DB12 is the new soul of Aston Martin

Aston Martin is celebrating 75 years of its DB models in 2023, so naturally it's the perfect time to launch a new one. Named after company founder David Brown, undoubtedly the most famous in the lineage is the DB5, the star of James Bond movies such as Goldfinger, but over the years the DB has becoming synonymous with grand tourer performance and luxury.

When the DB11 was launched in 2016 it was the first model in Aston’s Second Century plan, the start of a planned revival for the marque. Now there’s the DB12 and once again it’s the start of something new — this time with a focus on design, engineering and most importantly, interiors.

We travelled to Monaco to experience what Aston Martin is calling the world’s first super tourer. That’s just marketing speak; if a grand tourer is a GT then why would you want to call your luxury car an ST. Surely, Aston has distanced itself from its Ford days by now?

The V12 era is over for the DB so it’s all V8 for now — until electrification takes over. Under the bonnet of the DB12 is a revised version of the Mercedes-AMG V8 with two larger turbos and some fettling by Aston’s engineers. Power is 500kW at 6,000rpm and torque of 800Nm between 2,750-6,000rpm. It will hit 100km/h in 3.6 seconds and go on to a top speed of 325km/h. Impressive, though the new DB12 isn’t really about numbers.

The instrumentation might not come up with “Power, Beauty, Soul” when you start an Aston any more, but that is actually what it is all about. The beauty is in the DB12’s athletic looks, but also a link to its history. Director of design Miles Nurnberger explained that the bigger grille partly has to do enhanced cooling for the engine but also to highlight an iconic part of DB models over the decades.

Pity they couldn’t do anything about the black panel at the grille’s base though. It is, says Nurnberger, a “pain” but a necessary one to accommodate the latest radar technology. It could have been worse; they could have camouflaged it behind a tacky plastic badge like Maserati. Still, it’s a blemish on an otherwise beautifully sculpted body, one that hints at the power within.

For well over a decade Aston has been dragging its heels on interiors, sticking to the same look, the same materials and some off-the shelf components from Mercedes. That all changes with the DB12. The interior is all-new, with a superb design, the latest in tech and connectivity and comfort — and more than a match for the Bentley Continental GT or the Ferrari Roma. A switch to digital instrumentation is a pity and we’ll miss those beautifully crafted dials but we’ll get over it because, finally, Aston has an interior that ticks both the beauty and soul boxes, which of course brings us back to the power.

There’s now a more instant response to the accelerator and in true GT fashion, the power is easy to harness without feeling like the car is going to bite you — something that has been injected into the character of the latest Aston Martin Vantage. There’s clever 6D suspension, which means it not only monitors and reacts to horizontal loads but to lateral ones as well. The steering has been completely reworked and is remarkably precise, plus the paddles for the ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox have now been placed on the steering wheel for a more immersive driving experience.

Driving modes include wet, GT which is actually normal mode, Sport and Sport+. As if that is not enough, there are nine settings for the traction control, presumably from “yes, please save me” to Kimi Raikkonen style “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing.”

If you do know what you’re doing you’ll find a proper GT, one that is comfortable and accommodating while enjoying a relaxed drive along the coastal roads of the French Riviera or through Camps Bay. Once you escape into the hills, though, it’s a different story — as we discovered on the famous Route Napoleon. The DB12 relishes being pushed hard, communicating every undulation in the road, encouraging you to push the limits of grip from the bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 5 rubber. Not that you really need to explore those limits, the DB12 is forgiving but rewarding in a GT way rather than going full sports car.

It’s not only a good DB, but a good Aston and thanks to the new interior it is a brilliantly good GT, one that no longer deserves to be overlooked in favour of rivals. Aston Martin SA can’t provide exact pricing for now, mainly because the exchange rate is so messed up, but the UK price is £185,000.

The designers have created something beautiful, the engineers have given it power and together they have created a DB model that has a proper soul. Now that’s the kind of start for Aston we can really applaud.