a suave accelerating beast that is lithesome and lightweight
Replacing the Aston Martin Vanquish S, the all-new asphalt-storming, 340km/h flat-out DBS Superleggera (from £225,000/RM 1.1 million) has entered the competitive supercar realm. Superleggera means ‘Super light’ in Italian — and true enough — its sexy body shell is made entirely out of carbon fibre to return a 1800kg kerb weight.
Sitting beneath its sleek front bonnet is a 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V8 pushing out a colossal 715bhp and 900Nm. With performance like that, the DBS Superleggera sprints from zero to 100km/h in just 3.4 seconds. Gearing is done through an eight-speed automatic, and power is delivered through the rear wheels via a propshaft made out of carbon fibre.
Like the firm’s latest DB11, the DBS Superleggera sits on an aluminium bonded chassis, but it gains more performance-amplifying touches. This include a set of carbon ceramic brakes and larger cooling ducts for better braking threshold. The addition of a mechanical differential with torque vectoring and lower suspensions greatly hone its dynamics through circuit apexes or sweeping corners.
Though it looks absolutely stunning, its voguish exterior is just more than a pretty facade. Its front splitter, bonnet bulges and trademark aeroblade spoiler channels air to the rear to provide 180kgs of downforce at full steam — more than any production Aston Martins of yore or present.
No matter how aggressive its performance stats are, the DBS Superleggera is still a grand tourer at heart. Owners can be at ease inside its plush cabin, and being an Aston Martin, one can also customise an interior to their liking. Now that’s true performance saddled with luxury.
