The Goodwood Test: Aston Martin DB11 AMR

Heritage

The DB11 was the first model in Andy Palmer’s Second Century Plan when it was launched in 2016, and is probably the most important grand tourer to come out of Aston Martin in its history. For the DB11 marked the end of a run of required body styles and the same engine, platform and transmission, and the start of something sharp and fresh. The V12 came first, followed by a V8 model. And now there’s this: the bonkers AMR derivative. AMR of course stands for Aston Martin Racing. It makes sense for the brand to bring together its successful endurance racing arm and its road-car operations in the range of exciting, dynamic models. There are two lines – AMR and AMR Line, the latter being a styling job more than a performance upgrade.

Features

Goodwood was given the halo edition of the DB11 AMR – limited to just 100 examples worldwide. Not at all nerve-wracking then. For most examples you can mess around with the options box, but the halo spec is a set, mouth-watering package. You have the Stirling Green bodywork with bold lime-green stripes down he bonnet, along the front splitter and rear diffuser, on the brake calipers, and inside as a leather stripe on the seats and across the ceiling. This is not a car for wallflowers, but neither is it garish or tacky. Very Aston Martin, then.

Inside, there are carbonfibre inlays everywhere to remind you this is the more lightweight, potent version with an emphasis on performance, and a fantastic steering wheel with straight sides and bottom for a more race-car stance. In case you forget, there are AMR sill plates. And a great B&O BeSound audio system.

The infotainment system and controls are straight out of a Mercedes.

This is a decent two-plus-two but don’t be fooled by the sight of IsoFix: although two children will be comfortable in the two deep rear bucket seats, booster seats don’t really fit across the width and leave little legs poking out. But we still managed the school run and got huge bonus points from the children.

Performance

The AMR version takes what is already a much sharpened GT dynamically – worlds away from the DB9, for example – and makes it more refined, quicker, sharper, more taut… and more noisy.

This is really the ultimate high-performance grand tourer, for those who want more comfort than a supercar provides but more aggression than a GT traditionally offers. On start-up, the engine revs rise and the exhausts bark. Even when it settles at 1,000rpm, it sounds like it’s straining at the leash. 

Power from the 5.2-litre V12 engine is up by 30PS (128PS more than the V8 version) to 639PS (630bhp), the top speed increases to 208mph and the 0-62mph time drops to 3.7 seconds (a 0.2-second reduction). 

All the mass is ahead of the driver, in the glorious bonnet which has four huge vents and two carbon-fibre strakes angles in the vents. It gives the driver an unparalleled sense of occasion, as any Aston should.

Passion

This car is frankly, currently, the pinnacle of Aston Martin design and engineering for us. It takes a GT and manages to make it more potent with an engine power upgrade, tuned exhausts and added aero, without losing the integral grand touring attributes of luxury and comfort. That is harder than it sounds, certainly from an engineering point of view – witness other pumped-up GTs that in adding carbon-fibre and splitters have lost their grace and style. Not so this beauty, especially with that paint job. A tribute to both Marek Reichman on the design front and Matt Becker, chief engineer. Aston tends to benchmark against the Porsche 911, but when you’ve got a car this unique and stunning, why would you bother with the competition?

Price: £174,995 (Halo example as tested, £201,995)