The Top Gear car review:Aston Martin DB11

An all-new Aston Martin. No, really. It’s the start of a whole new chapter for the company with a new, stiffer bonded aluminium chassis, mildly inflated dimensions over the DB9, and new engines. Not just one, but two.

The DB11 launched in 2016 with a new 600bhp twin-turbo 5.2-litre V12 engine, while it’s been joined in 2017 by an AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with 503bhp. Both drive the rear wheels through an eight-speed paddleshift automatic gearbox.

There’s clean-sheet styling - there are cues from DB9s of old, but the look is very fresh - and a new electronic architecture supplied by Mercedes. And it kicks off an exciting new phase in the Aston story: seven cars in the next seven years – including a new Vantage, Vanquish, DBX crossover, multiple Lagonda saloons and Valkyrie hypercar – plus, according to the sums, a return to profitability.

The DB11 launches as a coupe but will be offered as a Volante soft-top before too long. Neither will be as scalpel-sharp as some rivals at the same £150k ballpark - Audi R8s, Porsche 911s, McLaren 570s - but the DB11 straddles the ground between performance cars like those and softly damped GTs from Bentley and Merc.