First drive: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera in the UAE

Aston Martin has been moving fast to update their line-up in recent times. We recently had a chance to drive the 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, the third release in their “new” lineup. The first being their DB11 grand tourer, followed by the sportier two-seater Vantage. 

The DBS Superleggera, which means “superlight” in Italian, brings back a prominent name from Aston Martin’s history. It has the new design cues of their latest releases mentioned earlier, but different enough to distinguish between the three. Sitting in between the DB11 and the Vantage, the DBS looks like a GT, but then has aggressive features like the prominent front grille, massive air vents on the bumper, and the rear diffuser with quad exhausts poking out.

The interior quality is top of the line, the seats being the highlight. The seat stitching design is high-quality craftsmanship, the look and feel of the leather being appropriately premium. The centre-console is simple and plain, if not too plain, so its easy to use. There’s adequate space in the front, and expectedly cramped in the back.

Under the hood is a 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine, which sounds absolutely glorious at full throttle. It produces 725 horsepower and 900 Nm of torque, which is enough to send it from 0 to 100 kph in just 3.4 seconds. Controlling that power is the unconfused ZF 8-speed automatic transmission that knows what it’s doing. We had a chance to test out that power driving on the mountain roads of Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain.

The suspension is well-tuned, keeping the ride reasonably comfortable in normal mode but getting noticeably stiffer in the various sport modes. Body roll is pretty much non-existent and there is tons of grip on the rear tyres.

There is some feedback channeling through the very-responsive steering wheel. The brakes are suitably strong, making sure there were no scary moments during our spirited runs up and down the mountain.

The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is a quality product from the luxury British manufacturer and will set you back a fair amount of pocket-change, priced somewhere between a Ferrari 488 GTB and an 812 Superfast. While the old Aston Martins felt somewhat dated and slower than its rivals, their new releases are certainly more appealing. What we always appreciated is the uncomplicated driving feel on an Aston Martin and they have always kept that factor a core value while designing their cars. Even with the upgraded electronics, the DBS Superleggera certainly holds true to that.

For prices and specs, visit the Aston Martin buyer guide.

Photos by Aston Martin.