It can be both cossetting cruiser and scintillating back road blaster. But there’s a Jekyll-Hyde persona to the new Aston. Prior to this epiphany, I had found the DB12 a little too subdued – a bit like a pipe-smoking English gentleman exercising excessive restraint. Impressed as I am, it all now begins to make sense. This twisting force is instantly converted into rapid forward motion the DB12 slingshots down the next straight, with a trace of tyre squeal providing the only clue that I was stretching the envelope. A tweak on the new coupe’s thick-rimmed steering wheel prompts its weight balance to shift subtly to the outside wheels.Ī progressive squeeze of the throttle as I reach the apex and the DB12’s new electronic limited-slip differential meters out precise doses of torque to left and right Michelin Pilot Sport 5S rubber. I have an aha moment about 20km into the challenging Route Napoleon – winding across the Alpes-Maritimes in southern France – as I hook the Aston Martin DB12 into a sweeping left-hander.
