Five days with the DBS

[Kevin Hackett]

Delivered 7am Thursday morning, collected yesterday evening. Took a couple of days to click with it but bloody hell, what an astonishing motor car.

A worthy flagship - so, so much better than the Vanquish. If you've got £160k burning a hole in your sky-rocket and you're patient enough to wait a couple of years, get your deposit in.

And as for the looks, well they'll definitely grow on you. A quite immense car this, with absolutely huge presence on the road. I thought the DB9 Sport Pack was the ultimate Aston until this DBS came to stay. It's just sensational.

[Davey S2]

Most other motoring journalists seem to disagree with you.

[V8LM]

Clarkson likes it though, at you'll see this weekend.

[:J:]

Kevin Hackett said:

A worthy flagship - so, so much better than the Vanquish.

IMO, the Vanquish is the better of the two

Edited by :J: on Thursday 22 November 12:59

[Scamp's Walker]

Where can we read your review? Any photos? Did you have one of the US spec cars like EVO ended up with for their COTY review? They have tested a UK customer spec car and say that that has a better set up!

[NDA]

Sooooo much better than the Vanquish?

The DBS is a very nice car.The Vanquish, it's true, is a different driving experience. But I'll bet the majority of Vanquish owners i.e. real world owners (me included) don't see the DBS as the Aston flagship. It's a DB9 with bits on - which is great. But it's not the aspirational car that the Vanquish was - the handbuilt menacing monster.

[Kevin Hackett]

Whether a Vanquish enthusiast sees the DBS as inferior or not is irrelevant. It's like air-cooled 911 owners - they dismiss the new models because they're not 'real' somehow. The DBS is Aston's current flagship and that's that.

And I'm not alone in saying the DBS is a better car. The Independent, The Times and even Clarkson rate the DBS higher. Saying it's a DB9 with bits added on is wrong. Is a DBRS9 classified the same way?

EVO had a car that wasn't ready - simple as that. Due to their ridiculous lead times they had to test it ages ago, long before the press launch. Aston took a gamble giving them a car so early and it didn't pay off.

I had one for a few days to review it for FHM and a US car magazine. I put a thousand miles on it when the press launch would have allowed 200 if the attendees were lucky. You need to spend quality time in a new car to get the measure of it and those initial tests would have been written after three or four hours behind the wheel. You can bet your life EVO will change their minds the next time you read about it.

[V8LM]

Whether a Vanquish enthusiast sees the DBS as inferior or not is irrelevant, just as irrelevant therefore as someone saying that the DBS is so, so much better than the Vanquish perhaps.

[Maff]

As an Aston fan (and previous owner) given the choice of a new DBS or a Vanquish S, I'd take the DBS all day long.
Why? To me it appears a much better car. More modern exterior design, interior leaps and bounds above the Vanquish (no plastic dash bits or masses of ford fiesta parts, volvo sat nav excepted) faster round a track and in a straight line than a Vanquish S and a better driving experience to boot (so reports suggest). On top of that all the goodies such as CCB brake system, electronic adjustable suspension, weight advantage, new paint colours (fire black is very nice), keyless go, etc etc.

Yes the Vanquish is very special, timeless, hand built, and never to be replaced, but those Aston days are gone. For ever.

[Grant3]

I'm one car enthusiast who doesn't have rose tinted glasses, I prefer the watercooled 911's to the aircooled models for many reasons..... BUT the one thing I don't like about the DBS's marketing is Aston's obsession with saying it as an all new completely different model to the DB9, which it clearly isn't. It totally insults my intelligence to rave on about it in any other terms other than a top of the line DB9!

There is no shame in admitting it is a pumped up DB9, I love Porsches & they are able to justify a price range that spans from just over £60k to over £130k for the GT2, with many variants in between, this enables Aston to shout loudly & confidently about a new top of the range DB9 fully justifying its premium, but wittering on about it being an all new model is frankly aggravating in the extreme!

Get real, get honest & get more customers is what I say!

Edited by Grant3 on Thursday 22 November 22:45

[Maff]

Grant3 said:

Get real, get honest & get more customers is what I say!

I agree, its clearly based on the DB9, which is no shame. Bit like saying a 430 Scuderia is a completely new model

The trouble is Aston will sell them as quick as they can produce them, and as long as they are selling like hot cakes with waiting lists Aston have no requirement to change their ways or marketing methods. Shame really.

Edited by Maff on Thursday 22 November 23:05

[bogie]

yup - the 1st 2 years production already sold out .....product placement in the latest Bond film must have helped ..but you have to hand it to the marketing folks there - they get voted coolest brand in thye UK 2 years running, win the DVLA survey for most desired car etc...it dosent matter whether xxx brand is .3secs quicker around the bullring etc, Aston cant make em fast enough these days and personally I think its great

I'll take a 3 yr old DBS for £80K please

[XXXAngelXXX]

i am jealous Kevin !

[:J:]

Kevin Hackett said:

I had one for a few days to review it for FHM and a US car magazine. I put a thousand miles on it when the press launch would have allowed 200 if the attendees were lucky. You need to spend quality time in a new car to get the measure of it and those initial tests would have been written after three or four hours behind the wheel. You can bet your life EVO will change their minds the next time you read about it.

600 odd miles in a DBS for me, and I would still take a Vanquish S in black please

[NDA]

Some people love Vauxhalls and there's never any accounting for taste.

The DB9 is fabulous, the Vanquish a sublime evolution of the AML brand, not understood by everyone. The DBS is perhaps something inbetween. I know several Vanquish owners and they wouldn't trade down.

If AML ever make a flagship car again, I would probably have one.

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

I love the look of the DBS but frankly

emotion control unit

and that stuff about speed, grace, precision or whatever it is when you turn the ignition on would completely ruin it for me.

Everytime I got in it I would feel like I was being patronised by some american marketing department. which is no doubt the fact of the matter.

[whoami]

Obiwonkeyblokey said:

I love the look of the DBS but frankly

emotion control unit

and that stuff about speed, grace, precision or whatever it is when you turn the ignition on would completely ruin it for me.

Everytime I got in it I would feel like I was being patronised by some american marketing department. which is no doubt the fact of the matter.

No it wouldn't - I forgot it actually said that on my Vantage until this thread.

[NDA]

Power, Beauty, Soul may be thought, it shouldn't be written down and a car really shouldn't say it. It would make me say "oh, do off" every time I got in the car.

I've yet to read a review of the DBS that would make anyone want to buy one - everyone's saying 'what's the point?'. Yes it's very nice and, being based on the DB9 it would be. But uh, why? If Aston do ever make a Vanquish again the DBS owners (if there are any) will be more than miffed.

[Polarbert]

Kevin Hackett said:

And I'm not alone in saying the DBS is a better car. The Independent, The Times and even Clarkson rate the DBS higher. Saying it's a DB9 with bits added on is wrong. Is a DBRS9 classified the same way?

I think you've got yourself a very nice car, but it is just basically a newer DB9, many many things have changed on it to make it better. It doesn't really differentiate itslf as a flagship like the big 'V' did as it looks so similar.

Edited by Polarbert on Saturday 1st December 19:37

[sirdavid]

NDA said:

Power, Beauty, Soul may be thought, it shouldn't be written down and a car really shouldn't say it. It would make me say "oh, do off" every time I got in the car.

ROTFLMAO

And that from a man who knows a thing or two about marketing. Well said!