Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: Aston Martin takes inspiration from Dodge and gives an SUV way too much power, Polestar takes a break from winter testing by modifying a Polestar2 for ice lake driving, Toyota reveals pricing and mpg estimates for Tundra Hybrid, plus your news for the week.
Aston Martin DBX707
Aston Martin of all brands is having a certified Hellcat Moment™. This is when a brand has formally said “fuck it” and made something that could have only been conceived in a meeting where everyone was on a different drug. The DBX707 aims to be the fastest, most powerful, and best-handling luxury SUV anyone who day trades NFTs can buy. In a world where high-powered SUVs are all too common, the DBX707 is a “sabre in a segment of sledgehammers”.
But its as powerful as said sledgehammers. The 707 in the name represents its metric horsepower rating, which is translated to 697 horsepower as it’s measured in freedom fry land. That astronomical figure plus its 664 lb.-ft. on tap is made possible by a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 that’s been fully unleashed. It’s the same base engine as in the “standard” DBX but features numerous upgrades including ball bearing turbochargers and a bespoke engine calibration to find another 155 horsepower and 148 lb.-ft. of torque. With power channeled to all wheels through a nine-speed wet clutch automatic, it can accelerate to 62 mph in just 3.3 seconds. Why does an SUV need to do that? Because it’s cool.
It’s not just all about the power though because sabres and sledgehammers and stuff. The DBX707 is standard with carbon ceramic brakes measuring 16.5″ front and 15.4″ rear with six-piston calipers. In addition to the improved thermal performance, moving to those carbon ceramics saves 89 pounds in unsprung weight. Meanwhile, an upgraded electronic limited slip differential features a shorter final drive ratio (3.27) and torque distribution from front-to-rear is fully automatic and can send 100% of the torque to the rear axle on demand. Sharp and confident handling is provided by an air suspension system carried over from the standard DBX, new damper and spring calibrations, and improved electronic power steering with greater feedback.
Visually the DBX707 differs from the regular DBX with some modest tweaks. Up front it features a larger satin chrome front grille, new air intakes and brake cooling ducts, and a new front splitter. The rear end has a larger diffuser and lip spoiler, both of which are functional and provide some extra stability.
Pricing hasn’t been mentioned yet because it really doesn’t matter. Production will commence in the coming weeks with first deliveries planned for early Q2 of this year.
[Source: Aston Martin]
Polestar2 Arctic Circle
Polestar claims that this ice-racing-ready Polestar2 is just for show, but it’s something we would love to see in production in some capacity. Polestar engineers modified a Polestar2 while testing in the arctic circle for their annual extreme winter testing program. Driving on ice and snow in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Celsius can teach you a lot about how reliable a car is. But it can also make fine tuning a car much more effective, as Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chief chassis engineer, confirms.
“Tuning a chassis on snow and ice allows us to develop our cars in what feels like slow motion and with better accuracy. With such low levels of grip, we can feel and analyze the dynamics at a much slower pace than on tarmac, which means we can really fine-tune the way our cars behave, down to the smallest details. This is my absolute favorite place to develop cars.”
So while Polestar engineers were freezing their asses off, they decided to have some fun and develop this one-off Polestar2 Arctic Circle specifically for those conditions. It’s built on a Long Range Dual Motor with Performance Pack and gets some tasteful and functional modifications from there. It rides on three-way Öhlins dampers (set to nine clicks front and rear), 30% softer springs, and a modest 1.3″ lift. Finding grip where there is none is a set of custom-made studded winter tires with 490 0.15″ metal studs on each. Those are mounted on 19″ OZ Rally racing wheels for a vintage rally look. Front and rear strut braces have been fitted to increase torsional rigidity and steering responsiveness. There’s also a new prototype launch control system controlled via steering wheel-mounted paddles. They also fitted four Stedi Quad Pro LED front lights, a unique exterior livery in matte grey and white, and a carbon fiber skid plate for underbody protection. They also added a carbon fiber snow shovel because why not.
With overlanding and Safari builds becoming more mainstream, something like this could prove to be a popular addition to the Polestar lineup. But even if they don’t build this car again, nothing is preventing someone else from doing it. They even published the damper adjustments for you. Anyone who replicates this build is in for a good time.
[Source: Polestar]
Toyota Tundra Hybrid MPG and pricing
One of the highlights on the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra is its optional i-FORCE MAX hybrid powertrain. Until now we haven’t known how effective the hybridization is at reducing fuel usage or now much it would cost. But this week that was confirmed by Toyota and the results aren’t that bad at all.
The Tundra Hybrid with its 437 horsepower, 583 lb.-ft. of torque, twin-turbocharged V6 is capable of an EPA-estimated 20 city/24 highway/22 combined mpg with RWD and 19/22/21 with 4WD. Compared to the non-hybrid Tundras, that’s a 2 mpg improvement in city and combined ratings across the board. Compared to the outgoing Tundras, it’s like trading in your Camaro from high school for a Prius while also having significantly more power. For a full size truck with this kind of capability and power that just edges out the competition, those figures aren’t terrible but they do lag behind the F-150 PowerBoost V6. Prices are competitive though with MSRP for the cheapest Hybrid (4×2 Limited) set at $53,995 while the cheapest 4×4 Hybrid (also Limited) is $56,995.
Let the hybrid truck wars begin.
[Source: Toyota]
What’s your automotive news?
That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.
Have a good weekend.
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