’ve read about exorcisms of all kinds and our deepest curiosity led us to look for some evidence in the most remote corners of the web, trying to realize if demonic possessions are lurking in the shadows at the bottom of the room, ready to jump on us and get inside, turning any person into a prey to the most ancestral demoniacal madness. One of the best cinematographic transpositions is the 1973 movie “The Exorcist” which devilishly resists over the decades, thanks to that immortal split of extreme drama, in our case overturned on a seemingly sly grand tourer. If you love horror and strong emotions, you know what I’m talking about, so prepare your indomitable spirit because the DBS Superleggera is a possessed machine and there will be no exorcisms, holy water or crucifixes able to appease its lust for tearing the asphalt below, bewitching you with the sweet but vigorous melody of its engine and those perfect lines that have been hardly conceived on this world.
THE PRINCIPLE
The morning of the big day has arrived and within a few hours I will finally have at my disposal one of the greatest exponents of that world in which driving is not a simple action, but a proper lifestyle. They say grand tourer as a car like this encloses the entire globe ready to be crossed and discovered along the most panoramic and twisty roads to the point of inducing you to walk them – or better to drive ‘em – several times, trying to satisfy that sensorial hunger that a kilometer after the other is inexorably elevated. The DBS Superleggera is the maximum evolution of the Aston Martin formula and based on the extraordinary DB11 (tested last year, demonstrating the remarkable leap forward compared to the outgoing DB9), with which it shares more than can be imagined simply by looking at one next to the other. The strength of the DBS is not just aesthetics and mechanics – we’ll talk about this in a few lines – but spiritual. It is able to prick you deep and attract with lines that, although they do not distort the original concept of GT, blend the beauty of a luxurious and elegant sports car in an almost otherworldly way with an endless bonnet that houses a 5.2 V12 and its overflowing 725 horses, with the sinuous lines of an icon that will withstand the passing of years thanks to the indomitable courage given off by a threatening aspect, proud and always ready to be unleashed on the long awaited right road.
You can therefore imagine that I waited for the call of the transporter with extreme impatience and as if Christmas morning had arrived ten days earlier, the cell phone starts to ring. Unknown number, maybe someone is calling me for my latest late night eBay purchase. But on the other side there’s a voice starting to talk in harsh English tinged with the most typical German accent, I understand very well that the DBS Superleggera has arrived and is ready to be unloaded from the truck. Despite having been doing this job for a few years, you are never ready for such moments and you can relive certain emotions every time you start to see the first bits of a similar car, ready to end up in your hands, your heartbeat accelerates and you forget all the ideas that came to mind about a possible live Instagram video or some photos of the very first contact with the red devil. Once all the documents necessary for the test are signed, I can finally lay my eyes on it without any kind of distractions. It stands out as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, sitting on huge black 21-inch wheels almost wrapped inside the wheel arches that at first glance could cast some doubts about its grand touring qualities. I cannot enjoy the intimacy that I would like to spend in this very first moment, too many people are stopping and bombarding me with questions, distracting my focused eyes to scroll over every millimeter of a bodywork soaked with details and aerodynamic wizardries that confirm how incredibly special this car is, also if compared to the already extraordinary sister DB11.
I enter the passenger compartment and close the door which as usual moves by tilting slightly upwards. In the long-awaited solitude of the cabin I recognize a familiar and almost identical environment to that of the DB11, with plenty of red stitching and carbon fiber details that embellish the central tunnel and door panels. At the back there are two small seats that make the DBS a 2+2, but you know very well that no adult will be able to fit into the little space left after adjusting the front seats. I go straight to a secluded place, far from prying eyes, where I’ll be the one to greedily enjoy the absurd beauty of the DBS, at least for the moment.
STARING INTO THE EYES OF THE BEAST
As mentioned a couple of lines before, the DBS Superleggera is the sensory evolution of the beloved DB11. The platform is the same, the V12 too, but with the appropriate modifications it now delivers 725 horses. There’s more. The twin-turbo engine is not limited to have a frightening torque of 900 Nm available between 1,800 and 5,000 rpm, but in addition it’s incredibly responsive, it pushes and howls up to 7,000 rpm. It is like having at the same time the pros of a turbocharged engine and of a naturally aspirated one. The downside is that a good dose of salt in your head will be needed, because the 8-speed ZF gearbox dispenses this power on the rear axle only, which translates into the possibility of spinning the wheels from your driveway home to your supposed destination. In this case, moving 1,985 kg in weight, defining the DBS as the ideal drift car would be pure madness, but know that after a few hours behind the wheel, neither its size, nor the awareness of having a nuclear power plant underneath the endless engine bonnet will represent a scarecrow ready to annoy the whole driving experience. In fact, moving with a gentle right foot and in GT (which means Comfort) mode, the DBS proves to be able to make you move from one place to another without necessarily raping the tires and saying goodbye to the driving license. It is partly due to the excellent seat, which makes the driver enjoy a perfect visibility all around – even if parking maneuvers becomes more complicated – but also to the connection that is perceived at every input transmitted on the steering wheel.
Of course the DBS is a car with more than generous dimensions, it is the emblem of mechanical and engineering exaggeration translated into the forms of a work of art that I would see at ease in a room at the Guggenheim museum in New York, so as to preserve so much beauty and show it to future generations as a heritage of our times. Superleggera (very light) just by name, because you then pay a V12 and everything you carry with you on the scale test. In reality, Superleggera stands for the final design evolution, son of an illustrious collaboration with the Touring Superleggera coachbuilder from Turin, an effigy that this Aston shows on the bonnet, just like the old days. Describing the DBS for its beauty or its ballistic performance would be unfair and useless, also because everyone can get an idea of it by looking at the photos and discovering that it takes just 3.4 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kph, 10,9 to reach 200 kph and then effortlessly continue until you reach 340 per hour. The Superleggera gets under your skin like a demon, it breathes and moves with you, offering the ability to experience emotions previously unknown as a gift.
THE CIRCLE OF THE LUSTFUL
After several hours at the wheel and an unspecified number of stops at the 100 octane pump, I think I went through every infernal circle and gained a special place in that of the lustful. I end surprised every time I use Sport + mode as much as possible (there is no Track mode on the DBS) as my body is literally crashed onto the seat. In that moment that seems to pass much more slowly than it actually does, I clasp my hands as much as I can around the wheel and while the nose with its gigantic mouth devours the road, the air, the insects and everything that it finds ahead, I am shocked by the thrust and by the equally vigorous progression to which I am submitted. The gears are fired one by one following the disarming ascent of the needle of the rev counter towards the red line and a deafening noise is released by the two pairs of pipes at the back, the same that grumble like the roaring snoring of a cyclopean creature when idling and once you’ve reached 5,000 revs fill the air with a bestial bark.
Forgetting for a moment every remote need for comfort inherent in the words grand tourer, the DBS is a beast left to the fray and with an irrepressible fury advancing along the deserted and solitary mountain roads that I have chosen as our ultimate battlefield. In fact, despite the incredible power offered by the twin-turbo V12 – hardly fully exploitable on everyday’s roads – what is able to surprise the most is precisely the agility with which it moves between the bends, with direction changes induced even more vigorously than usual and with a car body that remains pressed to the ground, with the tail that warns you a moment before starting to widen, letting the gigantic rear tires to leave their symmetrical signature on the ground. The fact that I still have my head attached to my neck reminds me of being behind the wheel of a € 300,000 GT that even with traction control turned off makes a huge mechanical effort to keep me away from serious troubles.
Absurd as it may seem, lowering the pace and lowering the window so as to let in some extra decibels from the exhaust is an equally exciting way to grind kilometers. It is like looking at a picture that depicts the gates of Paradise on one side and the Apocalypse on the other. Choosing which representation to look at is in the driver’s hands, but you know that once the demon has entered into you, there is no way or desire to chase it away. With due reverence, you can acquire a confidence that with a power of this type you would not have thought possible and it is in that moment that you understand that it is not only the case to slow down, but to stop and think on what you really have in front.
Getting out of the car and I once again take the opportunity to binge my eyes at the sinuosity of the lines, the contrast between the red of the bodywork and the black of the roof and the aerodynamic details like the beautiful gills tapping the front wheel arches. With the engine put to sleep and a warm sun that offsets the deep hue of a red never shy in attracting the curious looks of those who can’t understand what car this is, I enjoy a moment of intimacy with this automotive divinity. I stare at it, trying to find every single secret of that dress of hers that envelops a mechanical masterpiece of incredible abilities in uniting two points on a map called world. With the DBS you can grind hundreds of kilometers without even realizing it, you can attack mountain roads without cursing a far more than generous mass and size, you can realize the most remote dreams of a passionate riding the drama and frenzy of a V12 that devours everything around it, while making you feel the hero of the situation.
The DBS Superleggera, to the detriment of what could be hypothesized, does not cause terror in those who drive it, as long as you have enough liver to lay bare and let it dictate the times, at least at first. Once in confidence it is as if lightening the grip around your neck and slowly letting you rule the vessel, ready for what could be a long journey to discover fantastic roads, ready to be conquered in the name and glory of a car that transcends time and space, becoming not only the tool useful to reach such strong emotions and sensations, but also covering the role of an emotion itself. Perhaps because of its beauty, its roar or the frightening grace with which it moves the bodies on board from one country to another, but the Superleggera embodies the essence of an inexhaustible driving pleasure that consecrates it as the ultimate grand tourer, representing the most reasoned and crazy alternative to the more traditional mid-rear engine supercars with that superhero image. The DBS Superleggera is an entity that once insinuated under the skin, cannot be exorcised in any way and it is precisely the alternative ending of a movie that I can’t wait to relive as soon as possible.
ASTON MARTIN DBS SUPERLEGGERA
Layout – front-engined, rear wheel drive
Engine – V12 cylinder 5.204cc – twin-turbo
Transmission – 8-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 725 hp @ 6.500 rpm
900 Nm @ 1.800-5.000 rpm
Weight – 1.985 kg
Acceleration – 3,4 sec.
Top Speed – 340 kph
Price – from € 284.528
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