NEW Aston Martin DBX 707 Review: World's Most POWERFUL Luxury SUV

This is the £190,000 DBX 707, the latest evolution of Aston Martin's sports SUV, thanks to a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 that makes 707 metric horsepower and 900 Nm of torque. It sends power to all four wheels, delivers a 0-62 time of 3.3 seconds and will smash 193mph. This one is all about the numbers. Those numbers make this the fastest, most powerful luxury SUV on the planet, ever. But if you're anything like me, you probably want to know what those numbers actually feel like. So, Sport Plus, launch control, standard car didn't have launch control, be a shame not to use it. Let's go. Oh, oh my, this thing is absolutely nuts. It's insane, the sound is nuts, the gear changes are nuts, the acceleration is incredible. I can tell you straight away, this is the fastest SUV I've ever driven. Forget SUV, it's the fastest Aston I've ever driven. Vantage, Vanquish, DBS, this thing spanks them all. I'm sitting here thinking, wow, and I'm also thinking, how? It's all down to this gigantic, enormous, massive front grille. Okay, it's also down to the engine which has new ball-bearing turbochargers, a new exhaust and a more extreme configuration. But it couldn't have a more extreme configuration if it didn't have more extreme cooling. And that's what this delivers. It's 30% larger than the grille on the standard DBX and allows for 80% more airflow. The radiator in the middle is the same, but it has additional twin-stacked outboard auxiliary radiators which allow it to gobble up more air than ever before. It's a good thing too, because if they weren't there, the engine and gearbox would melt. That increase in power from 550 to 707 PS and a jump in torque from 700 to 900 Nm aren't the only new things to shout about. It also has unique daytime running lights, different bodywork in the form of a new front splitter, large side air curtains behind the front wheels and another behind the rear wheels to help cool the transmission and active anti-roll components. More dramatic side sills, 22-inch standard wheels with the option to upgrade to these enormous 23s and this absolutely mad twin diffuser, which looks insane. It sticks out so far. They actually had to recalibrate the reverse parking sensors to go off earlier so you don't smash your car into a brick wall. I think it looks great, but here's the problem. When people park behind your DBX, they might not know that that's there and they could end up damaging your car. But there is a solution, because if you open the boot, which by the way is 638 litres, very capacious, there's a solution to this twin diffuser problem that lives between my legs. And no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm actually talking about this deployable tow bar right there, which allows you to tow 2.6 tonnes and protects the car's bodywork. On the inside, there's a couple of minor tweaks. On this car, you get the sport seats as standard and these can be finished in either leather, more expensive semi-aniline leather, or a mixture of leather and alcantara for a more sporty finish. You can downgrade from the sport seats to the standard seats, but honestly, I don't think there's any need to because even these sportier items feel really, really supportive, but also comfortable. I've been in this car for a good few hours now already and I don't want to get out, which is a great sign. You can customise the colour of the interior as you see fit and I do love this green on the inside with a contrasting grey stitching. I think it goes really nicely with the exterior colour, which Aston Martin calls Titanium Grey, although to my eyes, it's green, isn't it? They've also changed some of the switchgear on this car, so instead of the rocker switch on the previous DVX for changing your drive mode, you now get a circular drive mode selector, which works pretty well. It lets you cycle between Individual, GT, Terrain, Sport and Sport+. What I'm not a fan of is the sheer quantity of buttons on the centre console. There's so many, so it's quite difficult to wrap your head around exactly what each of these buttons does. I'm also not a fan of this infotainment system, which is an Aston re-skinned version of a very old Mercedes infotainment system and it's slow, it's clunky, it's unresponsive, this isn't even a touchscreen and even though it does have Apple CarPlay, I just don't think it's befitting of a £200,000 car. Luckily, a lot of that is really easy to forgive because the DVX is lovely to drive. It uses the same basic three-chamber air suspension you get on the standard DVX, but this has been tuned ever so slightly to improve the body control. It doesn't feel like a boat, it rides nicely, the whole thing is tighter and more responsive. It actually feels a lot like a sports car. I was fully ready for these 23-inch wheels to ruin the ride comfort, but actually, it's not bad at all. Even though these roads out here are fairly smooth, I did manage to hunt down some more gnarly surfaces and genuinely, it's a very smooth car to drive. In fact, Aston Martin say that these big wheels improve the primary ride. In other words, when you hit a big speed bump or a huge imperfection in the road, having larger wheels helps to soak up some of those imperfections. They also say it improves the steering and I can believe that because the steering is one of the highlights in this car. There's lots of feedback through the steering wheel, it's responsive, it's direct and it's actually a lot of fun. Another thing they say, which I'll take with a pinch of salt, is that having bigger wheels can improve your lap time. Now, I'm no engineer, but I definitely don't see how having bigger, heavier wheels can help you go faster around a track. One of the DBX's tricks is a tweaked electronic limited-slip differential, which has not only been strengthened to handle the torque increase, but also features a shorter final drive ratio, which helps the car accelerate more effectively in the lower gears. That, combined with the new ball-bearing turbos, which spin up faster, help give the car a feeling of urgency that belies its size. Not only that, but the e-diff can apparently send 100% of its torque to the rear wheels, so the DBX 707 feels massively rear-biased. There's been a few times today when I've come around a tight corner and got on the power early and you do feel that back end start to step out. It's really quite impressive. I remember driving the standard DBX around Silverstone and getting the back end out. It was really, really playful and knowing that this car is even more playful from that point of view, yeah, definitely puts a smile on my face. I'm a big fan of this gearbox as well. It's still a nine-speed automatic, but they've replaced the torque converter with a multi-plate wet clutch, which can not only handle more power, it also makes it a bit snappier and a bit more responsive, so now when you change gears, second to third, you get quite a nice kick in the back, which just makes the whole thing feel a lot more engaging to drive. The brakes are strong too. Where the normal DBX has steel discs, the 707 is fitted with carbon ceramics as standard. 420mm up front with six-piston calipers and 390mm at the rear with four-piston calipers. The Lamborghini Urus has the edge here with slightly larger front brakes, but these are still extremely effective. And the 707 handles too. The recalibrated dampers give the car improved body control, so it feels tight and cohesive through the corners, while the e-arc electronic anti-roll control system keeps the suspension as flat as you'd expect. It has real composure in the corners, excellent grip and traction, not to mention thrilling amounts of power. It's just a lot of fun to drive this car. I think that's it, isn't it? It's enjoyable. I think it flows down the road more nicely than pretty much any of its competition. It doesn't feel like an SUV. It feels like a slightly jacked-up sports car. It's just a thrill a minute. You wouldn't think that driving this car on these tight and twisty roads would be an enjoyable or even sensible exercise, but I'm telling you, this thing is hilarious. Of course, you could ask the question, what is the point of having a car this big go this fast? But there is a point. It's all about bragging rights. When the DBX was first released, it was well-received, but there weren't too many things an owner might brag about. It wasn't as luxurious as a Bentayga, as exclusive as a Cullinan, or as powerful as a Urus. It might have been more fun to drive than any of those cars, but you could argue there were more tangible reasons to pick almost any of the other six-figure luxury SUVs it competes with. But this is different. With cars like these, bigger is always better. What's the most expensive? What's the most powerful? What's the most exclusive? And with the DBX 707, Aston Martin has delivered a car that lets you have all the bragging rights you could ever need. Aston has delivered a car that gives you the numbers, and in this world, numbers are all that matters.