Aston Martin DBX: Porsche Cayenne Turbo PLUS performance, Range Rover plus refinement

The new Aston Martin DBX will perform better than the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and be more refined than the Range Rover says AML Chief Engineer.

The Aston Martin DBX has had a very long gestation period, tracing its Genesis back to the much-criticised Lagonda SUV Concept and ending up like a high-riding Vantage.

With so much time from the initial idea to deliver an AML SUV to the final execution – expected to be revealed in production guise in September – you’d hope Aston will have got it right. And according to AML Chief Engineer Matt Becker, they certainly have.

Speaking to Motor Authority, Becker said AML had gone to some lengths to find out what made the best of the luxury performance SUVs work, and then added to that.

AML started off with half a dozen potential competitors, and soon discovered it was the Porsche Cayenne Turbo which delivered the best overall package, with the Range Rover Sport the best noise and, perhaps surprisingly, the BMW X6M the best handling.

Becker says that, having benchmarked the competition so thoroughly, the new DBX will outperform the Porsche Cayenne Turbo (although not quite the Lamborghini Urus), and be more aggressive, but it will also be more refined and luxurious.

The engine that will deliver the performance for the new DBX, and deliver its power to all four wheels through an eight-speed auto ‘box, looks set to be a version of the 4.0 litre AMG V8 AML are already using. And it’s going to need 500bhp plus to deliver on the promise.

So far we’ve only seen the DBX in camouflage, but it has a fighting chance of being the best looking of all the performance SUVs (which should be an Aston given), and if it will outperform the Cayenne Turbo and be more refined than the Range Rover, it sounds an appealing combination.