Aston Martin DBX 707 review: Behind the wheel of the £190k SUV

When James Bond, Mrs Bond and their baby-Bond off-spring are enjoying leisure time away from saving the world from tyrants and despots, Aston Martin’s new DBX 707 will surely be their car of choice.

It’s currently the most powerful luxury SUV on the planet – a significant advance on the standard DBX launched just two years ago – and I’ve just been driving it.

And what a revelation. This muscular flagship off-roader is faster, more powerful, sharper – both in driving and looks, gutsier, grippier, louder (when you want it to be), more engaging and more responsive than its not much older sibling.  

And, naturally, more expensive, starting from a cool £190,000 (a £24,000 increase on the standard £166,000 DBX, or a price difference that’s enough to buy you a decent hatchback or compact SUV).

But the new 707 variant is a major advance on the original launch model and both engineers and designers have been busy making it so.

And Aston bosses reckon the 707 will account for two thirds (up to 65 per cent) of future DBX sales rolling out of their new factory at St Athan in Wales.

Fittingly, our base for the international launch in Sardinia was the stunning hotel Cala di Volpe on the island’s Costa Smeralda – a key setting in the 1976 007 movie The Spy Who loved Me starring Roger Moore as the suave British secret agent. 

In that film it’s a submersible white Lotus Esprit that grabs the attention.

But while my new five-seater Aston won’t travel underwater or emerge from the waves onto beaches, it certainly turns heads on the road. 

And I even tried it out for some moderate off-roading, including traversing a shallow river, proving it’s not totally averse to water either.

So, just weeks after Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daley took the wraps off the new 707 for its global reveal in February, and ahead of first customer deliveries at the end of this month, it was my turn to take it for a proper spin.

Pressing the ignition button to fire up the vast and re-tuned 4.0-litre V8 engine, and riding on large 23-inch wheels, I was off.

This new DBX is called the ‘707’ because it develops a hefty 707 horsepower that propels it from rest to 62mph in just 3.3 seconds.

That’s a clear 1.2 seconds faster than the standard DBX which was launched in Beijing in November 2019 with first deliveries in Summer 2020. And it will carry on to hit 100mph in just 7.4 seconds.

Smooth and vital stopping power is provided by carbon ceramic brakes measuring 420mm front and 390mm rear.

But the numbers are no substitute for the visceral feeling of what that feels like behind the wheel.

The 707 name may sound like a Boeing passenger aircraft, but its acceleration is more akin to a rocket lift-off than an aeroplane take-off, save perhaps for supersonic Concorde (which I was lucky enough to fly on) whose British Airways pilot memorably warned us passengers that the ascent from the tarmac was likely to be ‘sporting’.

Top speed (and I got nowhere near on public roads) is also in supercar territory at 193mph (compared to 181mph on the 550hp standard DBX). 

By way of comparison, the rival Lamborghini Urus 650PS 4.0-litre V8 accelerates from 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds up to a top speed of 189mph, while the British-built 635PS Bentley Bentayga Speed 6.0-litre W12 sprints 0-62mph /in 3.9 seconds up to a top speed of 190mph. 

And there’s still Ferrari’s forthcoming Purosangue SUV to consider.

Yet for all that, the DBX has refined manners tootling slowly around villages and small towns en route.

Revisions to the controls make a difference. There are still individual dashboard buttons to press for Drive mode and reverse. But the controls have been finessed around the central rotary dial on the centre console.

‘GT’ or grand touring mode is the default setting for cruising around and gives a softer ride.

It’s a relaxed drive mode for taking in the scenery and chilling.

Fancy a bit more engagement then twist the dial to the right for Sport and feel those sinews tighten and those gear shifts shorten on the 9-speed automatic gearbox.

Sport+ moves that up yet another level for even more fun. You’d usually use is on track, but it’s perfectly at home on the road too.

Suspension settings have been separated out to a specific button.

For ultimate engagement, pressing a separate manual button on the centre console also allows you to stay permanently in manual mode – using the paddles on the steering wheel to blip up and down through the gears to your heart’s content.

And if you really want to show off and have an aural experience to match the physical one, there’s an ‘active exhaust’ button that allows you the make the exhaust sound loud and proud – by opening the valves of new large diameter quad tailpipe sports exhaust system without needing to be in ‘Sport’ drive mode – or remain quiet and stealthy.

The key thing about this new 707 variant is that it feels far more responsive and precise – running through from the subtle twitch of your hands on the steering wheel to the grip in the wheels themselves. It feels fully planted. It moves with you. There are no surprises.

It really shifts like a sports car around tight corners on curvaceous mountain roads.

Acceleration and power is instantaneous and there when you need it. It handles like a thoroughbred with a nimbleness, dynamism and cornering agility you’d expect in a sports car.

I did try a bit of mild off-roading in ‘all-terrain’ mode up a country track. The 707 not trying to rival a Land Rover Defender in 4X4 prowess, but it copes manfully with gravel tracks and even a surprise river which was forded with aplomb thanks t having a wading depth of 500mm.

The 9-speed shift is more immediate and direct and enhances the sense of control and responsiveness, as does the improved air suspension system and chassis tuning.

When needed, up to 100 per cent of the torque or ‘pulling power’ can transfer the rear axle on demand. The electronic power steering system has also been adjusted to improve steering feel, especially on cornering.

For those in a hurry, ‘Race Start’ is available in GT, Sport and Sport+ modes to maximise acceleration from a standing start.

But with fuel economy averaging just 19.9mpg, you won’t be saving the planet – and with soaring fuel prices – you’ll be hammering your wallet. Though if you can stretch to the asking price, the fill-up costs are unlikely to be an issue.

Sadly, there’s no head up display and screens are not touch-screen.

Although 22inch wheels are standard (in a choice of Sport and Ribbon designs), my car had the larger optional 23 inch versions.

Design boss Marek Reichman has made the exterior styling bolder, more aggressive and more aerodynamic. The bold front radiator grille is 30 per cent larger, which also helps with cooking.

There’s also a bolder front air-splitter and rear double diffuser to help the car cut through the air more efficiently.

The dark satin chrome window and exterior trim is carried inside. It has soft-close doors and cosseting and supportive sport seats with 16-way electric adjustment and heating are fitted as standard. Comfort seats are a no-cost option).

The interior features a dark chrome finish to switchgear as standard. Bright chrome and carbon fibre can be specified as an option. Piano Black veneer is standard with carbon fibre or bronze metal mesh veneer finishes available as an option.

Customers can also customise and personalise their SUV via the firm’s bespoke branch ‘Q by Aston Martin’.

And whisper it softly, because it’s still top secret. But you can expect more vehicles from this flexible platform, including a compact SUV – a ‘baby’ DBX.

The theme tune for the Bond movie ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, filmed at our hotel base, was ‘Nobody Does it Better.’

With their scintillating new DBX 707 Aston Martin may well have a claim to that for now.

But I’m sure the competition – including Ferrari and Lamborghini – will be hot on their tail.