When Aston Martin launched its first SUV in 2020, the DBX was attractive, nice to drive and stuffed with promise, but it surely felt half-baked. The DBX’s relative lack of efficiency in comparison with its friends was rectified in 2022 with the DBX707, a brand new variant that elevated engine output to just about 700 horsepower and overhauled the SUV’s dynamics. When it got here to efficiency, the DBX may really compete with the Lamborghini Uruses and Porsche Cayenne Turbo GTs of the world.
Besides, the DBX707 was nonetheless saddled with an inside that seemed lovely however was infuriating to stay with, primarily attributable to its touchscreen-less infotainment system, unusual buttons and poor ergonomics. If the traditional DBX was Charmander, the DBX707 was Charmeleon — stronger and extra aggressive, however nonetheless not totally fashioned. Now, for 2025, the DBX707 has lastly developed into Charizard due to a complete inside overhaul and a variety of different enhancements.
Full disclosure: Aston Martin flew me as much as Northern California to drive the DBX707 round Napa. I used to be put up in a pleasant lodge for an evening and was fed nice meals. I’ve been obsessive about Coop’s Assortment on TikTok, thus the Pokémon reference that was additionally spurred by the orange and purple DBX707s that have been on the launch.
The DBX707 is now the one option to get a DBX, as Aston dropped the usual trim. Whereas that’s a disgrace, as I favor the less-aggressive styling of the bottom DBX, I perceive the choice. It was pointless of Aston to try to compete with SUVs within the $150,000-ish vary the place the DBX initially landed; there’s much less competitors when you attain the 2025 DBX707’s $253,000 beginning value (together with vacation spot) and better energy degree. And in contrast to final 12 months’s mannequin, the up to date DBX707 feels genuinely price that pricetag when you step inside.
However earlier than you get in, you’ll expertise one of many DBX707’s most welcome updates. Other than a reworked rear spoiler and much more shade and wheel choices, the outside design is precisely the identical as earlier than. That’s high-quality, because it stays top-of-the-line trying SUVs on the market. It’s the door handles which can be the large improve. Whereas they give the impression of being the identical because the outdated ones, the flush door handles are actually powered, coming out when the automobile is unlocked otherwise you stroll as much as it. It is a welcome change from the earlier mannequin years the place you needed to bodily press on the stick-like deal with after which maintain grip on it to have the ability to pull the door open, which was particularly annoying for those who have been carrying a bunch of stuff.
A lot of the DBX’s up to date cabin parts are shared with the DB12, the great facelift to the DB11, however the DBX’s dashboard, middle console and door card designs are all its personal, and completely redesigned in comparison with final 12 months’s mannequin. Centered within the dashboard is a brand new 10.3-inch infotainment display that’s lastly touch-operated, ditching the outdated Mercedes Comand–derived system with a rotary knob and button array. Its completely new software program is an in-house Aston growth that’s manner higher than the generations-old Benz stuff, with cool graphics and pretty simple menus.
Positive, among the settings are complicated, among the buttons and toggles are too small, and generally every thing is tough to learn, however a variety of the system’s points could possibly be simply mounted with future software program updates. You additionally get wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which have been particularly annoying to make use of earlier than the display could possibly be touched, and there are a bunch of USB-C ports all through the inside. The 12.3-inch gauge cluster is bigger than those within the DB12 and Vantage, and it has new graphics too. Aston significantly improved the 360-degree digital camera high quality, the automobile is obtainable with extra superior driver-assist options, and you may get a brand new 23-speaker Bowers & Wilkins encompass sound system that’s fairly superior (and prices $12,300).
You not shift gears by urgent buttons set at a far attain above the display; as an alternative, the up to date DBX has a chunky metallic toggle shifter within the middle console, set proper behind a brand new begin/cease button that doubles because the drive mode selector. There are 4 barrel-shaped knobs for the quantity, temperature and fan pace, plus a row of buttons for stuff just like the windshield heater and recirculation, although many of the local weather controls are completed by an infotainment web page that’s straightforward to convey up. Additional again on the console are a bunch extra exhausting buttons for efficiency options just like the exhaust and suspension. All the new controls really feel good to make use of, particularly the hefty drive mode dial.
Aston’s designers did a greater job using the stunning quantity of cabin house, with bigger storage cubbies, a repositioned wi-fi charging pad and higher cupholders, plus a brand new open space beneath the middle console. The seats are tremendous supportive, and even with the sloping roofline there’s loads of head- and legroom within the again seat. The brand new inside has a extra liberal use of beauty trim items made out of aluminum or carbon fiber or wooden, lovely distinction stitching and piping patterns, and color-matched leather-based on extra surfaces (for those who pay up for it). Additionally new are the air vents, door deal with pulls, speaker grilles and different particulars. General high quality feels improved, each when it comes to supplies and the way it’s all put collectively.
There are nonetheless some annoyances. Aston continues to make use of the identical fiddly, inscrutable seat and mirror controls, and the seat heating and air flow is completed by small touch-capacitive buttons. The steering wheel itself is significantly better than the outdated one, and a few of its controls are satisfying, however the thumb pads are even more durable to make use of than within the Mercedes they arrive from, making it annoying to scroll by the assorted gauge cluster menus. The solar visors additionally suck, as they’re too small and fiddly..
To expertise extra than simply the brand new inside, Aston allow us to unfastened within the DBX707 on among the greatest mountain roads that California’s wine nation has to supply, the type of route that might sometimes be reserved for a high-performance sports activities automobile, not a tall-riding SUV. The DBX707’s AMG-derived twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 places out the identical 697 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque as earlier than, and it nonetheless sounds superior. Its snarling exhaust observe is distinct from the AMGs, extra bellowing and bass-heavy with pure pops and bangs on overrun and shifts. A 9-speed moist clutch computerized transmission distributes torque to all 4 wheels (with as much as one hundred pc of that torque in a position to be despatched to simply the rear axle), and Aston says the DBX707 will hit 60 mph in simply 3.1 seconds. Mid-range acceleration is not any joke, irrespective of the gear or drive mode you’re in, and the transmission’s shifts are well-tuned, all the time coming quick and clean. Roll onto the throttle and the DBX delivers an easy surge of energy, and in Sport+ mode there’s an enhanced feeling of urgency from the powertrain.
Curiously, it’s within the center Sport mode the place the DBX707 is quickest round a observe or your native canyon street, the place Sport+ is extra about driving enjoyment as an alternative of outright “good” dynamics, and a variety of that’s all the way down to the chassis setup. Three-chamber air springs with electronically adaptive dampers and a 48-volt energetic anti-roll system are commonplace, and Aston’s engineers retuned the programs to supply a better mixture of consolation and efficiency. In Sport+ every thing is much less buttoned down; there’s a wider hole between compression and rebound, which provides the sensation that the automobile is floatier and shifting round extra over bumps and in corners, however not in an uncontrollable manner. That additional floatiness helps maintain all 4 tires involved with the bottom, and because the driver I really feel extra in-tune with how the automobile is shifting dynamically, versus it simply being flat and exact on a regular basis. As I enter a nook the nostril stiffens up whereas the rear finish loosens for simpler rotation, then the rear progressively stiffens up because the entrance softens to offer the feeling of roll-on oversteer. With the extra rear-biased torque setup in Sport+, it’s straightforward to kick the DBX707’s tail out if you would like. In fact, you possibly can individually choose between the three settings for the engine, exhaust and chassis to dial in your favourite setup.
Gigantic carbon-ceramic brakes are commonplace, they usually do a superb job of bringing the 4,940-pound DBX707 to a cease with none fade or squeaking. Pedal really feel is fairly linear, with much less of an aggressive tip-in than most different automobiles with carbon brakes. 22-inch wheels are commonplace however the DBX I’m driving is provided with a $7,200 set of 23s carrying Pirelli P Zero summer season tires that present tons of grip however a uneven experience on rougher pavement. The thick-rimmed steering wheel (that’s not weirdly formed) relays much more suggestions than is typical of an SUV, with a direct and fast rack.
The DBX707 is splendidly playful, quick as hell and a stunning place to spend time. You’re actually gonna pay up for the privilege, although. Yeah, I do know I stated it begins at $253,000, however that’s very a lot a place to begin. All of the DBX707s on the launch had MSRPs of at the least $340,000 after choices; the most costly was $352,200. Choices embrace $10,800 for carbon bits on the higher half of the outside and $19,500 for carbon on the decrease half, fancy paint jobs for $13,600, smoked taillights that price $1,500, an inside scheme that begins at $11,900 with $3,100 Alcantara headliner and $6,400 leather-based shade on high of that… The lists go on.
That value scale is about what you possibly can count on from a Bentley Bentayga or a Lamborghini Urus, although, and the DBX feels extra particular than both. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is cheaper and the higher general efficiency automobile, but it surely’s not as entertaining because the Aston. And Ferrari’s V12-powered Purosangue doesn’t even begin till $400K. Now that the DBX707 has reached its ultimate evolution, it will possibly take a deserving stand-out spot within the super-SUV realm.
