Aston Martin DBX707 Fast Fleet test – daily driving Britain’s 697bhp Cayenne fighter

It’s fitting that in the issue in which we introduced the first Aston Martin road car to be conceived and developed under the watch of current chairman Lawrence Stroll, we also introduced to evo’s Fast Fleet a model that was originally conceived by his predecessor, Andy Palmer: a DBX, specifically a DBX707.

A recap on the DBX and the 707, should you need one: the DBX is the volume seller designed and developed at the sort of huge expense that Aston could barely afford at the time, but then neither could it afford not to do so. And the 707 is the hyper-luxury, mad-performance model for a market that is still a licence to print money. A DBX S has now been introduced to the lineup to sit above it with even more power still, but the 707 is one of the most capable performance SUVs on the market nonetheless.

> Aston Martin DBX S review – beating Ferrari's Purosangue to the top of the class

In the DBX, Aston Martin created one of the few, if not the only bespoke performance SUV, so it is unencumbered by the limitations of group platforms, while also not being held back by having to live up to a legacy of rock climbing and river wading. And it’s really rather good, a match for contemporary performance estate cars and an ostrich-sized feather in the brand’s cap, highlighting that front-engined GT cars aren’t its only party piece.

However, unlike the ranges of its rivals, the DBX line-up was for some time a rather shallow pool for customers to fish in, the only options being the ‘standard’ 542bhp V8 model and, if you lived in China, a six-cylinder mild-hybrid. For those wanting to trade-in their Lamborghini Urus, Range Rover Sport SVR or even AMG G63, Aston Martin was lacking a comparable ultra-performance SUV offering.

I say ‘was’ because when we first drove the 697bhp DBX707, we discovered an SUV with a heavyweight punch to make the competition wince. On the sun-drenched launch route around Sardinia, it demonstrated that its bespoke platform was more than up to the task of handling much more of everything. And now we have the opportunity to find out how that translates over six months in the UK, with its dreary weather and appalling roads.

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When you’re given the opportunity to spec a new car you don’t have to pay for, there’s a moment – longer actually – that’s tricky to navigate. Do you go crazy and test the PR department’s sense of humour and patience? Do you play it safe and kick yourself come delivery day for being predictable? Or do you go with what you’d select if you had the resources to actually pay for the car yourself? Having played it safe with evo’s original DBX (grey with black – I know, so imaginative…) this time I went with the third option: what would I do were it mine?

The answer is Buckinghamshire Green paintwork by Q, with a bright satin grille finish as opposed to the dark chrome alternative. Complementing this is an upper and lower body package in gloss 2x2 twill carbonfibre that includes the (sizable) diffuser, side sills, front splitter and side gills. The chrome brightwork is also replaced with black trim.

I stuck with the 707’s bespoke 23-inch forged wheel design, which will test the steering damper that was absent from the original 542bhp models at launch and isolates some of the vibration induced by the increased mass of these largest-sized wheels. Bronze-painted brake calipers were to stop the groans of disappointment that red alternatives would elicit from those in the office. Clear glass, black badges and red tail lights completed my ideal specification for the exterior, although someone high-up in Aston vetoed the clear glass and black badges.

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Inside is as extroverted as I get. Aston Martin offers a vast array of ‘environments’ in terms of materials and colours; I stuck with the suggested ‘Accelerate – Duotone’ option, with black Alcantara for the seat centres and a combination of black and Oxford Tan leather for the bolsters. And then out went the piano black wood and in came the gloss bronze mesh trim to accompany the carbonfibre and dark chrome for the interior ‘jewellery’, with the stitching matched to the tan leather. After a couple of days of agonising over the details it became apparent that a) I’d be a hopeless new-car collector if I had to spec them and b) too much choice can be a bewildering thing to have.

The wait – 11 months, such is the demand the 707 has created – became increasingly agonising as the collection date approached. But when it finally arrived, even though it coincided with being shown the stunning DB12 at the same time, it was worth every one of those long days. Parked in the sun, green paint glistening, the details pinging, it looked stunning. And the key was finally in my hand. Never has the 150-mile drive home from Gaydon been more rewarding, even if 145 miles of that were on motorways and dual carriageways.

Those first impressions confirmed that away from the launch razzmatazz the DBX707 doesn’t disappoint. Despite the increased performance it is as discreet as its lesser-powered brother. Yet when you call upon it, all the shock and awe that the twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 forces through the nine-speed auto and to all four corners is all-encompassing. In many of the Aston’s rivals this sensation comes because they feel too big and cumbersome to deal with what is being dealt to them, but the 707 retains the polish and detailed sophistication that made the original DBX such an unexpected and impressive device.

Whether it continues to impress as a performance car, and one wearing an Aston Martin badge at that, we’ll find out over the coming months and (quick) miles.

This story was first featured in evo issue 311