Spotted: DBS Superleggera @ Peak View Cafe

[DawgUK]

Now I'm no Aston Martin expert, but I'm pretty sure this is what I saw. It was debadged at the front, but the indent on the nose where the badge should have been was undoubtedly Aston Martin shaped.

The odd thing was, the car was in pretty bad shape, with cracked and patched bodywork all around the front bumper. The paintwork, I would say, almost looked like raw carbon fibre. I would say the car looked like a pre-production or something. A bit baffled really.

Spotted at Peak View Cafe on the A537 between Buxton and Macclesfield on Sunday 17th Feb, 2019.

[petop]

Did it look like this?

[DawgUK]

It did, just a very badly looked after version of this. I wasn't fully sure, looking at photos, but the four exhaust pipes were the giveaway. I just don't understand why someone would have one in such poor condition...

[Jon39]

DawgUK said:

It did, just a very badly looked after version of this. I wasn't fully sure, looking at photos, but the four exhaust pipes were the giveaway. I just don't understand why someone would have one in such poor condition...

Fairly sure that you must have seen a development car.
AML use a number of cars for the development of a new or revised model, often with each car used to refine particular parts eg engine, suspension etc.

As the car in the photograph above displays a registration mark, it is easy to find out that it is a development car. Some of the data which is usually displayed, is shown as 'Not available' (cylinder capacity; fuel type; weight).

Those cars have a job to do, and usually are ultimately scrapped. Condition is therefore not a concern.

As the DBSS is such a new model, I wonder what is being worked on with the car ythat you saw.

Edited by Jon39 on Wednesday 20th February 21:19

[MO55]

Could it be the AMR edition,,,,??

[woodsypedia]

Could also be components for the new Vanquish. Aston have been known to use body shells for existing models to test new elements of future cars. This happened with the new Vantage wearing DB11 clothing.

Chris.

[Jon39]

MO55 said:

Could it be the AMR edition,,,,??

Give it another 100 BHP, and I think the advertisement will be;

'Each time that you lightly press the accelerator pedal in any gear, the traction control will be automatically activated, to keep you on the road.'

[AMVSVNick]

woodsypedia said:

Could also be components for the new Vanquish. Aston have been known to use body shells for existing models to test new elements of future cars. This happened with the new Vantage wearing DB11 clothing.

Chris.

Until very recently they were still using the old shaped Vantage as a development mule.

[MO55]

Jon39 said:

Give it another 100 BHP, and I think the advertisement will be;

'Each time that you lightly press the accelerator pedal in any gear, the traction control will be automatically activated, to keep you on the road.'

Given they are bound to add a few more horses and torque, coupled with a further reduction in weight, the AMR edition will indeed be like that Jon.

As it is they've had to reduce the torque available in 1st and 2nd, adding even more grunt to a car designed primarily for use on public roads,,,I dunno. Its not very often one reads or hears the 'scared' word in car reviews is it,,,,begs the question, are we reaching the upper limits of 'usable' performance for road use cars?

[anonymous-user]

MO55 said:

Jon39 said:

Give it another 100 BHP, and I think the advertisement will be;

'Each time that you lightly press the accelerator pedal in any gear, the traction control will be automatically activated, to keep you on the road.'

Given they are bound to add a few more horses and torque, coupled with a further reduction in weight, the AMR edition will indeed be like that Jon.

As it is they've had to reduce the torque available in 1st and 2nd, adding even more grunt to a car designed primarily for use on public roads,,,I dunno. Its not very often one reads or hears the 'scared' word in car reviews is it,,,,begs the question, are we reaching the upper limits of 'usable' performance for road use cars?

I remember when Mercedes released the SL65 Bi-turbo V12 monster back in the noughties. At the time I had the 55 and naturally wanted to move up to the bigger, faster model. Did a test drive and found the 65 slower than the 55 because the TC had to intervene every time I looked at the accelerator. It was beyond scary trying to do an overtake without having the power taken away. Looking at the DBSS I do wonder if more power is going to be counterproductive and really only bragging rights down the pub.

[superlightr]

4 wheel drive one possible answer for very fast cars - the fact that BMW and Mercs have both recently gone down the 4wd route for their M' cars and AMG's may well tie in for Aston and a 4wd system.

Must say that when the Superleg came out I did question the drivability/fun factor for the UK ie damp/wet roads and was it too much power too much for a 2wd. Didn't know that there would be built in limits for 1st and 2nd gears which implies it is too much for useable road use.

Thus an AMR version with "even more" would just be plain unfun/scary for me.

Edited by superlightr on Thursday 21st February 13:21

Edited by superlightr on Thursday 21st February 13:21

[cayman-black]

Absolutely a four-wheel drive version would be epic.

[anonymous-user]

More often than not, it's the happy medium of mechanical traction and engine map / boost curve programming, versus agility - by that I mean it's relatively easy to design a suspension and rear axle to put as much power as you want to the ground, but it loses agility during cornering. The balance struck with the DBSS was that it can put down most of its power in dry conditions, with a torque limiter in lower gears, but the back end doesn't come unstuck when shown a corner. It's not quite the handling gem of the Vantage or DB11 AMR, but it's a lot closer than a flagship GT has been to the respective baby brother sports cars of the past.

Ferrari do the same with their turbocharged engines, but more to make it appear to have more grunt than in reality (by freeing up more torque in each gear, rather than just unleashing it all in 3rd gear and above).

Regarding all wheel drive. Who knows - it might not be far away...