Aston Martin DBX Prototype 2020 Review

The Aston Martin DBX is the first SUV from a brand best known for sports cars and keeping James Bond suitably attired in four-wheeled machinery.

Late to the top-shelf SUV party, the DBX has various fast high-riders in its sights: think Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus, as a start.

It could also provide incentive to dig deeper beyond the BMWs, Mercedes-AMGs and Audis that do a fine job of making big wagons more exciting.

Priced from $357,000 (before on-road costs and a healthy list of options) the DBX promises an experience faithful to the Aston Martin ethos but in a car with more space and functionality than any before it, right down to its 2700kg tow capacity.

Our exclusive test is taking place in the craggy mountains near the coastline of Muscat.

It’s rugged country in some ways reminiscent of the Flinders Rangers – albeit with different wildlife; goats take the place of kangaroos while camels occasionally chance their luck across the face of a fast-moving British SUV.

Rather than a fleet of cars there’s a single car unsubtly clad in Pirelli, Bilstein and Tag Heuer sponsorship, along with some Welsh patriotism that is a nod to the DBX’s new manufacturing facility not far from Cardiff.

The two locations couldn’t be any different, the harsh rocks and persistent dust of Oman a far cry from the grass and mud of chilly Wales.

That’s indicative of the task ahead for the DBX.

As well as appealing to the AM heartland it needs to win buyers over in China and the United States while turning heads in the Middle East, South Africa and other parts of Asia.

As with all Aston Martins looks are key.

Early test mules looked blocky and ungainly. But with the façade pulled back and some splashes of mud the DBX is a far more seductive machine in the metal.

A long snout feeds into strong character lines that finish with muscular haunches and an integrated lower spoiler. It creates a powerful presence, especially juxtaposed against the harshness of barren mountains.

Only the view directly from behind tends towards awkward, the Vantage-inspired full-width tail-light unnaturally high.

The car we’re in is one of the latter prototypes of what is approaching a five-year development program.

Known as 1PT, or first production trial, it uses some of the final tooling but can’t end up in the hand of customers; there are still tweaks and finalised software to be injected.

Not that anyone would want our car, which is more development workhorse than gleaming luxury fare.

There’s the occasional creak and myriad issues as well as the sorts of warnings that would normally have you calling for a tow truck; there are airbag and tyre pressure warnings as well as alerts the forward-facing radar isn’t operating correctly.

Chief engineer Matt Becker isn’t fazed, reinforcing that everything is on track for final software updates and tweaks to make it showroom ready.

Key to the Aston Martin DBX’s quest to stand out in the increasingly crowded performance SUV segment is its bespoke architecture.

Whereas Aston Martin turned to Mercedes-AMG for an engine and transmission, it went it alone with the underpinnings and suspension.

Blame it on an autobahn thrash back in 2016. Part of an epic European road trip to familiarise the development team with fast SUVs, it kicked off in the UK and end up at the Nurburgring.

“We wanted to live with the cars,” said Becker, who quickly learnt to appreciate the depth of engineering in performance SUVs.

Along for the ride was a Range Rover Sport SVR, Bentley Bentayga, BMW X6 and previous-generation Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

“The first thing we notice is you drive up and down the autobahn at 300km/h, you can drive them around the Nurburgring at quite a good pace, you can drive them off-road, you can drive across a field, you can tow a horse box, you can tow a boat, you can put a family of five in them, you can put luggage in them.”

Sort of a Swiss Army Knife of fast cars, one that prompted the largest engineering effort ever undertaken by Aston Martin.

“The team’s respect level for these cars went up … exponentially in terms of how much range of capability these cars have and what’s expected of them.”

Some hot laps early on in BMW’s X6 made the team favour staggered tyres with wider rubber at the rear. The craziness yet relative refinement of the Range Rover SVR also became a target, as did the all-round competence of the Porsche.

But the AM team also began to uncover compromises.

“In terms of engine position … the competitors, their engine is quite a long way forward. Our car is quite rearward and lower so we can get better weight distribution.”

Character and competence ruled in the Aston Martin DBX development, to the point where some things were left out altogether.

There are no active aerodynamics, for example, but plenty of effort has gone into airflow; the rear spoiler diverts air over the rear window to wash water away, in turn prompting a decision not to fit a windscreen wiper.

Becker also wasn’t sold on the rear-wheel steering, suggesting it requires too much mid-corner readjustment when driven briskly.

“I’m not a massive fan,” he says bluntly of rear steering systems, instead settling on a sharp-ish 14:1 ratio to give “a nice feeling of linearity”.

Our car is still awaiting the final steering tune so lacks the fluidity that’s promised. But it’s accurate and reassuring in its responses, the rear-focussed drive adding to the agile dynamics.

On bitumen there’s bite and confidence while on dirt the tail gently unleashes as power is fed on, the resultant oversteer in keeping with the brand.

Broader rear tyres – 325mm versus 285mm – help reinforce that and allow for confident power-down out of corners, drive traveling rearward via a carbon-fibre driveshaft.

We’re running the optional all-season rubber to fend off punctures, something that means an earlier squeal on bitumen, but it’s clear the core chassis talent is more than up to the challenge of higher Gs.

Yet it’s meandering along sedately that reinforces the thought in the Aston Martin DBX.

Even in Sport+ there’s a welcome suppleness to the triple-chamber air suspension.

Thank the engineers for that. They’ve programmed the software to relax the dampers at low speeds whichever of the drive modes is selected because “for a car like this why would you want to be uncomfortable in it?” reasons Becker.

Raise the pace and things stiffen. But it’s the roll control that is most noticeable, the body sitting impressively flat and poised.

Active stabiliser bars can apply up to 1400Nm of torque to resist lean, the efforts most noticeable on the smoother bitumen passes that cut through the jagged rocks.

It’s not as flat or composed as a Vantage, but it’s towards the pointy end for athletic SUVs.

Sitting in the back seats underpins the benefits of that bespoke architecture.

Rather than the stadium seating so common in SUVs, the DBX’s cushions are relatively low, in turn making for excellent headroom. Legroom in the back is generous, too.

The kids may not like sitting further down, but it makes it a nicer space for adults, right down to the minimal intrusion from the wheel-arches.

There’s also decent storage, including a sizeable centre console and other pockets that designers would not have prioritised to any extent.

A panoramic sunroof reinforces the airy flavour.

But it’s character rather than sensibilities that Becker wants to define the Aston Martin DBX.

The AMG-sourced 4.0-litre V8 gets a particulate filter and running tweak – including a different firing order for the cylinders – that is new to Aston Martin.

With 405kW and 700Nm it’s lacking little for grunt and has that wonderful mid-rev surge that defines AMG’s heart.

The dash to 100km/h takes 4.5 seconds, ensuring it’s in the mix with the SUV sporties without slamming down any new benchmarks.

There’s a wonderful timbre, too, with an enchanting thrum, one enrichened by a prod of the throttle. But Merc’s nine-speed automatic is causing some headaches with the sound.

The transmission isn’t capable of the big between-gear torque cut that allows the cracks and bangs on full-throttle upshifts in a Vantage. They’re there, but only on the overrun when you lift off the throttle.

“It’s more complicated on this car,” says Becker, who isn’t giving up on adding more aural drama before production begins. Becker is convinced the last few months of development work will unleash a more sonorous soundtrack.

“We’ve still got time to try and find a way of doing it.”

From the outset the Aston Martin DBX wasn’t designed to do more than basic gravel tracks.

Then engineers started fitting it with the hardware required to hit its on-road targets and realised it was respectably capable.

“We’ve ended up with a car that’s very good off-road because you have all the technology on there,” says Becker, pointing to the adjustable height air suspension (in Terrain+ it adds 45mm to the regular ride height), active centre differential and electronic limited-slip rear differential.

He also nominates the optional all-season tyres as improving the rough road ability, although Becker admits the 22-inch diameter low-profile rubber is ultimately the limiting factor for how far people can comfortably venture off-road.

Like any tyres with so little rubber in the sidewall they’re susceptible to so-called “pinch-cut failures”, which are irreparable.

Aston Martin is also considering optional 23-inch wheels down the track and may also offer smaller 21-inch units – the smallest that will comfortably wrap around the brakes.

Starting mostly from a clean sheet of paper is a tough gig – particularly when you’re wanting it to deliver as much as people expect of a go-fast luxury SUV.

Of course it helps having a suite of contenders to benchmark against – the same cars the Aston Martin DBX will go head-to-head with.

It’s too early to definitively say if the DBX nails it, mainly because our development car was far from perfect.

We won’t know for sure until the global launch of the finished product in May, but our first experience shows the bones of a great SUV are in place.

It won’t be the fastest or the smartest or the loudest, but the Aston Martin DBX is shaping up to be among the more thoughtful and engaging luxury SUVs, and one that will deliver all manner of tricks and treats for a future 007.

How much does the 2020 Aston Martin DBX cost?
Price: $357,000 plus on-road costs
Available: Mid-2020
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol
Output: 405kW/700Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 14.3L/100km (WLTP)
CO2 emissions: 269g/km (NEDC)
Safety rating: Not rated