Aston Martin DBS

Road Test

Your Say

Test date Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Price as tested £159,043

For Engine's wide powerband, outstanding ride quality, first-class brakes

AgainstInelegant body addenda, dash architecture, dreadful headlights

The original DBS was introduced in 1967 as a supplemental model to the DB6, but continued in production until 1972, two years after the DB6’s demise. Using a 4.0-litre straight six engine, it came with 282bhp in standard form, but with 325bhp as a Vantage.

The original DBS starred in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and is the car in which Tracy di Vicenzo, aka Mrs Bond, is shot dead by Irma Bunt. The current DBS was announced in 2006 and made its Bond debut in 2007, in Casino Royale.

Despite the heritage, the Aston Martin DBS is a strange kind of supercar flagship when taken at face value. Slower and less powerful than the Vanquish S of old and demonstrably a development of the DB9, after so many bold statements from the rejuvenated marque it appears as something of a pulled punch.

Or maybe not. Perhaps Aston Martin is, in fact, being very canny, because by positioning the DBS below the level of the likes of the Ferrari 599 and Lamborghini Murciélago yet above any Porsche, it has found some clear air for the DBS to breathe.

Even so, it is perhaps odd that Aston Martin has chosen to make so little visual differentiation between it and its little brother; there are extra louvres and slats, but the overall effect is still that of a DB9 to which too much make-up has been too hurriedly applied.

But Aston says itself that its construction was defined by “the need for high-performance stability, handling ability and low kerb weight”, and if that is the form it requires to let it function at a level beyond that of any of the brand’s previous models, then we have no quarrel with it.