2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

Key Points: Paint Protection Film (PPF) Applied To Whole Car, Bang & Olufsen BeoSound System, Ceramic Grey Q Special Exterior Paint.

The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is a lightweight British grand tourer, unveiled in June 2018 as a replacement for the second-generation Vanquish. It is named ‘Superleggera’ as a reference to the Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, which helped Aston Martin develop its first lightweight grand tourers in the 1960s and 1970s.

The car is based on the DB11, though it features a new vented bonnet and a revised bumper and grille for improved engine cooling, along with two side-mounted air extractors to cool the brakes. It also has torque vectoring, a more aggressive mechanical limited-slip differential, a quad-pipe titanium exhaust, a revised ESP system, a wider track width and the choice of three driving modes: GT, Sport and Sport Plus.

The DBS features the same Aeroblade system featured on the DB11, but with a refined F1-inspired double-diffuser that helps the car generate 180kg of downforce; the highest figure ever for a series production Aston Martin. Due to the extensive use of carbon fibre, it has a kerb weight of around 1,800kg; a saving of 70kg over the DB11.

Power comes from a 5.2-litre ‘AE31’ twin-turbocharged V12, producing 715hp and 664lb-ft of torque, driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission with a shorter final drive ratio than the DB11s. In order to optimise the centre of gravity and weight distribution, the engine has been positioned as low and far back in the chassis as possible. The result is a 0-62mph sprint time of just 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 211mph.