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Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition

Flagship V12 gets even more exclusive with carbon trim and new colours

Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition front tracking

By Jack Rix

January 2012

  • Rating:
It's been over five years since the Aston Martin DBS announced its arrival with an explosive barrel roll in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Now, to maintain interest in the coupe, a range of special editions has started to appear. We drove the Carbon Black in June 2010, but the Carbon Edition has now taken its place.

At £186,582 for the Coupe or £196,581 for the Volante, it’s the most expensive Aston ever, not counting the ultra-exclusive £1.2million One-77, of course. So can it justify the huge price?

It’s a relatively familiar shape these days, but the DBS is still a stunning piece of car design. Aggressive and elegant at the same time, it oozes class and still turns heads wherever it goes. The Carbon Edition can be ordered in two new colours: the eye-catching Flame Orange shown in our pictures, or a less extroverted Ceramic Grey. Every example gets seven paint coats and a 25-hour hand polish to give it a breathtaking depth of colour and shine.

A carbon fibre finish is added to the wing mirrors, front spoiler, diffuser and rear light clusters, while there are carbon brake discs and orange calipers behind the 20-inch, 10-spoke alloys. The carbon fibre theme continues inside, with the centre console covered in carbon weave and carbon scuff plates on the door sills. The quilted leather roof lining is opulent in the extreme, but it helps to make the interior feel special.

Functionality has also been improved– with the infuriating old pop-up Volvo sat-nav gone in favour of much clearer Garmin software.

Astons are built to be driven, not looked at, and the Carbon Edition uses the same 510bhp 6.0-litre V12 as the standard car, with a six-speed semi-auto box.

With 510bhp and a 4.3-second 0-62mph time, the DBS is nowhere near as fast as the £71,950 Nissan GT-R – which does 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds – or as powerful as Ferrari’s £212,066 612bhp 599 GTB.

But on icy roads around Aston Martin’s Gaydon HQ, it still demanded respect. Once the engine gets into its stride above 4,000rpm, there’s an intense rush of acceleration. Well weighted steering, strong brakes and a great noise all add up to a memorable driving experience, but the car still feels more suited to long-distance cruising than attacking corners at full pelt.

The DBS offers an intoxicating mix of power and luxury, and the Carbon Edition adds exclusivity. The problem is price – at this level, there are more capable alternatives to the ageing Aston.

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5 Comments

Near to Retirement!

The DB9 is getting old and just holding on with the skin of it's paintwork, a bit pricy for a car that depreciates like a rusty wheel nut, yet another version of the aging pensioner trying to continue to stay in the game, a completely new car from AM is the real way forward, something to really show the true AM design, flare and race breading that once was AM, no more revamping of aging models before the competition slips so far ahead AM will need a rocket powered car to catch up!

By QuattroABT on 4 January, 2012, 11:44am

untrue colours

drop the tangerine boys, looks hideous on an AM, leave that to lambo's. totally agree with QuattroABT, DBS getting v v old & long in the tooth, time for some real new stuff from boys at AM. in the meantime save a fortune & just buy a GT-R. the price of the AM is truly ridiculous.

By brendan on 4 January, 2012, 5:53pm

i don't think they can improve further on a master peice. its a very nice design and i can only assume in years to come it will be a sort after design. i think they need to come out with a new car but the difficulty might be how can they improve further on a already good looking car becuase you don't want to come out with a new replacement that might not get a good reception as the previous one.

they could have tested the water with the Virage but i feel that car was just a rushed attempt to flood the market with a bigger range, felt like a DB9 with tweaked head lights...not a good start.

By corsamani on 5 January, 2012, 11:41am

Most expensive??

Well I know the Vantage V600 was £233,682 in 2000 so there is another incorrect fact! I have a feeling the V8 Zagato and the final versions of the Vanquish were up there as well

Orange is hideous. Looks like some sort of hot Ford with all the halfords bits bolted on. We need to see something new from Aston.

I saw the One-77 on the Euro Tunnel coming back from Le Mans last summer, and it looked great (shame its probably the only one in existence!

By jakeb1 on 6 January, 2012, 8:18am

the Harley of the four wheels

Aston Martin is slowly but surely taking the tron of Harley Davidson of the cars. Not quite as performant, not quite as sofisticated and much more expensive that any of the competition. Still it has what some call charecter and those will buy it any time as long as they can afford it. I would too btw.

By Stivans on 7 January, 2012, 1:14pm

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Pictures

Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition front tracking
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition rear tracking
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition dash
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition detail
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition rear cornering
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition engine
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition wheel
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition detail

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FIRST OPINION

    With its fantastic V12 engine and beautifully finished cabin, driving a DBS is always special. The Carbon Edition doesn’t get any mechanical upgrades, so it’s no better to drive, but there is extra visual impact thanks to all the carbon trim, plus the optional Flame Orange paint job. The DBS was pricey in the first place, though, and this Carbon Edition adds £5,770 to the total. It’s still a fabulous car, though.

 

AT A GLANCE

    Price: £186,582
    Engine: 6.0-litre V12, 510bhp
    Transmission: Six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
    0-62mph: 4.3 seconds
    Top speed: 191mph
    Economy: 18.2mpg
    CO2: 367g/km
    Equipment: Quilted leather roof lining, carbon ceramic brakes, sat-nav, climate control, Bang & Olufsen stereo with iPod input
    On sale: Now
     
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