By Jeff Glucker
When Aston Martin slaps the S badge on a model, the result is a sharpened, more fine-tuned iteration of an already entertaining machine. What happens, though, when you start with a grand touring all-star like the DB12? You get a DB12 S that plays the part in a bigger way; just don’t go thinking this beautiful beast is as eager to get rowdy as its Vantage sibling.
To earn the S moniker, the DB12 gets more power. Aston Martin pushed the boost on the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine to arrive at 690 horsepower. That’s up over the standard car’s 671. Torque remains the same at 590 pound-feet, and all the oomph is sent out back via an eight-speed transaxle setup.
The suspension also receives attention by way of a retune and a thicker rear anti-roll bar. And the pieces do indeed add up to a sharper DB12. But this car remains a grand tourer, and that’s quite alright.
Power delivery arrives with a slight lag, but then comes on like a cannon shot. There’s a bit of roll as you set up for corners, but once tucked in, you can rocket through a given corner. Each action item requires a moment of hesitation that’s perfectly fine in a proper grand tourer, but would be a bummer in a true sports car.
The Aston Martin DB12 S is a truly wonderful machine with brilliant styling and a delightful interior space. Just don’t pretend that the S badge has morphed it into a track beast. After all, the drive mode on this one goes up to Sport+, while the Vantage goes a notch further with a true Track mode.
Kamil Kaluski
Wow!! Red sports cars really look so coooooooooooooool!!! The 690 hp figure is impressive, but the bit about the slight lag before the power hits really stood out. It sounds like a car that’s more about comfortable speed than track aggression. Still a beautiful machine either way.