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Road test: Aston Martin DBX707

Friday, 18 November 2022

Watch as Alex Goy puts Aston Martin first-ever SUV, the DBX, through its paces off the road and on the track. (Video first published August 2020.)
That grille is a lot bigger on the DBX707, owing to the sizeable increase in power.
That grille is a lot bigger on the DBX707, owing to the sizeable increase in power.

While I will freely admit to having a rather large soft spot for Aston Martins, I have to say the standard DBX left me a bit cold. Sure, it was impressive, but I also found it somewhat unengaging and not quite special enough for the hefty sum of money asked. So how about an excitingly more expensive one then?

The cabin is only a little different to the regular DBX, with nicer seats but the same tragic infotainment system.
The cabin is only a little different to the regular DBX, with nicer seats but the same tragic infotainment system.

OUTSIDE

Well, the 707 isn't just a more expensive DBX, it is also a rather more special one, and this is made fairly obvious at first glance.

There’s also this suspiciously empty picnic drawer in the back.
There’s also this suspiciously empty picnic drawer in the back.

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* Road test review: Aston Martin DBX

As a result, the DBX707 is the most powerful vehicle to use the engine, including the army of actual AMGs.
As a result, the DBX707 is the most powerful vehicle to use the engine, including the army of actual AMGs.

**

It’s not just the big gaping grille (although that is quite a giveaway); it is also the subtly lower stance, the additional aero bits and those striking 22-inch wheels, that stunning satin paint finish. It all adds up to something that is low-key menacing – kind of like a low growl coming from a dark alley. Just a very luxurious, leather-lined alley.

But, let’s face it – it’s mainly that big gaping grille.

INSIDE

It’s loud too, as those four exhaust pipes indicate.
It’s loud too, as those four exhaust pipes indicate.

The inside gets the ‘subtly more special’ treatment as well, with some very nice sports seats and a revised drive mode selector on the centre console, but otherwise it is still pretty much DBX-by-the-numbers, meaning the same high quality materials, with the odd stumble, like the awful plastic surround on the dash display that looks like corrugated cardboard and feels about as cheap.

The other glaring misstep inside the DBX’s interior is the infotainment system. Now, it must be said that it is a very good infotainment system, it is just that it is also a very old one, being a last generation Mercedes-Benz set up. Meaning there is no touchscreen here and it is a bit slow and clunky compared to more modern systems. Not what you want from your near-$400k monster SUV.

Generally though, the 707’s interior is of a very high standard and is specced far more tastefully than the previous one I drove which had an almost-orange interior that was very much an acquired taste. I never acquired it.

The 707, however, is a far more tasteful affair with black leather and ‘Arden Green’ highlights that were a nice match with the ‘Satin Titanium Grey’ exterior, which looks green anyway.

Another nice interior touch was the optional and wonderfully excessive leather-clad drawer in the back that holds all the necessary accessories for a pleasant luxury picnic. Featuring moulded slots for cutlery, plates, glasses and, of course, a bottle of champagne. Sadly, no one had thought to stock it for us…

UNDER THE BONNET

It is here that things start getting very special indeed, with the DBX’s already pretty awesome Mercedes-AMG-supplied 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 getting well and truly turned up to 11.

That 707 in its name is a reference to horsepower, meaning that this DBX is one of the most powerful SUVs in the world – and it is also the most powerful application of the AMG V8, out-muscling all of the German company’s products that also make use of it. Yes, really.

And, man, does it make you well and truly aware of that.

Firing it up results in an angry explosion of noise before it falls back into a civilised, but most definitely threatening idle. Give it a quick rev and that threatening rumble at idle explodes into an angry bark, but the real operatics start when you drop it into gear and give it everything.

The angry bark intensifies and rises in pitch, becoming a truly belligerent roar as the needle (well, virtual needle) races towards the redline at a starling rate. Which is very appropriate, because the whole damn car is racing towards the horizon at a truly startling rate at this stage too.

In fact, ‘startling’ is the best way to describe the sheer brutal efficiency that the DBX707 displays in getting itself from a standing start up to the legal speed limit. Not only does it press you back in your seat as the g-forces it generates gently attempt to rearrange your internal organs, it does it while also making a noise that will make nearby pedestrians think that the world is ending.

Yeah; it’s freakin’ cool.

ON THE ROAD

Even better, however, is that the sheer awesomeness of the engine seems to have enlivened the driving experience somewhat as well.

While the DBX was an exceptional handler, the standard car felt like it kept you at arms distance from the real fun. Not so here, with that ferocious performance throwing you right into the deep end of the fun. Then holding your head under for a bit, shouting “ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET?” as it occasionally lets you up for breath.

Pretty much every aspect of the chassis has been tweaked, with the steering, suspension, AWD system, electronic rear differential and stability systems all being finessed for the 707, and it shows.

Cornering speed is breath-taking, while the ride hasn’t been compromised - it is firmer than the standard DBX, but still remarkably refined and composed over our rough roads, even on those massive 23-inch wheels that were another option on our test car (the base car comes on 22s).

VERDICT

The Aston Martin DBX707 is a very, very special machine. It is super-luxurious, deeply comfortable and impressively refined, as you would expect from a large SUV that costs $390,000.

But then it also happens to be an utterly ferocious beast of a thing that is capable of not only embarrassing a supercar away from the traffic lights, but also keeping it honest through the twisty bits as well.

Aston Martin describes the DBX707 as “a sabre in a segment of sledgehammers” and that pretty much sums it up. It matches all the silly speed and over-the-top drama of the likes of the Lamborghini Urus and Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, but it is still very much an Aston Martin. And a very special one at that.