Expert opinion
It must be a challenge for car designers to translate the visual identity of a car brand that is most renowned for sleek coupes into a blockier, upright shape suitable for SUVs. Porsche managed it (eventually) with the Cayenne, And Lamborghini made a reasonable fist of things with the Urus. In Aston’s case, there’s the classic trapezoidal grille, long bonnet and a steeply raked windscreen to remind you that this is indeed a sporty Aston Martin, and even a ducktail-style rear end that links the car visually with the DB11.
So far so good on the design front then, and the DBX scores equally well when it comes to driving, delivering a genuinely involving, sports-car-like driving experience, and one that belies the car’s height, size and weight. It’s even got a modicum of off-road talent, though we wouldn’t follow a Defender while green laning in one.
And in terms of getting on with the business of drawing the horizon towards you as fast as possible, then the 4.0-litre twin-turbo Mercedes-sourced V8 and nine-speed automatic gearbox, with 550hp and a 181mph top speed, does not disappoint. Go for the full-house DBX 707 and you get – as the name suggests – 707hp and a vmax of 191mph.