Aston Martin’s new DBS, recently unveiled at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, came face-to-face with the Le Mans-winning DBR9, at an exclusive test day at the Nurburgring last week.

The DBS was in Germany for a final sign-off drive at the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife circuit at the same time as the Aston Martin Racing DBR9 and other customer race teams were enjoying an exclusive Aston Martin test session on the Grand Prix circuit, creating an ideal opportunity for the two cars to meet.

With the next public appearance of the DBS scheduled for the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, the car underwent a final sign-off drive from Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez.

The DBS adopts a series of race-derived materials and components, taking inspiration from the successful DBR9. The DBS is powered by an Aston Martin 6.0-litre V12 an enhanced version of which is used in both the DBR9 and DBRS9 race cars. The shared powerplant continues the strong link between Aston Martin’s road and race cars, just as the six-cylinder engine used in the DBR1 inspired a generation of engines in the DB4, DB5 and DB6 in the 1950s and 60s.

Like the DB9 and its sibling DBR9 and DBRS9 race cars, the DBS also uses Aston Martin’s class-leading all-alloy VH (Vertical Horizontal) architecture, a lightweight bonded aluminum structure that provides outstanding strength and rigidity. Aston Martin’s engineers have also employed advanced materials and processes to further reduce weight and increase the DBS’s performance and dynamics.

The DBS also has a revised Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system, designed to help maintain maximum traction in challenging driving conditions. The system incorporates a ‘Track’ mode which raises the threshold at which the system intervenes to allow the experienced driver to explore the car’s limits.

The car’s braking system features another innovation, the first time Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes have been used on a road-going Aston Martin. The end result is shorter stopping distances with excellent resistance to fade in even the most demanding driving conditions. CCM brakes are also some 12.5 kg lighter than a conventional system, reducing the weight of the car overall and, in particular, the unsprung weight and rotational masses, further enhancing the performance of the suspension.

The DBS will be built at Aston Martin’s global headquarters at Gaydon, near Warwickshire in the UK, joining the current Aston Martin line-up. This now comprises the elegant DB9, the agile V8 Vantage Coupe and the critically acclaimed Vantage Roadster – launched earlier this year.

Deliveries of the DBS are expected to commence during quarter one 2008.

First Look: 2008 Aston Martin DBS

Oh! Oh! Seven heaven: When the world is not enough, there's always a 510-horse Brit sex symbol to drive another day

By Phil McNamara
Photography by Gus Gregory

The DBS will launch the new Aston Martin era with one hell of a bang. Set to go into production in October, it'll be quicker than any Aston road car before it, thanks to its massaged V-12. It'll weigh about 220 pounds less than a regular DB9. It'll wear a body kit designed to help it slice through the air more cleanly. And it'll introduce high-tech materials and a new upgraded cockpit for the entire DB line.

The ultimate embodiment of the DB9 coupe, the DBS will replace the muscular Vanquish as the flagship Aston Martin, although senior execs struggle to admit it.

"It'll be our halo car and will have superior performance to the now-aged Vanquish," said Aston's Ulrich Bez earlier this year, before quickly countering: "It's not the Vanquish successor, but another car to raise awareness of the brand." Adds design director Marek Reichman, "The DBS isn't replacing the Vanquish; it's a standalone product based on the DB9."

The $260,000 Vanquish goes out of production shortly. The price of the DBS? About the same. And with just 300 cars to be produced each year, the DBS will be as exclusive as, er...the Vanquish. Still, reading between the lines, Bez and Reichman are clearly leaving room for a new Aston supercar to slide in above the DBS at some point in the future.

At least they can stop acting like caring parents protecting their eldest child from a younger, more talented sibling. When the 450-horse DB9 was launched in 2004, it immediately matched the heavier, pricier Vanquish, which needed some nurturing-well a 51-horse boost-to stay on top. But without the need to protect the Vanquish, the DBS is edgier: lighter, louder, and faster.

Is it a track-day car? "Absolutely," says Reichman. But it won't be a stripped-out street racer like Ferrari's 360 Challenge Stradale. "We want an element of luxury, too. It'll still be swathed in carpet, but a carpet made of lighter materials. There'll still be leather and Alcantara." Bez puts it this way: "The DBS is brutal, but dressed in black tie."

A bit like Daniel Craig's edgier, darker, more intense James Bond, then, though Reichman, who started work on the DBS in October 2005, insists the car's crash-and-burn cameo in "Casino Royale" was never on the original agenda. "Part of my brief was to make the DB9 look more edgy, like a tough guy in a dinner suit," he says. " I wanted to convey strength, power, and agility." One month into the design phase, however, the producers of the James Bond films walked into Reichman's studio, and the seeds were sown for Aston's return to the big screen.

"We didn't design the car for Bond; we wanted a flagship DB9," insists Reichman. "That's what the project is about." Bond, did, however, influence the new Aston's name: Australian George Lazenby drove a DBS in his sole performance as 007 in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." (Lazenby trivia: He served in Australia's SAS [special forces] before becoming one of the world's highest-paid male models and Europe's Marlboro Man.) Reichman says the "S" is appropriate for the car's sporting intent.

Whether the DBS is officially Aston's halo model, insiders admit it is the company's technology flagship. Naturally, the car is built on the DB9's aluminum VH chassis, and the exotic materials don't end there. The new body kit is carbon fiber and all business. "Everything is present for an engineering reason, nothing is extraneous," notes Reichman. The new lower bumper section feeds more air to the enlarged radiator and oil cooler and also helps cool the standard carbon ceramic brake rotors.

Aston has clearly decided to take fight to the home teams at Frankfurt this year with the two special editions we brought you news of earlier this week - jostling for space alongside the new DBS.

You'll have seen the DBS barrel-rolling through the latest Bond flick, and it's no less intimidating without Daniel Craig in the driver's seat.

Essentially a lighter, more powerful DB9, the DBS is festooned in carbon fibre: the rear diffuser is carbon fibre, the wing mirror attachments are carbon fibre, the interior door trim is carbon fibre... you get the picture.

That helps the DBS weigh in some 120kg lighter than the DB9. With a 5.9-litre V12 developing 510bhp, it'll hit 62mph in 4.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 191mph. Sadly, we weren't allowed to start it up, but we can only assume it sounds epic.

What impresses most about the DBS is the detail. The black paint is flecked with gold, giving fantastic depth to the Aston's high haunches, while the clear rear light clusters and 'sapphire starter button' provide a proper bespoke feeling.

There's a proper bespoke price tag to match, because the DBS will cost about £160,000 when it goes on sale early next year.