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By Jonathan Crouch

Aston Martin reckons the DBX707 is the ultimate SUV. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 41

A sabre in a segment of sledgehammers. Is that what the Aston Martin DBX707 is? An Aston Martin SUV is already something pretty unique. With 770PS, more attitude and a top speed knocking on the door of 200mph, this is better.

Backgroundword count: 115

Aston Martin's first SUV, the DBX, was created very much with this uprated version, the DBX707, in mind. With some of the shackles removed from the asking price, the Gaydon engineers were given free rein to develop the ultimate version of this design in a bid to create the fastest, the most powerful and the best handling SUV ever. A lot more's been done here than to simply push the 4.0-litre V8 engine's power output up to 770PS. Almost every aspect of the drivetrain has been re-engineered - and there are visual and cabin changes too. The idea was to truly unlock the performance potential within the DBX to create a world-beating high performance SUV.

Driving Experienceword count: 241

Every area of this car has been enhanced to boost performance, intensify driving involvement and amplify it's on-road presence: engine, transmission, suspension, brakes - all of it's been re-engineered to create the kind of DBX you suspect the development team really wanted in the first place. Any SUV claiming ultimate status has to have a sky-high power output of course - here the 4.0-litre V8's output has been raised from 562 to 707PS - hence the name and a 200Nm increase in torque - to 900Nm. As a result, the 62mph sprint time drops to just 3.3s (from 4.4s) and the top speed rises to 193mph (from 181mph). That kind of performance would eventually wreck the standard model gearbox, so a new 9-speed 'wet clutch' auto transmission has been installed, better capable of handling the extra grunt and dealing with the extra 'Race Start' feature added into the car's 'GT Sport' and 'Sport+' drive modes. The electronic limited slip rear differential had to be re-engineered for the extra torque too, as did the brakes (they're now of the track-level carbon ceramic kind). On top of that, the air suspension gets a dedicated chassis tune, with new damper settings and recalibration of dynamic spring valving. Plus the electronic power steering system has been adjusted to improve steering feel and the Electronic Active Roll Control set-up gains revised parameters that heighten the sense of agility and improve the aggressive balance of the car.

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