Aston DBS Superleggera vs the stopwatch

While we had the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera (first UK test here) we thought it would be fun to see just how fast this Super GT goes. Now, on the surface the DBS doesn’t look that fast. Well, not in the land of 700bhp supercars. Here are some numbers to peruse.

0-10     0.61
0-20     1.19
0-30     1.72
0-40     2.29
0-50     2.92
0-60     3.59
0-70     4.34
0-80     5.08
0-90     5.91
0-100   6.86
0-110   7.91
0-120   9.19
0-130   10.57
0-140   12.18

3.6-to-60mph puts it in the same league as the Audi RS3 (3.56secs), Jaguar F-Type SVR (3.58secs) and Mercedes GLC 63S (3.64secs). Not stellar, being matched by German hatches and SUVs costing a quarter of the price.

By 100mph things have improved. The DBS gets there in the same sort of time as a Mercedes AMG GT R (6.80secs), BMW M5 (6.77secs) and Porsche 911 GT3 RS (7.04secs).

What the DBS lacks of course, especially during that sprint to 60mph, is traction. All the other cars I mentioned are 4WD, most have launch control and they just scoot off. But really fast cars are fast above 60mph. So now let’s look at how fast the DBS is, once traction is no longer an issue. The DBS sprints from 60-130mph in 6.98secs. It would take a very fast hot hatch – no less than a Honda Civic Type R in fact – to hit 70mph from a standing start in under seven seconds (it does it in 6.92secsc), let alone pile on 70mph above the national speed limit.

Over this increment the AMG GT R lags over half a second behind the Aston, the BMW M5 is over a second slower, as is an Audi R8 V10 Plus. Even a Porsche 911 Turbo S is 0.74secs slower. This is a measure of big power and big torque and the DBS Superleggera is up there with genuine supercars – the Ferrari 488 GTB is less than half a second faster. It’s ¼ mile time of 11.33secs is pretty much identical to the 911 GT3 RS, but its peak speed after 402 metres is over 8mph up (135.5mph plays 127.0mph).

In fact of all the cars it plays in the same speed sandpit as, none is as relaxed or effortless. More than that, not all of them stop as well as the DBS, either. It needs just 83.74 metres to stop from 100mph. An Audi R8 V10 Plus can’t match that, nor a Honda NSX or Nissan GT-R. Nor Aston’s own sportier Vantage. It stops as well as it goes, in other words. Brakes are really nice to use too, which isn’t always the case.

So there we are, a GT car with more than a hint of super about it.