I’ll be honest. I’ve never really understood sporty SUVs. You either get a large and comfortable but slow SUV like a Range Rover, or a low, sexy, impractical supercar like the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. But one filthy December night, with rain hammering sideways, roads shining black under headlights, hands cold even before I’d opened the door, the Aston Martin DBX S made its case. And annoyingly, it did a very good job.
My drive started late after a long day of festive celebrations. I didn’t fancy driving at all, especially a 727PS luxury SUV on sodden British roads. The DBX S sat there glowing under street lights, squat and wide, quad exhausts stacked like it meant business. The new black grille helps, too. It doesn’t look polite. It looks like it’s waiting to be driven.
Climb inside and you immediately notice how different this feels from earlier DBX models. The ‘S’ treatment isn’t subtle. You can get get alcantara everywhere your hands land (although my review model had more traditional leather). A herringbone pattern on the seats. Optional red stitching and seatbelts. It feels purposefully darker and more focused.
Start it up and the V8 clears its throat. Even at idle, you can hear there’s more going on here than before. The modified exhaust gives the engine a deeper edge, especially when it’s cold. On cold start, it echoed off wet buildings in a way that would definitely annoy your neighbours after a while.
Pulling away, the first surprise is how calm it feels. This thing will do 0 to 62mph in 3.3 seconds, but in Comfort mode it’s composed, smooth, almost relaxing. The air suspension deals with broken tarmac without fuss. Potholes that would have me swerving in a sports car barely register. And when the rain really started coming down, the confidence it gave me was instant.
That’s the SUV bit I finally got.
When the road opens up, you prod Sport. Then Sport+. The gearbox sharpens, the exhaust opens, and the DBX S stops pretending to be civilised. The upgraded 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 now makes 727PS and 900Nm, and you feel it most at the top end. It just keeps pulling. The wet clutch gearbox snaps through shifts with a thump that feels theatrical. My three year old loved it (and so did I).
I tested a few launches on an empty stretch of straight road (purely for science) and the traction is ridiculous. Even on a damp day, it just goes. Power shuffles around seamlessly. There’s no scrabbling around, just forward motion and a rapidly shrinking horizon.
The steering is quicker than before, only by 4-percent, which might be noticible if you drive two models back-to-back but I didn’t notice the difference. The steering does feel sharp and the body stays impressively flat. Aston says roll is limited to 1.5 degrees, and I can believe it. There’s just enough movement to feel natural, but never sloppy.
What really stood out was how the DBX S shrugs off its size. Yes, it’s still a big thing. You’re aware of that. But the lower centre of gravity from the carbon fibre roof, combined with the revised suspension, means it changes direction far more willingly than something this tall has any right to. On a stormy night, with standing water and leaves everywhere, that confidence is important.
Brakes deserve a mention too. The carbon ceramics are immense with huge stopping power.
Later, cruising home, I switched everything back down. Heated seats on. Audio up. The Bowers & Wilkins system in this car was exceptional. It’s clear, deep, and immersive, and made the motorway slog feel oddly serene. Rain drummed on the roof. Lorries threw up spray. The DBX S just ate miles.
And that’s when it clicked.
This is, in part, why people like sporty SUVs. Because on nights like this, when the weather’s foul and the roads are unpredictable, a car like the DBX S makes everything easier without taking the fun away. You sit higher. You see more. You relax. Yet when you want it to, it still feels like a proper Aston Martin.
Is it excessive? Completely. Does anyone need a 193mph SUV? Obviously not. But driving the DBX S in real conditions, cold, wet, miserable conditions, showed me why it works. It’s brutally fast, genuinely engaging, and deeply reassuring when things get rough.
I still love a low-slung sports car. That hasn’t changed. But that December night, with rain lashing the windscreen and the V8 rumbling away beneath me, I finally understood the appeal.
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