2023 Aston Martin DBX

SPEAKER 1: Behind us are two of the quickest and certainly the most opulent SUVs money can buy, and boy, would it take a lot of money. Between that Aston Martin DBX and that Lamborghini Urus is half a million dollars. SPEAKER 2: Madness! These are super SUV, hyper SUVs, ultra SUVs, insert superlative SUVs, and as a result, our expectations are also in the stratosphere. SPEAKER 1: Instead of doing just one drag race to find out which one's faster, we're going to do a series of races: one for wet weather traction and stability, one for family duties, and, of course, a normal straight line drag race to see which one is quickest in a straight line. How can you not do that? SPEAKER 2: And along the way, we're also going to tell you what we like, and what we don't like, and maybe even which one you should buy. Because at the end of the day, Carlos and I are serious car reviewers, and interest rates are low. You could sell the house, indulge yourself. SPEAKER 1: As the old saying goes, you can sleep in a car, but you can't race a house. SPEAKER 2: Too true. SPEAKER 1: Before we get started, make sure to give us a like, comment, and subscribe. We'd really appreciate it. Also, be sure to visit Edmunds.com/sellmycar to get an instant cash offer on your car. SPEAKER 2: And for a bit of fun, why don't you count the number of James Bond references we make in this film, because let's face it-- an Aston Martin review so kind of have to. SPEAKER 1: Do we? SPEAKER 2: If you want to die another day. SPEAKER 1: Of course, we want to know which of these SUVs is quicker in a straight line, but the question is, what happens when that road turns and is covered in rain, snow, or ice? These are all-wheel drive SUVs after all. So behind us is a surface that's been polished or epoxied. It's also been covered in flour, and that's to simulate what happens on snowy roads that you might find in Utah or Michigan or Minnesota. SPEAKER 2: So let's imagine in a fit of benevolence, you've given your private pilot a day off, and you're driving to a ski chalet in your Lamborghini or your Aston Martin. So we're going to do a time lap going as quickly and as safely as possible and find out which is best for the gentleman skier. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's right. SPEAKER 2: So let's set the car up for this epic ice adventure. So we've put the drive mode into sport plus, and then I'm actually using the menu system here to turn off the stability control. Now, if that sounds counter intuitive, it kind of is. But Carlos and I agree that in the interest of friendly competition and making it look spectacular, we're going to run with the systems off. All I'm going to do then is rely on the gearbox here using these floppy paddles which are beautifully rendered in aluminum-- sorry, I should say "aluminum." OK. We ready. SPEAKER 1: Three, two, one, go! SPEAKER 2: I think the gear box isn't working. Hang on. I've got to go into drive before I can go into manual. Hang on, I didn't expect that. SPEAKER 1: We are professionals, professional car evaluators. SPEAKER 2: OK, now I'm ready. Now-- this time. SPEAKER 1: Three, two, one, go! There he goes, and he's finally off, you know. SPEAKER 2: A bit of the old Scandinavian flip, get the front end to bite and hard on the power. Oh, bit of understeer, wait for it to turn. Wait for it to bite. Try and control the oversteer through the flour. Oh! This thing actually steers wonderfully. It's very poised. There's a really good innate balance. Feels like a Lotus, but a heavy one. Come on. SPEAKER 1: Will it be faster? Looks good certainly. I have nothing to compare that to, but that seems pretty solid so far. The challenge with following Alistair is I think this Lamborghini isn't going to be able to get as sideways, so I better be faster. The other challenge that I have-- six different drive modes and they're all in Italian! But because I have a basic understanding of the language, I played around a little bit. I tried the sand mode. I tried the snow mode and the sport mode. I think the sport mode gave me the most sideways, although the fastest might be the sand mode. But because people are watching, and I've got an ego to do right for, I'm going to try to get the most sideways as possible. So sport mode, stability control off, and I'm ready to go. SPEAKER 2: On three, on two, on one, go! SPEAKER 1: That was an unfair start compared to what I gave him, but hey, whatever. He's the boss. All right, so actually really, really good responses from this Urus. I'm really impressed by how playful this is, but also how controllable this is. This is a massive, heavy SUV that I'm able to drive around really well when I get it right. I didn't there. Applied too much power, power set me under steering. This is delightful, I got to say. SPEAKER 2: Oh! He's not quick. He's not quick. It's not quick. SPEAKER 1: That felt good. SPEAKER 2: So Carlos, how good do you think that was? What would you guess your time was? I was 32 seconds I seem to remember. SPEAKER 1: You were 32 seconds after, let's say, quite a few practice runs. I will say that felt good in the Lamborghini. Whether it's faster or not, let's just say I won't be green with envy. SPEAKER 2: Do you think you look good in a big, green Lamborghini? SPEAKER 1: I don't know if that's an insult or not. SPEAKER 2: So your time-- can I do is in the best Top Gear fashion-- your time, 37.46. Victory to Aston Martin. SPEAKER 1: Enjoy it while it lasts, because I think that's going to change later. SPEAKER 2: It may well, but it just shows the benefit of finesse over brute power. SPEAKER 1: What, no Bond pun? SPEAKER 2: Still working on it. So the lesson here, boys and girls, is if you're heading to your ski chalet in the mountains, it's better to arrive as a British Secret Service agent than an Italian tractor maker. SPEAKER 1: What I love about this interior is how unabashedly Lamborghini it is. I mean, it's everything from the chunky shifters to the fact that I need a translator to figure out some of these drive modes. This feels special every single time you get into it. It's also the fact that Lamborghini is not just embroidered on the headrest, color matched to the exterior. It's also that it's chromed above the glove box. Who cares if it blinds you in direct sunlight? It's a Lamborghini for crying out loud. What I don't like are two very minor things. This Urus, like the DBX, shares a lot of parts with a different automaker. In this case, it's Audi Volkswagen, and I recognize a lot of Audi buttons and fonts in here, which is mostly due to the fact that I drive cars for a living and have sit in quite a few Audis. The other point is even less important, let's say, but it's bugged me since it was introduced in Lamborghinis many years ago. You have this flap to reveal the Start/Stop button. That's really cool, but why is there a window that lets me use the button when the flap is down? Kind of defeats the point, doesn't it? This is certainly not for me, but I really respect everything they've done here. This is very cool. SPEAKER 2: Aston Martin DBX-- one thing I like, one thing I don't like. So I like this door handle, which is the kind of epitome of bespoke luxury. I mean, look at the attention to detail and design, and if it's not raging hot like it is today, it actually feels cold, which tells you that's actually proper material and not cheap plastic. What don't I like? Well, this infotainment system essentially borrowed from Mercedes, but it's borrowed from Mercedes about five years ago. It looks like it ought to be a touch screen, and I've been prodding it all weekend. It's covered in my fingerprints, but it's not. You have to control it using this rotary knob. And this is basically a system that was last used in an A class years ago. The whole thing feels slow, ponderous, deeply infuriating. It's supposed to have CarPlay, but three of us have tried, and none of us can make it work. But one other thing before we cut-- the aroma. About 15 years ago, I literally wrote a book on Aston Martin and spent about six weeks at the factory, and I can remember that smell of the cars. And this is built in a different factory-- even a different country. It's actually built in Wales not England, but it still has that same luxurious aroma which is just fabulous, unless you're a vegan, of course. Then it's a disaster. SPEAKER 1: Now it's time for the family stuff race. Of course, these SUVs are still family vehicles, even if they cost a quarter of a million. dollars. So now we're going to do a car seat race-- Edmund's patented car seat race. SPEAKER 2: That's right, this is my very own car seat, but sadly we couldn't afford the fees for my two-year-old. So we have replaced her with-- SPEAKER 1: Kenny Rogers, our regulation-size chicken. SPEAKER 2: Apparently a bit of a gambler. SPEAKER 1: The way this race is going to work is each one of us has got an opportunity to install his car seat once in our respective vehicles. Now, because Alistair's the dad-- and I'm not-- and it's his car seat, we're going to give him a bit of a handicap. Fastest car seat installation wins with bonus points for remaining front seat comfort. After talking with the producers, we've decided Alistair's handicap will be a [? lama ?] start starting at that wall. SPEAKER 2: It's quite a long way to run for me. SPEAKER 1: Look, you've got long legs. You can make it happen. SPEAKER 2: Chicken legs. SPEAKER 1: Hey, he said it. Got this. He's going down. SPEAKER 2: Three, two, one, go! It's a solid start. This is a man without a dad bod, but with limited experience with car seats. I think he's made-- I think he's made a fundamental error trying to put the belt in first. SPEAKER 1: Call it. SPEAKER 3: Is the rooster in the seat? SPEAKER 1: He's in a seat. SPEAKER 2: Is the rooster strapped in-- you know you have to strap babies into the seat. You can't just like chuck 'em in. SPEAKER 1: There's nothing about strapping babies in the rules. SPEAKER 3: All right, call it. SPEAKER 2: 42 seconds. I forgot to stop it. SPEAKER 1: You forgot to stop it? Well, I was trying to work out at what point we were finishing. SPEAKER 2: So now some practical consumer advice. Remember, we did promise you that at the beginning. Carlos is a man of average height. How much room have you got in the front passenger seat? SPEAKER 1: About half an Arnie from my knee to the dash-- so not bad. SPEAKER 2: So when the producer gave me these, genuinely said they were British. So I pointed out that this is actually the French flag. SPEAKER 1: Those aren't American? SPEAKER 2: Do you know what my philosophy is for this competition? Live and let die. SPEAKER 1: Alistair, flail your arms if you're ready. OK. Three, two, one, go! It's a pretty good pace, pretty good pace. SPEAKER 2: I haven't run this hard in a long time. SPEAKER 1: Oh, starting with the hand! SPEAKER 2: Stupid door handles! SPEAKER 1: That's a pro-move. SPEAKER 2: Of course, they watch the very posh leather. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that leather looks very fancy. I would hate to scratch it, wouldn't you? SPEAKER 2: Oh, god, come on seat belt. SPEAKER 1: You doing all right over there? SPEAKER 2: Not really. SPEAKER 1: You doing OK? SPEAKER 2: Click. SPEAKER 1: You need a hand? SPEAKER 2: Tight. Down. Check it's stable. SPEAKER 1: Kenny Rogers? SPEAKER 2: Chicken. SPEAKER 1: Kenny. Oh, look at the delicacy and care. SPEAKER 3: Time. SPEAKER 2: Did I win? SPEAKER 1: Kind of? Maybe? SPEAKER 2: It's the fastest I've run in about 20 years. So the big question on everybody's lips-- Aston wins the seat installation, but what about front leg room? SPEAKER 1: I've got about 3/4 of an Arnie from my knees to the dash. So it sounds like the Aston wins the car seat race both in terms of time to install the seat and knee comfort for an average, adult male. SPEAKER 2: What a wonderfully practical, versatile, sensible sports utility vehicle. SPEAKER 1: Alistair, how was the drive up here with that thing? SPEAKER 2: Very pleasant, thank you. It really is a nice way to travel. The whole vehicle feels smaller than it actually is, which is always a good sign. The air suspension is set up really well, so it rides beautifully. You know, it feels special. It feels like a bespoke piece of couture, because that's kind of what it is. To a large extent, it is hand-built. And the only trade for that is you do get a few more squeaks and rattles than you might in a more mass-produced car, but I like it. It has a real sense of occasion. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I think what you're describing is kind of the trade off between something that's built in fewer numbers. You just have to kind of accept some of the qualities that you may-- some of the build qualities that may arise from that kind of assembly. This Lamborghini, on the other hand-- I mean, to be quite frank, I think we were both prepared to not dislike it, but just sort of like, oh, it's something that looks that way. It's bright green. It's so aggressive, and so in your face in terms of design. But the remarkable thing is when you drive it on the road, it's absolutely none of those things. When you leave it in the normal drive settings, it's quiet. It's really comfortable. It's easy to steer. It's nimble. It's easy to see out of, and then when you step on the gas pedal, it goes like stink. This is something that-- as you would expect-- you could really easily daily drive this. And that's a pretty remarkable thing from a super SUV like this one is. SPEAKER 2: I think it's time for this car to don its tuxedo and head to the start line. Carlos, how's the ride quality in the Lamborghini? Were you shaken not stirred? SPEAKER 1: I hate you. You know, Alistair, I'm kind of ashamed to admit, I don't know what's under the hood of that. What is under the hood of that Aston Martin DBX? SPEAKER 2: This is a Mercedes ANG 4 liter, twin-turbo V8. SPEAKER 1: I too have a twin-turbo 4 liter V8, but this one's from the Volkswagen group. SPEAKER 2: I have 542 horsepower and 516 pounds feet of torque. SPEAKER 1: I've got 641 horsepower, but I feel like I'm slightly heavier. This is about 5,200 pounds if you round it. SPEAKER 2: Yeah, this is almost 5,200 pounds as well, so I think you are slightly heavier but only just according to the scales. SPEAKER 1: Anyway, I'll explain the launch control process now for the viewers at home. So with the Urus, the best way to get a launch out of it is to push this anima lever down to korsa. The revs rise up. You hold the brake with your left foot, and you mash the gas with your right and release the brake. And that's launch control. And it's really flippin' fast when you do it that way. I mean like, really fast. SPEAKER 2: So set up the Aston for drag racing, which seems very unseemly to be honest. We've gone into sport plus mode. We've turned off the stability control. Then it's a left foot, right foot job using the paddles here to manually select gears. SPEAKER 1: I'm going to dust that Aston Martin. It's going to be eating dust, Italian dust-- probably taste pretty good too. SPEAKER 4: All right, we are going to race. Drivers race in 3, 2, 1, go! SPEAKER 1: Bye, Aston! Bye, Aston! SPEAKER 2: Oh! SPEAKER 1: Nice to know you! SPEAKER 2: Oh, I made a mess of it. SPEAKER 1: Bye! Oh, my god! SPEAKER 2: I was a bit worried about how fast that Lambo was off the line. SPEAKER 1: I think it's a speck in my rear-view mirror. SPEAKER 2: Oh. Yeah, we might need one more run of those, because I got a bit blown away by how fast the Lambo was and forgot to change gears, which kind of screwed it up. SPEAKER 4: All right, drivers. Race in three, two, one, go! SPEAKER 2: Oh, that Lamborghini just launches so well. SPEAKER 1: Bye, Aston! I see his grill. I see the front of the car. I see the finish line, and it's Lamborghini-- number one on race day, which honestly is what you should expect for how much power this makes over that Aston Martin. SPEAKER 2: To be honest, that all looked a bit vulgar. I tried to bring a bit-- a kind of air of finesse and sophistication to the proceedings. SPEAKER 1: That sounds like loser speak. SPEAKER 2: I won the car seat race. SPEAKER 1: That you did, that you did. I won the race race. What happens when you launch that thing? What does it feel like? SPEAKER 2: Not a lot, really. I mean, it's crazy to say it, but I think modern suspension and tire technologies just got so good that even launching an SUV with 541 horsepower-- it just sort of grips and goes. There's no real drama. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, and it's remarkable the power to weight, because I think, off the top of my head, that's closer to 9 and 1/2 pounds per horsepower, and this is like closer to eight pounds per horsepower. And the difference off the line is staggering between the two, because this has a really aggressive launch control. And you could just feel those front tires pulling this thing off the line. It feels like it's leaping. SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I think that's the difference. The Lamborghini is set up to be a hypercar in an SUV frock basically, where as the DBX is a more sporty version of a Bentley. So it's somewhere between the two. SPEAKER 1: So this whole experience is a great setup for our rolling race, as we always do, where we eliminate the launch from the drag race essentially and see what these cars would do if you just slammed the gas pedal on the freeway. SPEAKER 2: OK, let's do this. SPEAKER 1: May want to pick manual mode so you don't end up in the wrong gear. SPEAKER 2: OK, so I'm using second gear to try and make sure we have some boost. Going up to 40 miles an hour, and go! And go, go, go, go! SPEAKER 1: Oh, it actually downshifted. SPEAKER 2: Manual mode. SPEAKER 1: Oh no! SPEAKER 2: Little bit slow to change. Did I just jump that or did we blow away the Lamborghini? SPEAKER 1: OK, so what happened is I nailed the gas in manual mode, and it downshifted to first gear. As soon as it was out of revs, it automatically up-shifted to second. So I was like, OK, you're going to take care of the shifts by yourself. But then I ran to the limiter on third gear. So if you're going to up-shift car by yourself, always up-shift by yourself. Never let me hit the limiter, because then you lose the race. SPEAKER 2: This wasn't turbo-lite. This was transmission control. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that was me misunderstanding what the car was going to do with regard to shifting. I was reeling it in like crazy by the end. SPEAKER 2: One should work out how to change gear in an automatic car. SPEAKER 1: Exactly, exactly. Should we do that again? SPEAKER 2: I'm happy to give you one more try to see whether you can master this gearbox. SPEAKER 1: All right, here we go. Roll race number two, or number one. I don't know. SPEAKER 2: No, it's definitely roll race number two. Second gear. Power! He's got to go! 7,000, click. He's railing me in now. Come on! SPEAKER 1: It was really fun just pulling on you at the very end there. SPEAKER 2: Still struggling at the start to work out which gear you want to be in. SPEAKER 1: The gearing was fine. It was a turbo lag. So it did downshift to first gear again all by itself, automatically up-shifted to second, but I grabbed third gear when I saw red line. The real thing seems to be turbo lag. When you roll on the throttle in second gear, when you nail the throttle like I did, it takes a while for this engine to get to steam once you're in gear. But once it's on, once it's at steam? Oh, boy, get out of the way. SPEAKER 2: What I do like in this Aston, actually-- and I know you and I disagree on this-- SPEAKER 1: Tell me more about what you like about the Aston. SPEAKER 2: I like the fact that when you hit the rev limiter, it doesn't automatically change up. If you're in manual, you're in manual, and it's on you, sonny. SPEAKER 1: Why do you want to sit on the rev limiter? SPEAKER 2: I don't, but I want to be in control. And also, if you're piling out of a bend or something, you want to have a good sense of when you're changing up. You know, sometimes you want to actually manage that yourself, particularly if you're on a track. You don't really want the car randomly changing up when you least expect it. SPEAKER 1: In your 5,200 pound SUV on the track? SPEAKER 2: Yeah, well it's nice to talk like a racer. SPEAKER 1: So we've come to the end. Let's talk about the races. When it comes to the slippery surface, the Aston won. SPEAKER 2: Comfortably. SPEAKER 1: The car seat race, the Aston won as well. SPEAKER 2: Comfortably. SPEAKER 1: Despite a handicap, which is actually really impressive. When it comes to the drag race-- Lamborghini very comfortably wins that race, but why would you choose one of these SUVs over the other? SPEAKER 2: Well, I want to start with a bit of context. Let me ask you a question. How many vehicles did the-- how many cars did the Volkswagen group produce last year? SPEAKER 1: I don't know, a billion? SPEAKER 2: 9.3 million in a bad year. In the first six months of last year, Aston made-- or sold-- 1,770. SPEAKER 1: That's way less cars. SPEAKER 2: It's way less cars. SPEAKER 1: Way less. SPEAKER 2: Put it in the context like this-- this car was developed when Aston Martin was absolutely in the deep do-do. It's since had a bit of a buyout. And in that context, this really is a great achievement. It drives beautifully. It feels special. Every journey has a sense of occasion, which is exactly what you need of a car costing $200,000. But you do have to accept an infotainment system that's kind of akin to a fax machine and a few squeaks and rattles, because-- SPEAKER 1: And some clunks and a window that doesn't work. SPEAKER 2: It's kind of hand built, but it's so nearly a great car. And I do love it. And also, if you want to be discrete. If you want to go unnoticed, you can-- unlike the Lamborghini in which every journey you have to be Kim Kardashian. SPEAKER 1: And that's what turned off a lot of us with the Urus at first, but when you drive it, you realize it backs up that extravagant design with really supple comfort and really amazing fun to drive factor, I guess you would say. This thing's just a hoot on a windy road-- like not just good for an SUV with 640 horsepower, but a really good handling SUV. It's just staggering. SPEAKER 2: We were actually saying we think it's better than it needs to be. SPEAKER 1: Right. SPEAKER 2: It's astonishingly good to drive. SPEAKER 1: On top of that, you have all the modern technology conveniences, and they all work, which is really impressive. Now the downside is it is $100,000 more as tested than that Aston Martin, but I would argue it actually might be worth it. SPEAKER 2: But he's basically a $91,100 different between the two. SPEAKER 1: And I think you said it best off-camera. This is the SUV we didn't want to love, but we do. And that Aston Martin is what we want to love in spite of some issues. SPEAKER 2: And kind of still do. SPEAKER 1: For more super relevant car shopping advice, especially in the year 2021, be sure to visit Edmunds.com. Also like, comment, and subscribe, and visit edmands.com/sellmycar to get an instant cash offer on your car. And we're going to have to do something a little more reasonable next time, I think. SPEAKER 2: I think so. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. SPEAKER 2: But thanks for watching. It's been great fun. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, thank you. SPEAKER 2: We hope you enjoyed it too.