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Aston Martin previews 'world's most powerful luxury SUV'

Aston Martin is preparing to expand the DBX lineup with what it promises will stand proud as "the world's most powerful luxury SUV." Concrete details remain few and far between, but the British firm released a short video to preview the mysterious new model. Posted on Aston Martin's official social media channels, the 13-second flick shows a sporty-looking wheel design, a piece of carbon fiber interior trim, and the company's wing-shaped logo embroidered into a headrest. What's perhaps more telling is the engine revving in the background. While previous rumors claimed that the spicier DBX would get a V12 engine, this one sounds a lot like a V8 to our ears. If the DBX S — a name that hasn't been confirmed for production yet — indeed lands with a V8, the unit will certainly be an evolution of the Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged engine that powers the standard model. It develops 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque in its regular state of tune; how much power it will make in the S is still up in the air. AMG pushes it to 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque in the GLE63 S and the GLS63 S (which are sitting out the 2022 model year), but those figures wouldn't give the DBX access to the power crown; Porsche's Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid has 670 horsepower and it qualifies for the "luxury SUV" label. Expecting an output of 670-plus horsepower isn't unreasonable, though crossing your fingers for the 720-horsepower V8 from the GT Black Series is likely wishful thinking, plus the usual assortment of chassis, suspension, and braking system upgrades needed to keep the cavalry in check. Aston Martin's preview hints that visual modifications inside and out will be part of the performance-oriented package as well. Intrigued? So are well. We won't have to wait long to find out: the next DBX variant will make its debut on February 1, 2022. Related Video:

The last gunfighter | 2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S First Drive

Here's a deliciously subversive thought for you: Stats are ruining enthusiast cars. We use them to rank the latest models, critique them, and deify them. Sometimes the numbers happen to align with a bunch of intangibles, and the car becomes transcendent – like the Ferrari 458 Speciale, a very special thing indeed. There are cars with great numbers and very little charisma; I've driven many of them. And then, there are the number-based narratives that mislead us. For example, the hoopla around the Mazda MX-5's horsepower, or the continuing lack of a Toyobaru with a turbo – frustrating crosstalk about purist platforms better understood on track than on paper. The 2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S is flawed, old, and weak – so say the insidious numbers. A mechanical watch doesn't keep time as well as a quartz one, the numbers say. A tube amplifier produces an inferior sound, the numbers say. The way to fight back is to stop this slavish devotion to the stats and go wind the thing out on good roads in imperfect conditions, which is to my mind the ultimate test of a grand tourer's competence. Southern California was rocked this winter by wild weather – much of the Angeles Crest Highway that dances along the spine of the San Gabriel Mountains was closed due to heavy snow. So much for Plan A. Some roadside rerouting led to some promising roads, so I pointed the Aston into the curves. The V12 roar is a profound part of this car's appeal. Uphill and building steam, the Vantage is a symphony's brass section playing the sounds of wolves on the hunt. Downshifts yowl and snarl like a pack crashing through the underbrush in search of prey. Under deceleration, it sounds like lupine static, unearthly and resonant; wound out it's a frenzied whir. Every stab of throttle brings an immediate response: sound and acceleration in equal measure. If you have even the barest appreciation of joy, you can't stay out of the throttle. This is soulful, warm, analog – but merely honest rather than consciously retro. There's nothing here trying to simulate an authentic experience – it is an authentic experience. It's all right there, under the long and delicate hood – twelve cylinders displacing 5.9 liters. And inside the cabin, a seven-speed manual gearshift lever that moves through a dogleg pattern. This watch requires winding; it's a tactile experience that the quickest, most sophisticated dual-clutch automated manual can't touch.

Aston wants to build DBX on its new platform, not Mercedes'

Aston Martin is proceeding with plans to launch the DBX as its first production crossover. It just can't say at this point what it will be based on. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, Aston's new CEO Andy Palmer indicated that basing the DBX on a Mercedes SUV platform would not be its first choice because they "clearly sit in a very different space to the one we want to go" with the DBX. Instead, the company's first choice would be to build the crossover atop the new platform it's developing for its sports cars. "It just depends how high off the ground it could go," said Palmer. "I don't exclude the possibility of using some [Mercedes] parts, but I would say very much the primary route is our platform." The prospect of building an Aston SUV on Mercedes architecture – namely that of the GL-Class – has been on the table for some time now. The Lagonda SUV concept it showcased at the Geneva show in 2009 was based on the GL, and the two automakers have been forging a tightening alliance in the years since. The British automaker's next-generation engine is to be built by Mercedes-AMG, and it is expected to source other components from the German automaker as well. For its part, Mercedes has been taking a sportier approach with its latest crossovers, as demonstrated by the GLE Coupe that debuted before the more conventional version and the Concept GLC Coupe that previewed the GLK's replacement in Shanghai last month. Aston Martin, on the other hand, is building a new sports car platform that will underpin its next generation of luxury GTs, replacing the long-serving VH architecture that has served for decades as the basis for its entire model line. Perhaps the most surprising of ANE's report, though, is that Aston seems to be proceeding with plans to build the DBX apparently without even knowing what platform it will use.