New Aston Martin DB12 revealed | Meet the 911 Turbo's worst nightmare

Aston Martin turns 110 years old in 2023 and  is unwrapping this rather exciting new db12   to celebrate it's a hell of a birthday  present proving there's life yet in the   DB bloodline that goes back all the  way to 1948 and the first two liter the db12 will go on sale in late summer  2023 replacing the db11 as what Aston   Martin ambitiously calls for world's first super  Torah it's for first in a new generation of Aston   Martin sports cars promising the usual style  performance and Dynamics we've come to know   and love but with a newfound focus on Advanced  Technologies too let's come and take a closer look   and to tell us more about the db12 I'm delighted  to say we're joined by Miles nuremberger who's   the director of design at Aston Martin miles thank  you so much for joining us today my pleasure and   I mean this is the first time we've seen the  car there's a lot to take in tell us very big   question but what were you trying to achieve  what was the brief to follow up for db11 with   so yeah you're right absolutely big question um  this is I would present this is our super Torah   two big elements in it one is performance driven  Ultra Luxury two-bit performance driven we'll   talk about that a bit more in terms of cooling and  everything like that in terms of Ultra Luxury we   have made a massive step change on the interior  of our cars right and the face I mean look at   it we've got a lot going on here the the grill is  really big I understand the sort of a cooling area   there's 56 bigger now not necessarily the Grill's  56 bigger but yeah the cool the cooling available   to the car is important for the engine but that's  a big grill talk us about talk us through this   yeah big big step in performance for the car  so the grill the cooling becomes far far more   important The Grille is um probably one of the  largest grills that's been on a DB actually it's   very reminiscent of DB5 in terms of the proportion  to the sort of eyes Grill overall mass of the car   um there is a little bit of DB5 coming  through we're not 56 bigger we are   um we use a lot of in terms of the V8 engine we're  now actually layering some of the coolers in the   corner of the car so with cooling the car in Aero  efficiency it's air off as well as air on and you   can stuff all the air you want into the front  of the car if it can't escape then you don't   get flow rate so you'll notice the um Bonnet has  grown some very very distinct air off features   through that and actually under the car as well  all the Air Management that goes in there right   but it's so it's so distinctive and I guess with  a bigger Grille the lights for me I see a little   bit of kind of 2000 era Vanquish there they're a  bit bigger the LED very technical talk us through   the sort of the eyes of the car yeah um yeah  a few people have said that there's a little   bit of Vanquish I think it comes from db11 was  quite a technical car and this has a more how do   I say more fluid more romantic gesture to the  car and actually even if you look across car   um this section through here is actually there's a  little bit of 2000 Vanquish but there's also a bit   of DB5 going on there it goes to more that more  um essential traditional Aston nature yeah and 75   years of DB what a Heritage to draw on I mean the  db4 as well actually about Grill you have a sort   of virginity and speaking of Heritage and history  the badge is a little bit bigger this is the first   application of the new Aston Martin Badger yeah so  we introduced our new corporate identity probably   a bit over a year now but this is the first car  to wear the new badge and yes the badge is a   little bit bigger but it is sitting very nicely  in proportion with the headlamps and the grill   under the Bonnet lies for four liter Mercedes AMG  V8 by Turbo mounted so far back in the chassis but   Aston calls it front mid-engined there will be  no V12 this time maybe because for v8's outputs   have soared to 671 brake horsepower and 590 pound  foot available all the way from 2750 RPM that's   a third more talk for me outgoing db11 thanks  to larger diameter turbos and reprofiled cams   it's enough for 0-60 in three and a half  seconds and a 202 mile an hour top speed   you can see why the V12 was deemed unnecessary  the V8 sends drive to the rear wheels for an   8-speed ZF automatic transaxle at the back  and as Aston Martin's first electronically   controlled rear differential 2 which can go  from fully open to 100 locks in milliseconds   so around here we've got a very identifiable  Aston Martin side strike yeah this is a sort   of a long-standing design feature of the side  of your cars is that right absolutely yeah I   mean you could you can read it back into history a  very very long way um here it's it's not not just   form it's function as well so behind it we're  actually bleeding air off the um the front tire   through um something they've got nicknamed  curly q from the Aero part that was sort of   um it was an aero part of an F1 car that was  hacked and put in the um in the Wind Tunnel   model and it kept the name curly q internally and  and it got known as that but basically bleeding   um air off the front tire it comes out through  the slots here and actually helps um for multiple   reasons so it's the air that comes off the Bonnet  instead of flowing and hitting the a post and   generating wind noises unfortunately air does it  pulls it down the side of the body encourages the   flow down the side of the body and it's obviously  now carrying the Aston Martin name as well yeah   it's something we brought back some of the older  cars used to go so for years it's just been   um clean but actually if you go back in history  it used to have Aston Martin written on it and   we felt it was a it was a nice touch to bring  back right and look these are Big Wheels 21   inches now yeah that's now interestingly that's  one inch bigger than on the db11 yeah you get   about eight kilos lighter I like that kind of uh  yeah I think that that you see there then this   performance mindset in the company that to some  extent has come from Valkyrie of being exposed to   that F1 world which is just Relentless ruthless in  terms of efficiency optimization and I think that   culture has sustained a lot of that has stayed  with the company um after that project so I think   with the design team when they look at a wheel and  they see the the weight and they you know in their   head they're going right well actually it'll be  a better performance car if I could find another   kilos out of it so they're looking at sections and  everything with the engineers trying to optimize   and actually this car here I think is on the  ceramic brake option as well which is uh 410   millimeters lemon huge aren't they bigger than  my dinner plates um and yet they're lighter I   think about 28 kilos lighter than the standard  uh oh yeah iron disc which is extraordinary   um and when we keep sort of moving down here um  now tell me about the the mirrors we've got the   sort of frameless setup here yeah so for the first  time we've actually got a completely frameless   design on the car so normally the mirror glass  moves inside the head and then that generates   really thick sections you've got to meet all the  legal requirements for head impact and radiuses   at all movements um so one of our Engineers  cleverly came up with the idea of doing it   frameless so the glass is always in the position  relative to the head but the actual head moves   um what that means is actually this car overall  is narrower than its predecessor which is   very very rare in the world nowadays almost every  car that gets launched gets wider and wider and   wider actually the overall width you know the old  mirror used to be about out here so frontal area   of the mirror aerodynamics of the mirror are  improved that's which is a fantastic thing and   I believe it's about five millimeters shorter so  this is a rare yes slightly on a diet fantastic   and moving down here now obviously this car is uh  I think got the sort of carbon pack on so talk us   through how it's um how it manifests itself so  we've got um for the carbon pack here you can   see the mirror what we call the mirror scalp um  the um what's known as the cant rail in carbon   fiber and the rear of the car you've got the lower  splitter and the bumper area all in carbon too on   the lower part of the car you'll see this extra  splitter down the side and also on the front   corner there's an additional splitter so that that  makes up all the carbon elements and these would   be an optional extra this is not on top so this  is quite a high spec car and we've got pop outs   door handles I see as well just a bit flusher  or I don't know I mean we've we've uh you know   we've been much copied in this area about actually  Aston I've had beautiful flush door handles uh of   um this format for a number of years it was  something that was pioneered and um and we've   kept with it and what about the form language the  body surfacing talk us through what you're doing   here it's very it's very simple and it's very  muscular I can see I think we yeah you know we're   talking earlier it's about it's the stance is  really strong we're about I think a 22 mil broad   yeah 22 mil broader that the rear six at the front  so it's kind of talk us through it and you really   see that the minute you see it on the road that 22  mil the car just pops its haunches that bit more   um all the feature lines you know this is just you  know it's it's about the little subtle things this   line just pointing to the top of the tire the mass  of the pillar here this sits directly over the   rear wheel they're all little touches in terms of  getting the proportion of the car right and when   you do the car just it plonks down on the road  it really sits I am yeah yeah it's very haunchy   indeed I I think the fuel tank 78 liters so you've  got a good touring range on my car as well I mean   let's move around the back miles let's come have  a look around here talk us through what's going on   here we've got the signature Aston Martin wrap  around lights I can see what were you trying   to achieve at the rear I think it's it's really a  carry through of what we talked about on the uh on   stance so rear of the car what are you trying to  do you're trying to get the car to be look as Slim   and as wide as possible and those Wheels you know  really sitting out to the edge of the car sitting   the rear end so when you follow it it's just it's  got that that look to it which you can which I'm   standing here you really really see it yeah bigger  badge again I understand um the Bodywork the   panels are essentially composite and aluminum yeah  the car in general is that mix and you see that   again on the rear yeah and and it's based on the  sort of a laser saturation of the Aston platform   so it's extruded and bonded aluminum stiffer seven  percent more torsional rigidity great for the   um and the big change that happened between  the first generation of that bonded aluminum   is there are a number of pressings in the car  and that was basically those moment where an   extrusion although super efficient in terms of  strength manufacturing is not good for package   space so in key areas when we were going through  this generation car we swapped to some pressings   to basically eke out those last minute and  coming around here we've got this wonderful the   um Aston Martin Aero blades talk us through the  arrow on my car it's very clever how this works   yeah yeah it was it was a very unique system so um  inspired by design and Aero team really together   um from F duct in Formula One uh and it was  just looking at how do we keep you know this is   beautiful silhouette to the car almost a bit 1970s  you know there's no big wing on the back of it to   get its Aero performance so it's actually taking  air through What's called the the sea duct here   channeling it through through a duck that if  you open the boot you'll see and basically out   of two sections through the rear here it generates  a blade of air that is roughly a meter high out of   the back of the car why do we do it it's to give  rear end stability down Force um but with almost   zero drag so normally whenever you add downforce  you add lots of drag but because it's a a blade   of air rather than a physical wall there's there's  almost no drag and you mentioned I mean the sort   of space on board and if we look in here inside  the boot you can see actually it's 262 liters it's   a bit bigger than you might expect yeah yeah  I think it surprises people sometimes quite   how much luggage space you can get in there plenty  enough for your shopping right actually we haven't   yet mentioned uh the Michelin uh Pilot Sport 5  um tires which is the first application yes um   anywhere on any OEM which is interesting these  are proper AML badges say that this is uh tuned   for the db12 and I think you know that that again  clearly shows the performance credentials this car   is uh gunning for yeah and one of the things I've  noticed they have there's a polyurethane layer   built into the carcass to make it a little bit  quieter they claim 20 less noise that's important   for a super tourer isn't it yes so you know we're  looking for perform but with a secretory you must   have refinement it must be a very nice place  to sit and travel a potentially a long journey   also knew either Bilstein DTX adaptive dampers  said to have five times for bandwidth for   improved response and the ability to flick from  sports mode to comfort GT at the push of a button so Miles the interior of the db12 it feels more  different than the exterior if I'm on it so is   this a deliberate thing oh yeah absolutely it's  a massive change it's all new basically the IP   the steering wheel the infotainment the center  console the doors the seats everything's new on   this car it's a big big set change for the brand  it's a big investment in the brand it's something   internally we started three years ago and this is  really the first time you see all the efforts of   the design engineering team their fruits of their  labor come to life I think it would be external   more evolutionary it is very different but in here  it's Revolution isn't it is that the reflect the   fact that the db11 was feeling a little bit  tired inside do you think yeah and I think   in if I go back and you know honestly speaking  those days I don't think we had the the right   level of investment I think now you see it you  know the screen's in the car will be the highest   definition highest contrast screens available on  the market when this car launches in a few weeks   and that that really shows that level of ambition  so that screen technology I think saying that you   know the the technology is really layered into the  car we've also put a big emphasis on the tactility   of all the controls so you know you have this  beautiful knurling on the temperature control   it's really important for us to balance those two  elements now it's interesting looking at how the   technology presents in here it feels as if it's  not overbearing some cars are getting now and   they've got full width digital screens not in the  db12 is that a deliberate move yeah absolutely I   think the the interior design team really really  wanted to layer the technology in so again it's   not screen first you know the craftsmanship is  there the overall theme of the car is there and   then the technology sits within that finding that  balance in the layers and it's really important it   is you know our cars are very tactile objects we  all have a phone in our pocket that technology is   expected and essential but actually where we  make a difference is also in this tactility of   all these functions how you as a driver you know  we talked about performance earlier it's also   about the human performance and how you interact  with your car so it's making sure that all these   things are to hand and that your experience of  driving is the best you can find I think it's   very clever how you even managed to repeat some of  the graphics from previous earlier Aston Martin so   I'm a member of the mid-naughties mid to Mid to  early naughties when the Vantage came out the rev   counter the calibration on it yeah to me really  speaks volumes to what I'm seeing here and you   can do that with a digital touch Point yeah yeah  you can you can do I mean you can do it's it's   difficult because actually you can do whatever  you want but yes it does just pick up on um what   we call the chaplets the little chaplets that came  from that car and the new infotainment system is   Aston Martin's own this is significant the days of  having Volvo systems 80 systems are over this is   your own in-house proprietary setup very very high  res screen I think it's sort of over 1900 pixels   um sharp and it's a 10 and a quarter inch screen  yep what does this mean for the future of Aston   Martin well it it shows the step chains that's  gone on in the company so I think you know in the   last three years that increase in the design team  working on Interiors working on UI ux it it was   necessary it's absolutely if you if it is part  of the signature of a brand it's now a digital   signature of the brand but you know we had to we  had to do it ourselves it's a big undertaking to   do it um but integrating it having the brand  experience it's essential and of course this   is therefore the first fully connected car from  Aston Martin this is significant so the db12 is   going to let us do over-the-air updates so the  car will learn and gain new features for its   life cycle there's going to be an Aston Martin  app you'll be able to unlock your car do all the   things you can do with a connected car on your  db12 and I guess for future models as well this   is very significant isn't it yeah and it opens up  great opportunities for the future it's it's very   exciting to have that now integrated into the car  and it'll be very interesting to see the feedback   and other elements that we get and how we use that  in the future it's it's a new thing for us I think   you get three years of sort of subscription  included but will be as a revenue generating   opportunity for the company over time I guess with  some of the services yeah yeah so watch this space   this crisp modern interior shows the balance  for Aston Martin is striking with the new db12   its sports cars need Soul dramatic style  Timeless Beauty and analog involvement for   the driver yet they must also deliver the kind  of digital engagement and everyday usability for   customers now demand the db12 therefore sets a  new template for what we can expect of modern   day Aston Martin's emotional sports cars that  can stylishly offer The Best of Both Worlds thank you foreign [Music]

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Keywords: Aston Martin DB12, Aston Martin DB12 2023, Aston Martin DB12 dbs, 2023 Aston Martin DB12, Aston Martin DB12 interior, new Aston Martin DB12, Aston Martin DB12 review, Aston Martin DB12 engine, Aston Martin DB12 0-60mph, Aston Martin DB12 preview, best aston martins, car magazine

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Length: 19min 40sec (1180 seconds)

Published: Wed May 24 2023