{"id":27246,"date":"2021-04-22T12:29:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T16:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27246"},"modified":"2021-04-22T12:29:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T16:29:55","slug":"payne-aston-martin-dbx-your-suv-mr-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/payne-aston-martin-dbx-your-suv-mr-bond","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Aston Martin DBX – your SUV, Mr. Bond"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Aston Martin Rapide is the most beautiful sedan in the world. So it\u2019s no surprise the Brit brand\u2019s first SUV, the DBX, is a stunner. Now that\u2019s how you pen a ute.<\/p>\n

America has been overrun by SUVs, but save for the odd Range Rover, luxury automakers have struggled to translate the sex appeal of their sedans\/sports cars to the high-riding hatchback. The Porsche Cayenne, which pioneered the performance ute back in 2003, still looks like an overweight 911. Mercedes GLC Coupes look like bowling balls. Even Lamborghini\u2019s Urus fails to stir the loins.<\/p>\n

The Aston DBX nails it. My white DBX tester takes the ugly SUV duckling and makes it a swan \u2014 literally. Signature beak and ovoid headlights sweep backward\u00a0over a muscled torso to an elegant, swan-like tail. This is a rare bird in the auto kingdom.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

But the DBX is about more than good looks.<\/p>\n

Like the DB5 sports car that James Bond made famous, the SUV boasts speed and utility. Not rotary-tire-shredders-emerging-from-the-wheels or grille-mounted-machine-gun utility, but useful features nonetheless. Take the DBX to a road course, for example, and it\u2019ll help with track setup as well as run hot laps.<\/p>\n

I high-tailed it to my home state of West Virginia one weekend to see if DBX lives up to its family name with a few laps around a test track. The rural circuit only gets occasional use and was blocked by a tree from a recent ice storm.<\/p>\n

No problem \u2014\u00a0I brought an SUV. I loaded up DBX\u2019s ample cargo bay with a chainsaw and long brooms and went to work with Mrs. Payne clearing the debris. The DBX comes equipped with air suspension to accommodate multiple driving modes \u2014 GT for daily driving, Terrain\/Terrain+ for off-roading, Sport\/Sport+ for track days. The air suspension also knelt\u00a0so I could sit on the rear sill and strap on my work boots.<\/p>\n

\"Aston<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Once the track was cleared, the Aston proved worthy of its badge.<\/p>\n

In this Age of Ute, branding is essential as legacy automakers transition to SUVs and electric vehicles. That goes for a $43,000\u00a0Mustang Mach-E as well as a $180,000\u00a0Aston. The crossover embodies Aston core values earned over decades: style, power\u00a0and handling.<\/p>\n

This SUV is old school, old Europe. It\u2019s glorious.<\/p>\n

Under the hood is a good old-fashioned V-8 with two turbos strapped to its back. It\u2019s the same eight-holer found in Mercedes\u2019 AMG models (Merc owns 20% of Aston) as well as Bond\u2019s latest Vantage sports car. Exhaling though twin tailpipes the size of ship cannons, the V-8 puts out 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Our friends at Car and Driver clocked its 0-60 mph\u00a0time at 3.9 seconds \u2014 a half-second shy of Vantage.<\/p>\n

The nine-speed transmission (also Merc-sourced) seems barely able to keep up. Stomp the gas and the box bounces from sixth gear to third, delivering raw, violent power to its massive, 13-inch-wide tires. Like a flimsy gate giving way to the king\u2019s cavalry, it unleashes a ferocious surge of power.<\/p>\n

\"Propelled<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The elegant beast exploded out of a tight right-hander. The nose pointed at the heavens,\u00a0the engine bellowing with joy.<\/p>\n

For a 4,940-pound SUV, it is astonishingly agile. A rhino in tennis shoes. Enormous\u00a016-inch rotors brought the DBX back to earth as I rotated around a long carousel turn \u2014 the rear end eagerly swinging outward\u00a0as all four tires scrabbled for traction as I fed more throttle. The designers have drawn a sleek athlete \u2014 and the engineers have matched it with a midsize\u00a0aluminum-chassis SUV that feels a class smaller.<\/p>\n

The interior is Old Europe as well.<\/p>\n

While Mercedes, BMW\u00a0and Cadillac have introduced a new generation of dazzling, dash-spanning screens, Aston is content with digital instrument and console screens that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in a $28,000 Hyundai Elantra. The infotainment screen isn\u2019t even touch operated \u2014 it can only be controlled by a remote dial. And the screen only supports Apple CarPlay, not my Android Auto (at least there\u2019s blind-spot assist since the coupe-like rear roof creates a blind spot the size of Oxford).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

You don\u2019t go to Windsor Castle to see the latest in big screen technology. You go to see exquisite rooms and sumptuous materials. So, too, the DBX.<\/p>\n

The interior and front thrones are wrapped in delicious blue leather. White\u00a0contrast stitching sows it together. On the door pillars and ceiling? Lush\u00a0beige Alcantara. My wife swooned. Speaking of castles, the wood-trimmed console arches like a bridge over a moat \u2014 the blue leather space underneath perfect for secreting m\u2019lady\u2019s purse.<\/p>\n

The rear seats of this royal chariot lacked the fancy-pants\u00a0portable tablet of some fancy chariots I\u2019ve\u00a0driven\u00a0recently. But this\u00a0English athlete is guzzling barrels of oil \u2014 not coddling\u00a0tea-sipping passengers. Strap them in and at least they\u2019ll have plenty of leg room. Your 6\u20195\u201d reviewer could sit behind himself with room to spare while basking under a huge\u00a0panoramic roof unobstructed by crossbar support. How Aston managed to make this ute so nimble with all that glass on the roof is an engineering marvel.<\/p>\n