Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Offers $308,081 Worth of Desire

2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is very special, but is it worth $308,081?

The DBS Superleggera isn’t just a 715 horsepower coupe based on the DB11. It’s a beautifully svelte looking coupe that’s so overpowered that in the GT and Sport modes, Aston Martin has actually limited peak torque. Even in Sport+ mode the computer is managing the torque until you get into third gear. The twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 engine is ported directly from the DB11 AMR, but with an extra 4.4 psi of peak turbo boost to unlock an extra 85 horsepower and 147 lb-ft of torque. To handle that extra oomph, the DBS Superleggera uses a ZF 8HP95 eight-speed automatic transmission. To make things a little more manic, the final drive of 2.93:1 is considerably shorter than the DB11’s 2.70:1.

All that is a solid explanation for the presenter of this Carwow video from their YouTube channel finding himself wide eyed and scrambling his way through the gears. Aston Martin claims 0-60 mph should take 3.4 seconds, and it may even be a bit quicker.

For the light part of  DBS Superleggera, the bodywork is not the usual aluminum, but instead the DB11’s bonded aluminum body shell is now wearing a carbon-fiber suit to save 159 pounds if you get the optional carbon-fiber roof panel and titanium exhaust. That’s not a lot of weight off of a DB11 AMR, and to get there you have to pay an extra $4545. On a car tagged as a Superleggera. Crushing the word super up against the Italian word for light suggests the weight loss would be a little more extreme. We do get that the Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera coach building company designed some earl DB models, but there’s no mention of them in the design here.

ALSO SEE: Bugatti Chiron Driven! 1,500 Horsepower of Engineering Excellence

In Aston Martin’s mission to make more interesting derivative models, they could be a little more honest with name.  We would have gone with the Aston Martin DBS Superthundertuxedo, but there’s a reason car companies don’t come to us for names.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com