Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition

Aston Martin will unveil the DBS Carbon Edition at the Frankfurt motor show tomorrow. It is the follow-up to the DBS Carbon Black introduced in 2009 and is available as either coupe or Volante. 

In addition to Carbon Black Paint, two new colours, Flame Orange and Ceramic Grey, can be chosen. Each car will undergo Aston Martin’s unique paint process, receiving seven layers of paint together with a 25-hour hand flat-and-polish finish. A first for Aston Martin is the option to specify a satin lacquer paint finish, which apparently creates a silk-like texture.

There are 10-spoke gloss black diamond-turned wheels with a reversed diamond turned or full gloss black finish as an option. Black brake calipers are standard with yellow, orange, red or grey as an option.  Other visual enhancements are a black grille, carbonfibre mirror heads, carbon rear lamp in-fills and smoked rear lights.

Inside, the usual swathes of leather are all present, in either obsidian black or Maranello orange. The coupe also receives a quilted leather headlining. The interior of a Carbon Edition will take over 70 man hours to hand stitch and finish. 

The Carbon Edition distinguishes itself from a standard DBS with a carbonfibre facia which Aston Martin say has a ‘weave that has been positioned exactly to follow the form of the dashboard’ and can only be achieved when laid by hand. The carbonfibre even extends to the Touchtronic II automatic gearbox paddles. Just in case you forget you are in a Carbon Edition there is a unique carbonfibre special edition sill plaque with laser-etched metal inlay. 

Along with the standard DBS, the Carbon Edition receives the vastly improved Aston Martin Garmin satellite navigation system. There are also new ‘beam blade’ windscreen wipers that are said to reduce wind noise and provide a cleaner wipe even at high speeds. 

Performance remains the same with the 510bhp V12 under the bonnet. 

DBS Carbon Edition prices start at £186,582 for the coupe and £196,581 for the Volante. Deliveries are expected to start in the first quarter of 2012. 

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