Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Arrive On The Scene

Aston revives both the DBS and Superleggera names for its new 715bhp 2+2 ‘super GT’

- Stuart Gallagher

Ready for another new Aston Martin? Of course you are, so here’s the new DBS Superleggera, the replacement for the Vanquish S that sits between the Vantage and the DB11. (Although there’s also a new Vanquish on its way, too…)

In Aston speak the DBS Superleggera is a super GT and mixes the grand-touring attributes of the DB11 with the supercar performance of the Vantage. With 715bhp, a 340kmph top speed and an aluminium and carbon fibre construction it sounds more like a supercar to us.

As with the car it replaces, and the DBS of 2008-2012, the new DBS faces some strong rivals in Bentley’s new Continental GT, Ferrari’s ferocious 812 Superfast and Mercedes-AMG’s imperious S63 (or S65 if you must have 12 cylinders). The sales numbers may be small, but customers will demand the ultimate from their grand-touring supercar.

ENGINE & GEARBOX

There are no hardware changes to the DB11’s 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, but a thorough remapping of the ECU, and a new induction system and exhaust, have allowed Aston to extract an additional 115bhp and 201Nm from it. ‘ We always knew the performance was in the engine when we designed it for the DB11. For DBS we’ve called on some of its reserves,’ explained Aston’s Martin’s chief engineer Matt Becker.