Drive: Aston Martin DB11 V8

Celebrities sometimes drive one. James Bond drives one every now and then. Now also Secret Classics drove one. Of course we’re talking about an Aston Martin. In the short term and, quite frankly, unexpectedly, the chance came up to pick up a DB11 V8 at the Nürburgring together with a colleague from Norway and drive it around for three days. Would you say “no”? Probably not. So we feel at least a bit like a special agent of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Directly the question raises, whether 007 would like the V8 engine or if he would miss the V12 from the bigger brother, that nowadays is called DB11 AMR.

By the way, our test car shows a noble dark blue outside and inside, which looks black depending on the lighting and so swallows a few forms of the elegant design. Add the typical German weather in April and the resulting photos are rather melancholy, although this doesn’t do justice to the car. Based on the official configurator, we tap the color to be ‘Ultramarine Black’ for the body and ‘Aurora Blue’ for the leather including the steering wheel. There are also 20-inch ten-spoke forged alloy wheels in dark grey and red painted brake calipers. In contrast to the presentation vehicles, Aston Martin Germany decided to get a press car with roof and roof pillars painted in body color instead of black.

We received the key to this DB11 in the immediate vicinity of the Nürburgring Nordschleife at the local test center of Aston Martin. On our way there we already had some light rain and even fog, so my companion learned the ‘Eifel weather’ directly, at least partially. In fact, he visited Germany before, but never this region. He immediately fell in love with the winding country roads and hilly surroundings. Also our trip to some typical locations around the Nordschleife such as the Brünnchen or Breidscheid was met with great interest – not only due to the industrial test drives with some upcoming sports cars in prototype state on the track. After taking a few pictures as reminders, we finally hit the road in the DB11. With the V8 biturbo engine it debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017. It draws 375 kW/510 hp and 675 newtonmeters from four liters of displacement. Sounds familiar? This engine arrives from Germany. Together with various interior components, Aston Martin purchases this engine from Mercedes-AMG, where it is normally used for the sports car GT among other models. However, Aston Martin gets a unique power kit with own characteristics for it. In addition, the British brand uses an eight-speed automatic transmission instead of the dual-clutch gearbox in the AMG GT.

This, however, certainly better accomodates the claim of the DB11 V8. Apart from the fact that ZF has pushed the shifting times of the torque converter to sensationally low values, the soft switching character fits well with the long-distance comfort that the 2+2-seater offers its occupants. However, at this point, one has to attest that the rear two seats are at best suitable for small children, but better serve as additional luggage room for longer travels. Although the boot volume of 270 liters should already be big enough. Using buttons on the steering wheel, the driver can influence the hardness of the suspension (left button, GT or Sport mode) as well as the throttle response, shifting times and opening degree of the exhaust valves (right button, GT, Sport and Sport+ modes). On our tours, which led us at least 475 kilometers over highways and country roads, we mostly used the suspension in GT mode and the Sport setting for everything else. This is how the slightly American soundtrack of the V8 engine comes into its own, while the adaptive dampers hide most of the disturbances of the roads. Meanwhile the semi-active aerodynamic with air tunnels from the rear side windows to the rear spoiler on the trunk lid provide noticeable downforce.

Between the steering wheel and the front passenger, there is the center tunnel, under which the cardan shaft sends the power to the transaxle-mounted gearbox. Buttons, switches and display are reminiscent of current vehicles from Sindelfingen. Unfortunately, this also applies to the rather low-information navigation system compared to other companies. It only gives hints about upcoming changes of direction about two kilometers before they occur and previously often only shows a colored line between green background – specially in the Eifel region. In cities that are known to the system, it shows the surrounding buildings in 3D. Otherwise there isn’t anything negative about the interior of the DB11. The test car showed the decorative trim in black piano lacquer and brushed aluminium. Those, who prefer to have wood or pressed carbon fiber will find something fitting in Aston Martin’s broad range of optional equipment. The seats offer the best lateral support on winding roads, but would probably reach their limits quickly on racetracks.

But that would be the completely wrong purpose for a DB11 V8. It doesn’t want to be a competitor to the Porsche 911 GT3 or the BMW M8. It isn’t concerned about new lap records. It is rather a stylish cruiser for the highway, with which one arrives relaxed in front of a hotel or holiday home after a long travel, to then enjoy the evening with company. Instead of visiting an opera or a theater, you can only enjoy listening to music via the in-car Beosound audio system by Bang & Olufsen. En route there is always enough power available to be prepared for overtaking maneuvers. However, it is also fun to collect mile after mile with the cruise control switched on, while some owners of small cars gather all the power they have to pass an Aston Martin once in a lifetime. The soundtrack of eight cylinders and the two turbochargers is always present without ever getting annoying.

Thanks to its elegant, pleasing design drivers of an Aston Martin DB11 rarely suffer from envy attacks of their surroundings. At least if the corresponding vehicle has a restrained color like the dark blue on our test car. Observers appreciate the car to a higher value than average, but also assume that the occupants have a good dose of style. By the way, in Germany the pricelist for the DB11 V8 starts at 184,000 euros. A quite appropriate value for a pleasant grand tourer, whose key we reluctantly had to give back after three days. James Bond surely knows why he drives an Aston Martin now and then.

Images: Matthias Kierse, Kaare Byberg (Core of Cars)