The DBX is the “best” supercar SUV I’ve navigated thus far, due to its looks and its savage burble and crackle as you accelerate and decelerate. There is no note like an AM note. If James Bond married and had a family, this is the Aston-Martin he’d buy.
IG-@_fraser73
I was delivered my DBX in Hollywood, got in, looked around in awe, belted up, started the engine and – another woah. Godzilla under the hood. A Twin-Turbo 4.0L V8 making 542 horsepower and 516 lb.ft of torque. It’s $242,000 base, $269,186 with all options and delivery charge.
I spent several days in a row enjoying that burble and dealing with Los Angeles drivers who typically didn’t signal and don’t let anyone merge, sometimes obnoxiously so. Careful, bro.
AM
It’s a monster. You’re not so aware you’re driving an SUV most of the time – it moves like one of AM’s other beasts. The DBX is like a $269,186 jacket – you look better in it or even next to it.
Some handy things to know
*It accelerates from 0-60 in about 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 181 MPH.
*It’s got a nine-speed automatic transmission with AWD – you’ll take it out in the snow, if any, with no fear.
*It can tow 5,940 pounds.
*Its fuel Economy (city/highway/combined) is a miserable 14 / 20 / 16 mpg, meaning there’s a literal price to pay for this much power.
*It’s got fat 22’’ inch silver sport wheels, a power tailgate and 12-way power seats.
AM
*It’s got a satisfying, rich, crispy-tremble rumbly-bass Aston Martin premium audio system with 14 speakers. Crank the classical, the metal, the hip-hop, the comedy or the news – the sound fills the cabin with rich audio yummy goodness.
It’s a magic carpet ride, too, with its air suspension with adjustable spring rates and five-level height adjustment, so the bumps and potholes can go chase themselves. There’s also a 48-volt electronic anti-roll control system, replacing the usual anti-roll bars and allows individual wheels to take a bash and not affect any of the other wheels.
AM
Throw it into Sport mode and you get, naturally, maximum velocity and a standard, torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system.
Inside? Lovely. Elegant. Leather, leather everywhere, as opposed to some manufacturers who sneak the bit of plastic in here and there.
The only gripe is with the pushbutton shifter buttons, placed seemingly as far as possible from a quick hand needing to do reverse, drive, reverse, drive in a big hurry – and the dashboard layout of this particular shift has “D” the farthest of all the buttons. “P” is closest. It seems to me that one quickly needs “D” more than “P.”
IG @_fraser73
What I loved most about this ride was that it truly offered the versatility and size of an SUV, but the drive was sheer sports-car adrenaline. (I haven’t had Lamborghini’s Ruelto. Yet.)
If you’ve got a brood and the coin to pay for transportation of same but also wanting to get your horsepower on, this is your baby.
This post originally appeared on Forbes.com
