Aston Martin DBX 707 2023 review

You can see it. Just have a look at the pictures. Like it?

It certainly has presence but some of the applications of the traditional Aston Martin styling cues seem a bit overdone. To my eye, it looks more like an Aston Martin that’s an SUV rather than an Aston Martin SUV, if you get me?

The gaping maw of a grille, for instance, still looks too small for the width of this truck.

And it is a big old thing, measuring 5039mm long on a huge 3060mm wheelbase, while the width including the mirrors is 2220mm (2050mm with them folded), and it’s 1680mm tall.

I’m also unconvinced about the rear-end design. That duckbill-style rear feature is just a bit oddly shaped, for a traditional SUV at least, but not convincing enough to be a really decisive element, in my opinion.

The optional wheels fitted to this car are exceptional, though. They are 23-inch rims, and tyres included, they’re almost at hip height for a lot of people. Massive, but they fill the arches beautifully.

Perhaps more eye-catching is the interior design, which – in this bespoke two-tone black-and-blue leather trim – is astounding. I think the blue inside is at odds with the exterior hue (and so did my art teacher mother-in-law)

The inside is also a bit of a mix of “it needs to be an Aston” and “it needs to be modern”, and there are some practical considerations, too. I’ll touch on those below.

You might think an Aston Martin has to be a multifaceted performance car, but I would argue this one does one particular thing better. That is speed.

Speed. Yes. It’s a dirty word in some circles, but this car is ludicrously fast for a family SUV. It has a walloping 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 engine that produces otherworldly outputs of 520kW and 900Nm, which is about five times as much as most people really need. If you’re curious, the ‘707’ in the name refers to the metric horsepower figure.

But that heaving V8 engine and the smart-as nine-speed automatic transmission, teamed with a very clever all-wheel drive system and terrific tyres means this thing can slingshot itself at the horizon with eye-watering assertiveness.

The 0-100km/h time is just 3.3 seconds. Like, that’s a fairly insane figure for an EV, but for a SUV that weighs 2245kg that still has a petrol engine under the hood, it’s verging on fantastical.

It sounds amazing, too – in the most go-fast drive mode, Sport+, there’s even a Race Start mode, where you can sprint to licence-threatening speeds from a standing start in the blink of an eye.

But as good as it might be in a straight, smooth line, there are elements that mightn’t be to all tastes. The steering, for instance, has some irregular weighting at times, feeling too heavy and making the SUV feel cumbersome at times.

Further, the ride comfort isn’t as plush as you might expect a SUV at this price point to be, especially one with height adjustable air suspension. It is smooth when the road is, but can be a bit lumpy, no doubt impacted by those massive wheels.

To me, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe does almost everything better than the Aston when it comes to driving, and it’s at least $70K cheaper, if that matters. Not nearly as exclusive as the 707, admittedly.

Maybe this says more about me than it does about you, but I’d find it hard to choose this over, say, an Audi RS Q8 ($220,491 MSRP) or even a Lamborghini Urus ($391,968 MSRP).

There is easily enough space in the second row for two adults to be seated, and if you needed to, three could fit in. I had my forward-facing child-seat in the back passenger side, and there was ample room for an adult to sit.

Both front and rear passengers have some storage options – there are cup holders in both rows (the back seat has a fold-down armrest with holsters) – but the door storage in all four doors is limited. The rear occupants score small map pockets on the front seatbacks, and there’s some loose item storage up front, but not very much.

There is some loose item storage up front, but not very much. (Image: Matt Campbell)

There is easily enough space in the second row for two adults to be seated, and if you needed to, three could fit in. (Image: Matt Campbell)

Boot capacity isn’t class-leading for a SUV this large. The stated figure is 638 litres, but the dipping rear roof-line means it is quite a shallow load area with a very high load-in lip. Still, I managed to fit a suitcase, pram and a few other bags in for a family trip, and there was room to spare. Speaking of spare, there is a space saver under the boot floor, too.

Now, the tailgate design is a bit of a doozy, because the shape of it means taller occupants may (will, trust me) bonk their head. I did.

Boot capacity measures at 638 litres. (Image: Matt Campbell)

The dipping rear roof-line means it is quite a shallow load area with a very high load-in lip. (Image: Matt Campbell)

There is a space saver under the boot floor. (Image: Matt Campbell)

The door handles confused everyone who came with me in the car this week. They are known as ‘handshake’ handles, and you have to push in one part to extend/lever the rest of the handle out – but honestly, they’re more hassle than the stylistic benefit justifies, if you ask me.

Parking could be easier. The Aston’s 12.4m turning circle means it is a bit of a handful to park, and being conscious and cautious about those $11K optional 23-inch wheels probably also played a part in my “maybe I’ll find a different spot” mindset while driving this.

There are a few lovely convenience features, such as buttons in the boot area to raise or lower the rear end for loading/unloading, and the second-row features air vents in the centre console area and in the B-pillars, with fan controls and heating and cooling for the window seats. And yes, there are USB charge points to keep those devices juiced up.

I also liked the button actuation of the split-fold rear seats – there’s a trigger at your fingertips in the boot, and also up above the head restraints in the rear seat, making it easy to drop the seatback to fit a child seat, should you need. And there is a piece that pulls away from the ISOFIX points to allow super easy access, and it velcros back in place when you need it as a seat for adults, too.

There is no ANCAP or Euro NCAP crash test rating for the Aston Martin DBX SUV, or the 707 variant. But it does have an array of high-tech safety equipment fitted as standard.

There is adaptive cruise control, AEB with pedestrian detection (but not cyclist or junction capability), traffic sign recognition and a speed limiter (a nice plus for a car like this!), lane keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

It has six airbags – dual front, front-side and full-length curtain. That seems a pretty low number of airbags, considering some newer rivals offer knee protection for front occupants, front-centre airbag to prevent head clashes, and rear side-thorax airbags.

There are dual ISOFIX attachment points (outboard seats) and three top-tether points, and the front seat has an ISOFIX point, too, but no top-tether point.

If you subscribe to the idea that Apple CarPlay should be operated through a touchscreen, you’re going to find the tech in this car frustrating.

It has a rotary dial system you need to use to scroll through menus and controls, and while it is fine once you’re used to it, I had a few instances where the ‘cursor’ disappeared altogether, meaning I was stuck on the Google Maps screen and couldn’t change song, or make a call.

Fair to say the 10.2-inch display screen looks alright, but it could be so much easier to use if it was a touchscreen.

The digital instrument cluster is good, and easy to get to grips with.

And I like there are plenty of buttons and control dials, plus the steering wheel controls are mostly very intuitive (even if there is the whole “one stalk” mindset for blinkers/wipers), and the push-button gear selector setup is feeling a bit outdated.

With a list price of $428,400 before on-road costs, this isn’t going to be for everyone. And this particular car had a host of optional kit, pushing its as-tested price to $526,000 before on-roads.

Yes, almost $100K of options. I guess that’s the price you pay to be different.

Now, fuel consumption is one thing you probably won’t care about if you’re buying a super-SUV like this, so the official combined fuel use figure of 13.5 litres per 100 kilometres won’t be that big of an issue. At the very least it has a 87-litre petrol tank (which needs premium unleaded, of course).

For what it’s worth, I didn’t achieve a number that high, with my testing including a fair bit of open road driving, my at the pump fuel use number was 14.1L/100km.

The Aston Martin new car warranty is comparatively light at just three years/unlimited kilometres, and there’s no fixed price servicing for the DBX 707. Customers will need to chat to their dealer about costs.