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2018 Aston Martin DB11 AMR Review | A private world of comfort and speed

There are moments when miniscule adjustments to something wonderful can yield unforeseen enhancements. The addition of a dash of Maraschino liqueur to a perfect Manhattan. The application of a few Newton-meters more pressure in a deep tissue massage. Gold-plating the wire wheels on your Commodore Blue Continental Package-equipped 1985 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible. So it is with the Aston Martin DB11 AMR, a slight tweak to the Aston Martin DB11 V12 — already one of our favorite grand tourers. The non-AMR DB11 hosts the ideal combination of profligate luxury, recherche exclusivity, and muscular performance. (The V8 is also ... fine.) But Aston Martin's new AMR performance sub-brand has drizzled its speed effluent onto the DB's componentry and software. The result borders on transcendent. AMR was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 2017 as the storied British marque's go-fast subsidiary (its M or AMG, if you will). Inspired in name, if not in mission, by the Aston Martin Racing team, it has already resulted in the AMR-ization of a half-dozen Aston vehicles including iterations of the Rapide, Vulcan, Valkyrie, and previous-generation Vantage. The $241,000 DB11 is the seventh in that series, and it will take the place of the "base" DB11 V12 when it appears in the states later this summer. Since Aston recently opened the first of its fancy-pants AMR Performance Centers adjacent to Germany's famed Nurburgring racetrack, it seemed fitting that our test drive of the new car commence there. We snagged the DB's crystal-tipped key fob and spent a couple days tearing everywhere in the Rhineland region that wasn't the "Ring," including narrow wending mountain roads, expertly paved two-lane byways, and unlimited Autobahn uber-highways. AMR's sorcery has, as noted, yielded relatively small changes on paper. The twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter 12-cylinder now makes just 5 percent more horses, for a total of 630. The dampers and springs have been stiffened by about 10 percent, the anti-roll bars front and rear by half that and half again. More rigid engine and transmission mounts have been added for greater stolidity. The transmission has been remapped for increased differentiation across the GT, Sport, and Sport Plus driving modes, selectable via a switch on the right side of the steering wheel.

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante caught out in the rain

We've had the pleasure of driving the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, with its 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 making an astonishing 715 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. The only drawback was not getting full exposure to the alpine air as we sped down the Autobahn. We've seen spy shots, though, of a DBS Superleggera Volante that could provide that experience, but it was still wearing camouflage. Now, our spy shooters have caught the convertible in testing, giving us a good look at the car. It was rainy as the car prowled around near the Nurburgring, so the convertible top was kept closed. It still looks sleek as all heck, with sheets of water dripping from its tires and aerodynamic bits, fallen leaves trapped in the grille. The convertible top maintains the tight and low roofline of the coupe, but it significantly shrinks the rear window. But that visibility issue would be eliminated with the top dropped. Under the hood and the rest of the sheetmetal, we expect this to maintain all the mechanical goodness and sporty prowess of its fixed-top stablemate. We're not sure when the official debut of the grand touring convertible will take place. We're hoping we'll have the chance to test it out before the fall leaves and drenching rains arrive in 2019. Related Video:

Aston Martin DBX spied looking like a finished product

The Aston Martin DBX is inching closer to its December reveal, and today we get to see the SUV in its most finished form yet. One of our spy shooters managed to catch a DBX out and about with production headlights, taillights, door handles and rear fascia. It’s great to see the DBX like this, because until now weÂ’ve only seen it in the mule-like form that Aston wanted us to see. Taking a look at the rear end is where things really start coming together. Instead of the odd, pod-like taillights, some slick and thin light fixtures extend from the ducktail spoiler into the rear fender. They look proper on the rear end of the SUV. Just a bit below these are the two exhaust outlets. ThereÂ’s still plenty of camouflage about, but the exhaust tips and molding around it appears to be production-spec. ItÂ’s interesting to see the exhaust so high up on the rear bumper in an SUV, and they also stick out a fair amount. Just watch for the flaming hot tips when loading and unloading items directly after driving it. We also gain a better understanding of what the grille is going to look like up front. Instead of the wire mesh weÂ’ve been looking at before, this maw has actual slats and a defined shape. The headlights look like production units, and there are cutouts for possible foglights down there, too. Instead of the unfinished rear door handles, Aston appears to have installed the electric pop-out units weÂ’ve been seeing in the front for awhile. There are more creases and muscular lines visible all over the vehicle that were covered up previously, too. As September quickly approaches, the DBXÂ’s reveal in December isnÂ’t that far out anymore. A few more months will pass, and then the first Aston Martin SUV will be out. There will be plenty of Mercedes-Benz part sharing, but weÂ’re still excited to see what an Aston SUV ends up like