GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Aston Martin DB11

Aston doesn’t really do downsizing. You might well have been expecting the new DB11 to mark the debut for the AMG V8 engine that the company won the right to use in a technical collaboration with Daimler, but that would have meant losing four cylinders compared to the outgoing DB9.

Not an option, clearly: Gaydon has gone to the considerable trouble and expense of creating a new twin-turbocharged V12 to serve in the DB11 instead — we’ll have to wait until the replacement for the smaller Vantage to experience the smaller engine.

While that means the world will be losing both the rat-trap response and heavenly choir soundtrack of the old naturally aspirated V12, it does mean more of everything else.

The new 5.2-litre V12 shares its bore centers with the old 6.0-litre engine and will be built in the same plant — Aston’s facility in the Ford factory in Cologne — but pretty much everything else about it is new.

It has 447kW on tap (62kW more than the DB9) accompanied by 700Nm of torque, with this sizeable peak available from just 1500rpm. For contrast, the DB9’s maximum 620Nm came at 5500rpm.

We’re told that it will deliver lag free responses, with Aston’s engineering boss Ian Minards talking about a comparable “time to torque” as the old engine.

The turbochargers are a parallel installation with one feeding each cylinder bank, and selective cylinder deactivation shutting down one side under gentle use to turn the motor into a fuel-sipping 2.6-litre straight six. The banks are then switched over every 20 seconds or so to stop the catalysts from losing heat, and fire instantly back into life if there’s a throttle demand.

Beyond the arrival of turbocharging the DB11 stays reassuringly predictable. Aston is predictably keen to emphasise how different it is from the aged DB9, and the fact it sits on a new aluminum architecture that will underpin all the brand’s future models.

But it’s fair to say it sticks to the brand’s long established principles for making a GT car – bonded aluminium structure, alloy panels and with transmission duties handled by the same eight-speed ZF transaxle that’s fitted to the DB9 and Vanquish, although with a limited-slip differential that now features torque vectoring.

Aston claims a 3.9-second 0-100km/h time and a top speed of 322km/h; exactly 200mph in the old money.

It’s a handsome beast, certainly when you get used to the striking roof strake that runs the length of the car, and which is finished in either shiny aluminium or body colour. The design pays appropriate reverence to its better looking forebears without getting too clingy, and it’s fair to say the DB11 has much more meat on its rear flanks than the car it replaces.

Dimensions are very similar to the DB9. The DB11 is 40mm longer, 77mm wider, 28mm lower and sits on a wheelbase 58mm longer. Weight is nearly identical, with 1770kg being a reduction of just 15kg, but the new engine is heavier and therefore the bodyshell’s mass reduction is partially disguised.

It’s noticeably bigger inside, with more interior room and almost-usable rear seats in place of the DB9’s extended baggage space.

It’s cleverer beneath the surface as well, with new multi-link rear suspension and – in an Aston first – electric power steering. The aerodynamics are smarter too, with the idea being to create downforce without any wings or active aero systems.

The star feature is the so-called Aeroblade, which uses pipework to take airflow from the side of the car to the trailing edge of the tailgate where it is directed upwards, delivering most of the benefits of a fixed wing without disrupting the car’s lines. This works at speeds of up to about 145km/h, with a small Gurney Flap rising at higher velocities to lend assistance.

The cabin is where some much-needed attention has been given; it’s the area where the DB9 was feeling oldest. The arrival of Daimler electrical architecture isn’t especially well disguised, with the DB11 sharing the same touch-sensitive control panel as top-end Mercs and with the same single control stalk for both indicators and windscreen wipers.

There are TFT instruments and an 8.0-inch central display screen, with options including a powered arm rest, a 360-degree camera system and auto parking.

Progress comes at a price, of course. The DB11 is more expensive than the DB9, although with much of the difference justified by more standard equipment.

Deliveries will start in the fourth quarter of 2016. After years of stagnant sales Aston is in need of a hero; the DB11 could well be that car.