Aston Martin announced back in May the latest iteration of its Grand Touring “DB” vehicles with this: the DB12. From our first impressions, it’s the culmination of everything you’d ever want from a “super” grand tourer.
There’s often something spoken about and recognized within the car industry: “presence.” It’s what you notice first when a car pulls up, or something you hear as it approaches, or even a shade of color you catch in certain light. For the Aston Martin DB12, the presence is all encapsulating. From it’s dominating length to its aggressively wide stance, the DB12 was instantly recognizable as we got a closer look at it.
The demo model parked outside of Aston Martin’s newly renovated Gaydon, United Kingdom headquarters was elegantly painted in a matte silver exterior, a shade AM refers to as Satin Xenon Grey. The sheen caught our eyes mostly at the fender cuts and bumper angles, but the doors were perhaps the best panel to see the shift from a blinding silver to a darker grey. Black wheels also made the grey paint pop a bit more, as we would imagine a silver wheel would be too much for this. While our personal preference would be for a more “Aston” green, the grey is far from a last choice.
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Lighting-wise, the representatives at Aston Martin told us about the history of the brand’s lighting design, where certain curves around the headlight housing even mimicked the corners of classic racing circuits in the UK. Nerdy easter eggs aside, the DB12’s headlights are one of its defining characteristics, blending harmoniously with the iconic and now-massive front grille.
The front chin and splitters as well were surprisingly wide for the car, extending almost passed the front tires. According to the design team, that extra few millimeters of width of course aid in aerodynamics but also provide an aggressive lower-than-it-actually-is appearance when viewed in your rear view. Matched with the side intakes that funnel air through the front wings for brake cooling and the DB12’s fascia is arguably the best looking of the modern-day DB cars.
Last note on the exterior are the tires – the DB12 is the first car to use Michelin‘s brand new Pilot Sport 5 S tires, tested and developed specifically with the DB12’s powertrain and handling in mind. In fact, each tire is branded with “AML” – a bespoke designation by Michelin stating the tire’s specifications are ‘tuned’ for the DB12 and is ever-so-slightly different to what will be a standard Pilot Sport 5 S.
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Dominic Fraser For Aston Martin/Hypedrive
Inside, the DB12 doesn’t stray away from the formula of “exquisite grand tourer” at all, wrapping the driver in a cockpit-esque look and feel that’s both low-slung and engulfing at the same time. The biggest difference however is the infotainment system, which Aston Martin now proudly state is a proprietary system developed in-house and without the help of its parent company, Mercedes-Benz. The touchscreen is now completely up-to-date and cutting edge, and is both intuitive and in-depth. Par for the course is the quilted and brogue-like perforated leather seats, metallic paddle shifters, a slathering of carbon fiber, piano black, contrast stitching around the full leather dash and more.
The Aston Martin DB12 is available now to order from dealers, with arrivals this quarter. And just when you thought the DB12 couldn’t get any prettier, Aston Martin dropped the top and made it “Volante”.
