2008 Aston Martin DBS Review
June 22, 2008 by Matt Brogan
Finally arriving in Boulia, and unloading our precious cargo, we head straight for the Boulia council offices where we were to meet the main man in town Peter O’May who had kindly secured us exclusive use of the town’s RAAF built airstrip as our own personal proving grounds.
The isolation of this geography made for some interesting repartee with the local folk, who were stunned to see such an expensive car brought to their amazing outback setting, but being one of only two places on earth to feature such a dramatic milieu, our decision to trek this far had been well worth the outlay.
Although we were itching to shoot some serious high-speed stuff on the main runway, we had a more pressing request from the Boulia school principal. All twenty students aged from five to 15 were in for a rare treat, as we gently eased the DBS and the V8 Vantage in to the school grounds where the kids went nuts with pictures in the drivers seat, along with the obligatory engine revving routine. The kids loved it and to be honest, we did too.
When we first drove the DBS in the UK back in February, the draconian speed restrictions and torturous road rules meant we had to curb our enthusiasm somewhat, but now with a runway six lanes wide and over a kilometre long – anything goes.
Finally it was time to exploit the race-bred attributes of a car that is essentially a road-going version of Aston Martin’s blistering DBR9.
Hand assembled at Aston Martin’s dedicated engine facility in Cologne, Germany, the 6.0-litre V12 offers prodigious power and loads of linear, usable torque. An impressive 380kW @6500rpm and 570Nm from 5750rpm, grants the DBS a 0-100km/h time of 4.3 seconds which though at first may seem a little uninspiring by comparison to similarly priced Italian supercars, pales in to insignificance when compared to the rapid increase in speed delivery beyond 150km/h. This is what truly defines the DBS in to a realm worthy of so very few.
Very well written and thank you for going the extra extra mile in producing this story
What an awesome read, felt truly involved, and what an awesome machine. Thanks guys.
excellent story guys!!! pleaseure to read. As much as i love this car i cant help but think of what else i could get for that kinda money……….
I’m sure you could get plenty of things, but I doubt they would be as much fun.
Did anyone notice the stitching on the console wasn’t straight. Tee Hee.
Great read folks. Most can only drean at driving such machines. The hard work is obviously paying off.
Awsome car, arguably the nicest car on thr planet. British of course, Ooooh I’m so proud. Pity no diesels though, Tee Hee again.
Fellas,
Fantastic in every way, the Aston, the writing and the photography justified why you were the first to drive it in Australia.
I also appreciated the high res picture of the Mack Titan, its now my wallpaper, also a magnificent machine, it doesn’t have quite the sheet metal work but it has more power and and is more reliable than any Aston! I hope you appreciate that a road train cannot safely or feasibly leave single road bitumen to accommodate others, its not a choice the drivers have.
Thanks for the great review, now I’m waiting for the new RS4 review when they get around to releasing the car!
Nice Nice Nice,
Although that gearknob reminds me of future Biff’s (Back to the future) silver fist walking stick for some reason… :S
I still prefer a 599gtb any day….good story guys!
Funny how the anti-spam word was Ferrari!
What an epic journey and an epic car. An amazing article guys, I thoroughly enjoyed the read, even while I was suffering from a gargantuan case of jealousy. Good work.
Five stars across the board, wouldn’t expect anything less.
FANTASTIC in all every way, For me the best looking car made right now. Just amazing
GREAT CAR. GREAT STORY.
Great Review…
I’d hate to be hitting Potholes in one of those. How would the Aston Reps react to a scratch on the paint? 7 layers of Hand Crafted repair.
Also, someone must have been constantly polishing the car with all that red dirt around.
Doesn’t the Veyron’s steering wheel take something like 1½ weeks for one guy to stitch together? You get what you pay for I guess…
Awesome car and great pics!
Good review. Dream car! (Next to the R35 GTR!)
Been for a ride in this car. One word.
Faultless!
This is the car which I always dream of. Great pics, Its professional image
Very well written and the photographs are amazing.
Not only did it give a good comprehensive review of the car, but it felt as if i was being told an old story of a legend.
Thank you
What a wank of a story…. “Ohhh it takes months of preparation for a story like this”….
What you mean you can’t just pack a ute up with all the spares and food and camping gear and drive the whole lot out there – take a few pictures and then come back?
Oh nooooooo…
And the road trains have to swerve off a single lane road into the ditch to make way for a spoon fed twat like you?
Sure…
Yep – the highlight of my life is to drive a rolling piece of artwork; that will look like some time warp relic just like the supercars from 20 years ago….
Parts, spares and servicing – ridiculously expensive.
Most of the really rich people drive plain second hand cars… and tossers like you blow all their income on junk like this.
QED.
Just because you drive a flash car you think you own the road guss what —-head you don’t. Those road trains are worth more than those cars, besides that, just because you have your head that far up your —- you couldn’t read the road sign. you have to get off the road but then your PRETTY cars & tyres dirty. Wake up to yourself and think about why thay don’t get off the road. Do you really think that a 110tonne road train is go’n to move off the road and probably crashing for a what a 2.5t car RIGHT!!!!