Aston DB11 makes Oz debut

Aston Martin's all-new DB11 Coupe made its Australian public debut in Sydney this morning, when the British sports car brand announced a pricetag of $428,032 plus on-road costs.

As we forecast when it made its world debut at the Geneva motor show in March, that makes the DB11 almost $60,000 pricier than the model it replaces, the DB9 GT ($368,500 plus ORCs).

It also positions the DB11 within $60,000 of Aston's flagship Vanquish ($484,995 plus ORCs) and mid-way between Porsche's 911 Turbo and Turbo S coupes.

Nevertheless, Aston Martin already holds a number of Australia orders for its all-new GT coupe, which has attracted well over 1000 orders globally, even before the first example tours Australian dealerships ahead of first customer deliveries late this year.

"We are thrilled to unveil DB11 in the Australian market," said Aston Martin's Asia-Pacific president Patrik Nilsson.

“We are already experiencing unprecedented demand in this region for DB11, reaffirming the strong affinity for Aston Martin in Australia.

“Aston Martin has a proud, 103-year heritage in the luxury automotive market, and the DB11 embodies every aspect of the brand with absolute elegance and indulgence, combining the very latest technology and finest quality hand craftsmanship.”

Described by Aston as the first product of its 'Second Century' plan, the DB11 wears an evolutionary new design, rides on a new chassis and is powered by a new German-made 447kW/700Nm 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12.

The 1770kg (dry) coupe drives through a rear-mounted eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission and a mechanical limited-slip rear differential with active torque vectoring.

Benefitting from a technical partnership with Mercedes-AMG, the DB11 – which was partially developed in Australia -- is claimed to hit 100km/h in 3.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 322km/h.

The most significant new Aston Martin since the DB9 in 2003 will, thanks to its use of Daimler electrical architecture, come with a 12.0-inch TFT instrument display, 8.0-inch central display screen controlled by a Mercedes-sourced infotainment controller and touch-sensitive panel, LED headlights, 400-Watt sound and keyless entry/start.

There’s even Benz’s single control stalk for both indicators and windscreen wipers and ISOFIX child seat anchors, plus options including a powered armrest, 360-degree camera system, automated parking and 1000-Watt Bang and Olufsen sound.

However, there are none of the new advanced driver aids now common in city cars, including automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, radar cruise control, lane departure warning (let alone assistance), blind spot monitoring or rear cross-traffic alert.

The clean-sheet chassis design incorporates all of Aston’s bonded aluminium learnings over the past 17 years, and delivers 34kN/degree torsional stiffness – 40 per cent more than the DB9, as well as 25 per cent greater bending stiffness and a 30kg lighter body in white.

A verification prototype notched up three weeks and 9000km in the Australian Outback to test the car’s heating, ventilation and climate systems in January, as part of the DB11’s development program that also included cold testing in Finland, high-speed testing at Nardo and Mira, crash testing with Volvo in Sweden and hot testing in Death Valley, USA.

DB11 production commences in the UK in August and the Aston's newest DB makes its global dynamic debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed over June 23-26 in the hands of Aston Martin CEO, Andy Palmer.