Waste your day on the new Aston Martin configurator

First, the hard updates, which you can see for the first time in the new configurator. The DB11, now five years old, is getting a V8 power bump. Both coupe and Volante V8s will jump 25PS (18kW) to 535PS (393kW), increasing the top speed to 192mph. You can now also option more supportive Sports Plus seats.

The V12 DB11 isn’t getting any extra power, unless you count the AMR becoming the standard DB11 and losing the AMR badge. Speaking of badges dropping, the DBS Superleggera will now just be known as DBS. The overall plan is to simplify the Aston range.

There are also new wheel designs for the Vantage, DBS and DBX. The latter also now gets Sports seats and wireless charging.

So, what’s it like to build them? The new Aston Martin configurator isn’t a massive change in terms of how you can spec the cars but you get a much better look at them along the way. The new 3D environments in which the cars sit are spectacular, bathing them in as close to real-world light as we’ve seen in one of these systems.

So why the big push to get people speccing up cars? Well, the old Aston configurator has been getting a good thrashing recently, with Formula 1 shining a spotlight on the brand. The season and indeed more specifically, when the Vantage and DBX are out on track, have seen palpable jumps in site and configurator traffic. The new system is a fresh place for would-be Aston buyers to build their dream car, especially given the emphasis recent world events have put on online buying.

“The experience of buying an Aston Martin should be as pleasurable as owning one and our new configurator has been created with this in mind,” said Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Tobias Moers.

“Our customers are very busy people, so it is our job to make the buying process as simple and as enjoyable as possible. This new configurator does that. Like many businesses, a proportion of our customers switched over to online buying during the pandemic, so we have improved this process to allow remote customers to receive the full Aston Martin experience.”

Prepare to waste several hours of your day.