REVEAL OF THE MONTH14 JANUARY 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER
Profit and Loss
Aston needs the DBX to be
a hit. The company’s stock
price has lost 75 percent of
its value since its IPO in late- To keep itself solvent,
the brand was recently
forced to raise $150 million
in debt by offering to pay
the loan note back at 12
percent. Demand for its
sports cars has fallen, but
the continued uncertainty of
the United Kingdom’s messy
Brexit from the European
Union has also affected
confidence. Palmer is keen
to talk up the strength of
the business—“in terms of
EBITDA [earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation,
and amortization], it’s the
most successful it’s ever
been”—but admits that the
DBX is expected to sell at a
rate of more than 4000 a
year globally, which would
constitute approximately
half of total production.
“It means the company
[doesn’t have] all of its eggs
in one basket,” he says.
95th percentile male to a 5th percentile
female; Aston thinks the DBX will appeal
more strongly to women than its exist-
ing lineup does.
While it will be produced in a new
factory in Wales, the DBX is constructed
using Aston’s long-favored technique of
fabricating a bonded and riveted alu-
minum structure. As with the Vantage
and lesser versions of the DB11, power
comes from a Mercedes-A MG-sourced
twin-turbo 4 .0 -liter V-8, one that makes
542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet.
Mercedes’s nine-speed automatic is
employed here, too. Aston claims a
4 .3-second zero-to- 60 -mph time and
a 181-mph top speed. Despite Palmer’s
insistence that looks trump speed, we’re
told that prototypes have been lapping
the Nürburgring Nordschleife at a pace
that suggests the DBX could near if not
beat the famous circuit’s 7:42 .2 SUV
record set by the Audi RS Q8, should
Aston attempt it.
5 bTRRß_aUNORR[]baV[a\ZNX- ing sure the DBX delivers an Aston- appropriate dynamic experience. Though the SUV is fundamentally rear-wheel drive, a transfer case directs torque to the front axle when required. There is also an electronically controlled rear QVßR_R[aVNYaUNaPN[R[YVcR[\_aNOVYVgR
the handling. Adaptive dampers and air
springs are standard and have the abil-
ity to increase ride height by up to 1.
inches or lower it by up to 2.0. The DBX
also gets 48-volt active anti-roll bars to
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cornering. Aston’s chief engineer, Matt
Becker, admits his team opted to wind
the system back slightly to allow a small
amount of body lean. “It felt too unnatu-
ral without it,” he says. In addition to the
usual array of on-road driving modes,
aUR_RdVYYORad\\ß_\NQ`RaaV[T`AR_-
rain and Terrain Plus.
The DBX can be ordered now, with
aUR ¼_`aB@ Pb`a\ZR_ PN_` `PURQbYRQ
to arrive in the second half of the year.
Pricing begins at $192,986—more than
the Bentayga V8 but not as expensive
as the Urus or Cullinan. Aston’s future
depends on its success. —Mike DuffSTATELY DIMENSIONS
DBX Bentayga V8 Cullinan Urus
LENGTH, in 198.4 202 .4 210 .3 20 1.
WIDTH, in 78.7 78.7 78.7 79.
HEIGHT, in 66.1 68.6 72. 2 64.
WHEELBASE, in 120 .5 117.9 12 9.7 118. 2
CURB WEIGHT, l b 4 9 5 0 5450 6100 5300