Showing posts with label George. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George. Show all posts

8 Apr 2013

Aston Martin DBS review

Does driving an Aston Martin make you cool?  George Phillips has been driving an Aston Martin DBS for a week.  He tells us

It is hard to define ‘cool’. There are some inanimate objects that ooze style and class effortlessly - for no discernible reason people lust after them. Some things can turn heads wherever they are and are loved universally. In the car world, nothing does ‘cool’ better than an Aston Martin.

I know this, because for the last week I have had the keys to a DBS. To all intents and purposes this is no different to many cars on the road, but the DBS is showered with admiration and awe wherever is goes. Heads swivelled, jaws dropped and smiles beamed from every direction. I was talking to a family friend who owned a V8 Vantage, the baby of the group, and he encountered the same thing. He even had someone give it a hug whilst sitting in a traffic jam. It seems that putting an Aston badge on a bonnet is an instant entry into the club of cool.

Maybe it’s because of the whole James Bond thing, or the fact that it’s ‘British’. Maybe it’s the power, the speed or the noise. It’s most likely to be a mix of all of these, plus many more reasons. The fact is, the DBS was respected and loved by almost everyone who saw it, and rightly so. This is one hell of a car.

Aston Martin’s USP is that its cars are beautiful. The DBS is no exception; while most couldn’t tell the difference from the older, cheaper DB9, it possesses some subtle features which go a long way in creating a more aggressive look than its daddy. The bold bonnet vents, combined with beefy flared wheel arches makes for a more serious, threatening front end. While a carbon fibre diffuser and frosted taillights at the back give the impression of a hunkered down road-racer compared to the sleek and slim line DB9. It looks superb.

To drive, the DBS is not a ‘take no prisoners’ street legal race car. The acceleration is not savage, put your foot down and there is a momentary low pitch snarl when you can feel the car girding its loins, then at around 4,000rpm there is a change in tone as the car roars and settles into an unremitting surge of speed. Once it has asserted itself upon the tarmac, the rear wheels effortlessly propel you to licence losing speeds. This is a fast car by any standard, a very fast car, but the delivery of power is so smooth and seamless that it never feels dramatic. Brutally quick, yes, but not dramatic.

What are dramatic, however, are the brakes. Aston Martin has fitted huge carbon ceramic discs all round, meaning they are capable of being punished again and again with little fade in performance. It also means the DBS can stop on a pinhead.  Despite this particular car having a squeaky brake, I almost enjoyed the braking ability more than the acceleration. In the DBS you brake at the corner, rather than before it. Stomp on the middle pedal too soon and you pull up at a full stop way short of the mark. It was comical deceleration.

This is very much a Jekyll and Hyde car. One personality attacks your senses with muscular power and ferocious noise. The other quietly soothes your brow and comforts you. The huge 6.0 litre V12 provides 570NM of torque, which is available in any gear, at any speed in order to swell you confidently and comfortably towards the horizon. In sixth gear at motorway speeds, the engine is virtually silent. This car is extremely refined.  Despite the low profile tyres road noise is minimal and the ride is simply sublime. It took supermarket car parks, poor roads and long journeys in its stride. I could easily live with the DBS every day.

The interior goes a long way to making this car such a joy to drive. The cabin is a sumptuous mix of hand stitched leather, soft suede and carbon fibre. The seats are a masterpiece.  They manage to be consistently supportive for both your back and arms whilst also providing heaps of comfort beyond what the slender bucket seats would have you believe. The steering wheel sits charmingly in your hands, allowing you to take full advantage of the beautifully weighted steering. The dials and buttons are simple and sophisticated, and Aston Martin has managed to create a gearstick shape which feels perfect however you hold it. It is a truly wonderful place to be.

Having said that, you don’t get a whole lot of build quality for your £180K. On my car the stitching across the whole passenger side dashboard had come adrift, meaning I spent the week with a monumental urge to tuck the lining back in. On the last day of my time with the Aston, the passenger window developed an unbearable rattle, hinting that it was about to smash into a million pieces at any point. Worst of all, however, was the satnav which looked like it had been bought from a bargain bin at Halfords and stuck onto a square of spare plywood with double sided tape. It was so grotesque I kept it down and out of sight the whole week.

These issues are but small thorns in the side of an otherwise great beast. The DBS is a sensation.  It manages to deliver the thrills of a full blown supercar combined with the relaxing drive of a luxury long distance cruiser. At 180 grand it is an absolute bargain, because you really are getting two cars in one.

It’s worth that price for the ridiculously wonderful howl of that bellowing V12. But most of all it’s worth it because it makes you and everyone around you happy. I miss the DBS. I miss the power, and the noise and the looks. But most of all, I miss being cool.


23 Mar 2013

Why wouldn't you want a fast car?

George Phillips rails against critics of fast and beautiful cars and argues that, like any luxury item, it all comes down to personal choice

Whenever you tell someone that you are a petrol-head with a passion for fast cars, they invariably sneer and scoff, “what’s the point of a fast car when you can’t go over 70mph?” Nothing infuriates me more than this sentence.

In a roundabout way, they are right. If you lurch from place to place sideways at 180mph all the time, you’ll quickly end up in a coffin, or worse, on a bus. Let’s just think about what we mean by a ‘fast’ car, though. It’s all very well to have a car that can hit a high top speed, but the real thrill in driving a high performance car doesn’t depend on the top end figures, it’s the acceleration that counts. 

What you need for the road is a ‘quick’ car, i.e. one that can get to 70 before you can say “speed camera”, not necessarily a fast car (although both would be preferable). However, it just so happens that quick cars tend to also be fast ones, so what you gonna do?

Now that we’ve got the technicalities out of the way let’s get back to the point of tackling these miserable, jealous, bitter people who complain about powerful cars on the road because “all you really ‘need’ is a utility to get you from a to b”. 

If the human race was built upon ‘needs’ rather than wants and desires, we would all still be wandering around in caves.  Not living, just surviving. Let me give you a few examples; a plastic bin bag fulfils all your basic clothing ‘needs’, but you don’t wear a bin bag, you wear a Ralph Lauren Polo instead. 

Similarly, gruel is a worthy source of sustenance, but on a Saturday night you order lobster bisque and a juicy steak instead. You might rave about the practicality and simplicity of the Nokia 3310, but in reality you'd have an iPhone, which is beautiful, but breaks all the time. I think you see what I’m getting at here.

No one grows up yearning to own a reasonable, well thought out diesel hatchback; they grow up longing to one day own a sleek Italian thoroughbred or a slab of American muscle. While the essential recipe for all cars is the same; four wheels, an engine, some seats and off you go, it’s the added extras that make a car really special. 

As with everything in life a car with a bit of flair and character makes those of us with a heart act irrationally. I, for example, would gladly give up a kidney in order to own a Pagani Huayra, even though I couldn’t take it to the shops. I would beg, steal and borrow to have a Ferrari F40 on my drive, even though it’s less well equipped than a cardboard box.

While most people aren’t in the privileged position to let their heart rule their head, it’s of little use to spurn those who are. If that is the case, how long before we shun those who wear designer clothes or who choose to eat what they enjoy, not what keeps them alive? 

No one requires anything more than food in their stomach and a roof over their heads, but those are the mere basics for existence.  What really makes life wonderful is the superfluous. 

I can only conclude then that those who say there's no point having a fast car have no soul, no passion for the things in life that are stunning and amazing, outrageous and ridiculous but just an eye for the mundane and the rational. 

This is why, despite condemnations from journalist Chris Harris, I am pleased Lamborghini have made the utterly mad and absurd Veneno hypercar, because it’s something for me to crave irrationally, before the whole world succumbs to wearing bin bags and eating gruel.

See George's work at www.motormouth1.blogspot.co.uk