The DBX is Aston’s first SUV in its 100-plus years of history. And more importantly for its future, it’s an attempt to insert itself into global markets such as China, the Middle East and the USA – places deeply attached to the idea of Big Vehicle Status.
It is also a stab at making a genuinely useable, practical, everyday Aston. The DBX is built at a production facility in Wales. Having been originally launched in 2020, it was facelifted in mid-2024, and all engines are supplied by Mercedes.
It has been proven, despite massive reservations, that you can build a high-riding SUV supercar, such as the Lamborghini Urus, Maserati Levante, Porsche Cayenne and Ferrari Purosangue. Now it’s Aston’s time to have a crack at it - and they have made a bloody good fist of it.
Being the petrolhead I’m purported to be, l had to review the fast one (none are exactly slow). The DBX707 is a total monster with 697bhp and 663lb ft of torque. The 707 uses different turbos with additional cooling to create that power. ‘The world’s most powerful luxury SUV’ is the claim. Or rather, it was – until the 715bhp Ferrari Purosangue arrived on the scene.
The facelift didn’t actually result in many mechanical changes, so you still get the same engine and Merc-made nine-speed auto gearbox combo. The triple-chamber air springs and active dampers have been tweaked so that there’s a little more body control, and the exhaust wakes up earlier to provide more noise at lower RPMs. When it was new, the 707 gained a bigger grille at the front, a larger diffuser at the rear and a load of other details over the standard DBX.
We’re told there’s also slightly more steering assistance in GT mode to make motorway driving that little bit more comfortable, and the 0-60mph time has actually dropped from 3.3 seconds to 3.1 seconds.
The Urus was the most powerful and aggressive SUV l had ever driven until the 707 arrived as, when pushed, it is a thunderous monster of a car. It’s noisy and fun, practical and interesting, imposing and challenging. As far as 4x4s go, perhaps only the Purosangue is more addictive.
It has five drive modes – GT; Sport; Sport+; Individual and Terrain, and the air suspension has a fighting chance of dealing with whatever you throw at it. On the motorway, it’s calm and sure-footed, with surprisingly little wind noise, and 25mph is a decent average. Get angry, and it is akin to a fighter jet on full take-off thrust, so stamp the ‘go’ pedal and hold on, and it is insanely fast with huge mid-range shove, with 0-60 in 3.1 – and 193mph at the top end. Caution: do not look at the fuel gauge when you do the above, unless you have a defibrillator onboard!
The key to such power is the chassis. In the 707, there’s a huge, seemingly never-ending amount of grip that allows you to corner at speeds that really shouldn’t be possible in a 2.2-tonne SUV. On a B-road, this thing can scare you like a supercar. Stick it in Sport mode, and the air suspension hunkers down, the exhaust flaps open and you get a proper manual mode for gear changes with slender flappy paddles behind the new steering wheel.
If you really insist on taking this car off-road, drop it into Terrain mode, which raises the suspension 45mm and tweaks the differential, and it will handle it pretty well. But really, why?
Inside is a nice place to be with no obvious issues (now they have fixed the awful infotainment system), comfy seats, good headroom, and room for five with a superb palette of colours and materials. If money is no object, you can go full James Bond and special order through Aston’s ‘Q Department’ (get it?), and have, basically, anything your heart desires.
Having dumped the Mercedes infotainment system, Aston has produced its own 12.3” touchscreen – and it’s very good. The stock stereo is an 800-watt, 14-speaker system. However, a Bowers & Wilkins upgrade is available and that’s capable of blowing the windows out.
Aston has managed to make it look pretty good, unlike the Rolls Royce Cullinan, for example (the ugliest car on planet Earth which l have refused to review on numerous occasions), bullet-proof Mercedes engine, great exhaust note and it goes like stink.
What’s not to like?
TECH STUFF
Model tested: Aston DBX707
Power: 697 bhp
Speed: 0-62 - 3.1 secs
Top: 193 mph
Economy: 19-25 mpg
Price from: £208,500
