Aston Martin DB12 S first drive – pure performance and state-of-the-art tech combine for the ultimate driving machine

The Aston Martin DB12 S is the kind of car children put posters of on their walls. Like the original DB12, launched back in 2023, it’s a stunningly beautiful vehicle, but it has had a few subtle improvements to make it not only look sportier and meaner, but also to eke out a bit of extra performance.

For Aston Martin, the S suffix has been a badge of honour since 1953, when it launched the DB3S roadster. More recently, the Vanquish and the Vantage have seen S models, as has the DBX and the Rapide. So what does it mean for the DB12?

This was already a serious driving machine, but the DB12S now has a higher-tuned version of that 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo, increasing the horsepower to 700PS and torque of up to 800Nm. This results in a 0-62mph of just 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 202mph.

There’s been weight saving from the standard model too, offering a titanium exhaust, which is not only 11.7kg lighter than the stainless steel version, but also sounds even better when it roars on acceleration and gurgles as you change down going into a bend.

Carbon ceramic brakes are standard here as well, providing 27kg of unsprung weight saving on the standard steel brakes of the DB12 and together with the next generation corner braking control system (CBC), provide better handling and performance.

Tweaks to the dampers improve roll and pitch to keep the car flatter on the road when accelerating and braking, while the stiffer anti-roll bar and geometry settings complete the performance changes that could allow this car to go faster and harder on a track.

For my drive, though, I wasn’t on a track. I was exploring the slightly sleepy country roads of Provence in southern France. Narrow and winding in places, opening up into wide freeways with breathtaking views in others. In many ways, the perfect place to get to know this rather special car.

Visual appeal

Forgetting for a moment the weight-saving and tuning improvements on the DB12 S, there are a number of visual cues that make this model all the more poster-worthy. The new front splitter lowers and widens the face of the car, while new vents help to keep that giant V8 cool. S badges on the side are a tell-tale sign – these are metal badges, hand-made in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham by the same firm that makes every Aston Martin badge.

Then, at the rear, the DB12S features a fixed spoiler and stacked quad tail pipes – whether you opt for the standard stainless steel or the titanium versions. There isn’t an angle at which this car doesn’t shine, but following one along the French Riviera is mesmerising.

Inside the DB12S, you might expect a more pared-down interior in a racing fashion, but here you get no such thing. This is still every bit the super tourer, and while there are unique racing upgrades – such as the Alcantara sports steering wheel, a red anodised drive mode controller, red stitching and the red wings in the headrests – it feels extremely luxurious.

The model I was driving was finished in Onyx black with 21-inch Y-spoke satin black wheels, black Aston Martin badges and rear script, gloss black detailing and the titanium exhausts. Only the red brake callipers provided a pop of colour. It’s a stealth look and one that only adds to the mean and moody DB12S features.

Sound and vision

Like the DB12, there’s a large driver display and a widescreen central touchscreen display in this car, angled to fit neatly within the central console. A large number of manual buttons and dials sit below the screen, including metal rolling dials for the climate control and volume.

Like the DB12 and a number of other Aston Martin models, the DB12 S feature’s Apple’s CarPlay Ultra, which not only provides a range of apps for the central screen, but also takes over the driver’s display, integrating the vehicle dynamics into the Car Play system and providing a single operating system for the infotainment system and vehicle controls.

This was my first experience using CarPlay Ultra, and I was really impressed with how seamless the system feels. On other vehicles using CarPlay, you regularly need to revert to the OEM menus for vehicle settings and even for the radio. Here, it’s all within the Apple menus. Actually, there are a couple of screens that aren’t yet Apple pages but you wouldn’t notice them easily.

Image 1 of 13

The big difference is what it can do with the driver display. While the default screen looks much like an Aston Martin driver’s display, you can customise this in a range of colours as well as switch to alternative styles, such as a cleaner minimalist design, horizontal lines instead of dials and a full map display that brings navigation from Apple Maps.

The only slight downside of the CarPlay Ultra system is that it still relies on an iPhone being connected at all times. This doesn’t work like the Android Automotive systems that run natively on Polestar, that has the Os and processing coming from the vehicle. That means that if you don’t connect your iPhone or have an Android device, the Aston Martin system defaults to its own OS, or can use Android Auto just on the centre screen.

There’s an option to have a premium Bowers & Wilkins sound system in the DB12 S – as there is on the DB12. This is an excellent system that I previously tested on the DB12, and I was slightly surprised that this remains an option rather than standard kit on the S model. One thing I did notice on the B&W sound on this car is that the central tweeter no longer has that pointy Nautilus design – instead it’s all squared off. I didn’t get chance to hear this system fully but it will be interesting to hear how it compares.

Driving

As much as I appreciate the technology behind an electric car, there’s something about driving a V8 that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. There’s an imposing demeanour to the DB12 S, not because it’s a particularly big car, but because it’s low and yet wide.

Driving in GT mode is a calm and relatively quiet affair – perfect for those gentle country drives or longer motorway trips. However, once you switch into Sport mode, that all changes and the car seems to come alive. The exhausts get louder, the steering tightens and the dampers stiffen. It’s as if it’s a cat ready to pounce.

Switch again into Sports + and the gloves come off; the DB12 S becomes a full-on racing machine. That power to the rear wheels is immense and you can feel the pure acceleration as much as you can hear it. You do still get a little sideways movement but the adjustments mean that the movement is more fluid. You’re not hitting the limits of those dampers as you might have before.

Cornering in this car is breathtaking. It really does cling to the road, and while it took me some time to build up the confidence to put the car anywhere near its limit, the DB12 S always had more to give.

While this car can deliver high-octane experiences simply from the auto gearbox, switching to manual and making use of the paddles to move through its eight gears gives you more control and allows you to get more from each gear. The boost in performance given to the S comes mostly at higher revs, so to experience it, you need to bring that needle much closer to the red line before changing up.

Sitting in the passenger seat before my drive, I got to experience just how far you could push the DB12 S from another driver. While this car can be loud and has an incredible amount of power, it never loses its composure. Even when being thrown into a bend at high speed and blasted out the other side, the DB12 S sits glued to the road and handles it with grace.

That’s not to say it would be impossible to lose the back end – this is a hugely powerful rear-wheel drive car, after all. But the engineering that has gone into its handling, and the technology that works to deliver the power through the electronic rear limited-slip diff and the onboard dynamic stability control, does an exemplary job at controlling it.

The Verdict

There’s a nagging question as to whether anyone really needs the DB12 S. After all, the DB12 is already an extremely powerful and great looking car. Though that’s like saying, does anyone need a sports car at all? Why don’t we just drive cheap bangers.

The differences here may be subtle, but in almost every way, the DB12 S is that little bit better. From pure performance to visual appeal, it just has that slight edge over the standard model – especially if you opt for that titanium exhaust, so it sounds better too.

For long distances and gentle drives, the DB12 S is the perfect tourer – though only really for two people, those back seats are tiny. Driven hard, it becomes like a trained killer, controlling sheer power with grace and dexterity.

You don’t buy an Aston Martin because you want just another fast car, you buy one because it’s special and has class. The DB12 S takes that to another level.

The DB12 S is available to order now in a coupe from £205,000 ($277,700) and Volante version, which is the convertible from £218,500 ($296,000) – US pricing is still to be confirmed.