New Aston Martin DBX: price, specs, release date

The Aston Martin DBX has been unveiled in Beijing. The super-posh SUV costs from £158,000, which is a bit more than a Bentley Bentegya but a fair whack less than a Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Order books are open now.

Aston Martin DBX design

The distinctive family grille – the largest one ever on an Aston – lets you know this is an Aston Martin, despite the upright SUV body and raised ride height. There’s also a neat design feature in the daytime running lights either side of the grille. They surround air-ducts that aid aerodynamics and help cool the brakes. Smart.

Around the side, the sculptured haunches and feature line also flag that this is a proper Aston Martin, while the 22-inch alloy wheels make a bold statement. The frameless doors and hidden side glass seals give a sleekness to the design, too.

At the back, there’s a sporty little kick-up on the tailgate while the rear LED lights will make the car look like a hovering Vantage if you’re following one in the dark. The DBX also doesn’t have a rear wash wipe. Aston says the way the aero works apparently means the rear screen is self-cleaning.

Interestingly, you can’t even see one of the most effective aerodynamic features on the DBX. It has a flat floor, with one of the best systems of undertrays that Aston Martin has ever produced. This helps DBX reach its impressive top speed of over 180mph.

Aston Martin DBX specs

Aston Martin promises that the DBX will have the dynamics of a sports car and the versatility of an off-roader. Living up to that promise gets off to a good start with its engine. It’s a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with 550hp and 700Nm of torque – an updated version of the engine from the DB11 and Vantage.

That means the DBX is good for 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 181mph. It’s not all V8 burble though. The DBX has cylinder deactivation, which cuts the number of cylinders firing when you’re cruising to help save fuel. Still, it will only do around 20mpg, so if you want fuel economy, don’t buy a V8 SUV… A nine-speed automatic gearbox comes as standard.

Aston Martin DBX driving

The chassis is bonded aluminium, which makes it both light and stiff. It’s a construction technique used on Aston sports cars and which helps make the DBX fairly light for this sort of car and therefore sporty to drive.

The DBX has comes with what Aston calls eARC – electric anti-roll control. This means the air suspension also has electronic adaptive dampers that can either give you a smooth, soft, comfy experience, or stiffen the car up to make it super-sporty.

In its most aggressive setting, the eARC can reduce body roll to levels to one similar to a DB11’s. However, when appropriate, the eARC can also allow individual wheels maximum wheel travel. This is beneficial for soaking up bumps and isolating occupants from poor road surfaces, but also helps when tackling challenging off-road terrain.

You can pick between six driving modes in the DBX. This works by adjusting the active differentials, adaptive air suspension, eARC and ESC, amongst other things, to tailor the car to certain situations.

Four modes are specifically for on-road driving, with two new modes, Terrain and Terrain+ for off-road driving. You can also tailor your own driving set-up, if you’re a button-junkie. These can be linked to individual keys to allow instant set-up for multiple users/drivers.

It comes with a suite of driving aids, including a first for Aston Martin: adaptive cruise control This means the car will cruise, accelerate, brake and keep you in lane for you.

You can take your DBX off-road – but this is an Aston first and an SUV second, so while it is all-wheel drive and comes with hill descent control, a Range Rover will probably take you further into your country estate than the DBX. Still, much of the driving development work of the DBX was conducted on Rally GB stages in Wales.

Aston Martin DBX interior

The interior is as sumptuous as you’d expect in a luxury SUV. It’s bespoke too, where you can choose from a range of metal, wood and composite veneers. There’s even a vegetarian-friendly option made with microfibre, but whichever trim you pick you get a 10-inch infotainment screen in the centre console and a 12-inch digital driver display in place of old-fashioned dials. If it looks a bit familiar, that’s because it’s the latest MBUX system from technology partner Mercedes.

You can bathe the cabin ambient lighting in a choice of 64 colours – your passengers in the back can have a different colour setting to you in the front.

Aston Martin DBX practicality

Close attention has been paid to the driver’s position, with Aston claiming even very tall or very short drivers can get comfortable behind the wheel of the DBX.

Your passengers will be well catered-for too – This is the first Aston Martin to come with five seats. And they are usable seats, too. Aston claims the DBX has been designed for ‘equal space and comfort whether front or rear’ and the rear is roomy even for three adults.

The DBX boot is bigger than the ones you’d find in a Range Rover or Bentley Bentagya, but slightly smaller than you get in a Porsche Cayenne. You can spec up your DBX with a range of practical options – ski pack, shooting pack and even a dog pack that comes with a cushion, dog bowls in their own Aston-branded leather bag, a lead and a dog shower.

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