Aston Martin has just revealed its first crossover. The DBX is Aston's first effort at branching out into a segment that is seeing growing sales but is definitely outside of the sports car company's normal wheelhouse.
We've already seen the interior, which Aston says uses the things it has learned from making big people fit into small sports cars to help make sure that there is even more room for people in its new SUV. They say the DBX has class-leading head and legroom, with a full-length glass panoramic roof and frameless doors to help make the first five-seat Aston feel light and spacious.
Aston says touches like separate armrests and the glovebox came from the guidance of the brand's Female Advisory Board. In addition to the leather seating, there's a new fabric that's 80 percent wool that Aston calls an industry first. Both the headliner and the cover for the glass roof are Alcantara, which the British brand calls another first.
The DBX is powered by a new version of the 4.0L twin-turbo V8 from the DB11 and Vantage. In the DBX, it makes 542 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, tuned to deliver that power in a manner more suited to a larger, heavier crossover. It uses a nine-speed automatic transmission, while the all-wheel drive system gets an active center diff and an electronic rear diff to shift power and torque fore, aft, and across the rear. There's an active exhaust to let the V8 roar when you'd like it to and cylinder deactivation for when you don't. It's enough to push the DBX from 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.
Helping the DBX handle is a triple volume adaptive air suspension that uses 48V electrics to run the anti-roll control system and adaptive dampers. It can raise the ride height by 45 mm or lower it by 50 for improved terrain handling and getting in and out.
While this is clearly an Aston Martin on the outside, there's more cargo space than we'd have ever expected from the brand on the inside. There is 632L behind the rear seats and 1,530 with all the seats folded. The perfect place to put your spare parts, tools, and tires, to tow your DB6 around. Aston modelled the DBX's aero with exactly that on a trailer behind it, and it can handle up to 2,700 kg towed weight.
Inside, amongst the wood, composite, and metal veneers is a 10.25-inch infotainment system screen and a 12.3-inch screen for the dash display. Apple CarPlay is standard, as is a 64-colour two-zone ambient lighting system.
Aston says that the DBX will include "all available active safety systems," which isn't exactly detailed, but we can assume it will come with at least the usual radar cruise control, lane guidance, blind spot warnings, and they did say that they'll come with a surround-view camera.
The DBX will start from $218,400, with deliveries starting in North America the second half of next year.
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