Aston Martin DB12 at the 2023 Festival of Speed | GRR
We’ve already talked about the new McLaren 750S and its debut at the 2023 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, and how it is in many respects a development of the superb 720S. Now we have another such vehicle, one that is more than a mere facelift but not an all-new vehicle: the Aston Martin DB12.
Not being ‘all-new’ isn’t a bad thing – the DB11, in both V12 and V8 forms, was a delightful machine. But like the McLaren, tweaking the DB11 to create the DB12 means a more refined and polished package, the very best bits of the DB11 but with better tech and more performance. It was the latter we saw oh-so-clearly on the Hill.
So, the engine. The V12 has been dropped, the V8 has remained, a 4.0-litre twin-turbo courtesy of Mercedes-AMG. It now produces a bonkers 680PS (500kW), a 34 per cent hike compared to the V8 in the DB11. Zero to 62mph takes 3.6 seconds and the top speed is 202mph, with revised cam profiles, bigger turbochargers and better cooling (the new grille lets in 50 per cent more air than the DB11) to thank for the bump in power.
Beyond the engine there’s an electronic limited-slip differential for the first time, shortened ratios in the eight-speed gearbox, Bilstein adaptive dampers, stiffer anti-roll bars and a chassis structure that’s seven per cent stiffer than that of the DB11. It’s the dampers, really, that are key to the DB12’s character change compared to the DB11, as they bring a massive 500 percent increase in bandwidth of force distribution.
What else do you need to know? There’s a three-mode ESP system (modes of GT, Sport and Sport+), there are 400mm front and 360mm rear brakes as standard, with carbon items available as an option to save 26kg of unsprung mass, and there are new forged 21-inch wheels shod in the latest Michelin Pilot Sport 5S tyres – their first official use – spanning a 275- and 315-section at the front and rear respectively. There’s also a new and utterly fabulous interior, one that feels much more Aston Martin than the DB11’s ever did, and it’s loaded with the very latest technology.
Perhaps the best comparison to make when thinking about the DB12 is the old DBS, the one you would have seen in the James Bond film Casino Royale nearly two decades ago. The DBS was similar in so many ways to the DB9, but the cumulative effect of thousands of changes to the DB9 elevated the DBS to the position of the best GT car the company had ever made. We suspect that’s the case for the DB12, too.
Sadly there isn’t a big V12 anymore (you’ll need to buy a Valour for that), but watching the V8-powered DB12 slide its way up the Hill is joyous.
Photography by Toby Whales and Jordan Butters.