This is what Aston Martin was teasing last month, the DBX707. No mere litany of minor performance tweaks to create a marginally more expensive trim with an "S" or "GT" suffix, Aston Martin remade the DBX from front to back to create the most powerful and fastest superluxe CUV on the market. The English automaker calls the result "a sabre in a segment of sledgehammers."

The sharpest part of the edge lives under the revised hood, the DBX707 acquiring the same type of Mercedes M177 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that powers AMG rockets like the AMG GT 63 S with upgrades like twin-scroll ball-bearing turbos. The 707 in the model's name comes from the output in metric horsepower, which pairs with a metric 900 Newton-meters of torque. Those sums equate to 697 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque in American units, 100% of which can be sent to the rear axle when the automatic torque split system decides. These are increases of 155 hp and 147 lb-ft compared to the standard DBX, and furthermore, they best the Lamborghini Urus by 56 hp, the Bentley Betayga Speed by 71 hp, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid by 27 hp.

The engine doesn't run out of go until 193 miles per hour, putting the DBX707's terminal velocity 3 mph above the next-fastest royal SUV, the Bentayga Speed. To help with matters at the other end of the speedo, Aston Martin acquired the wet clutch, nine-speed MCT Speedshift automatic transmission also used in AMGs, contributing faster cog-swapping. Using the new Race Start function and Pirelli P Zero summer tires, the result is a 0-60 dash of 3.1 seconds, an improvement of 1.2 seconds over the standard DBX, and only just behind the best times extracted from the Lamborghini Urus.

To achieve the final target of being the best handling of its kind, Aston Martin fettled every mechanical contributor to dynamism. Actual stiffness is up thanks to a cross brace between the front shock top mounts and a 0.16-inch thick panel under the body, perceived stiffness rises thanks to revised programming for the 48-volt anti-roll system responding to body roll with 50% more torque. Damper compression is up by 20% in front, 15% in back, while rebound climbs 10% in front, 5% in back, to go with further refinements to boost steering response. Speaking of which, the electronic power steering injects more weight off center to give the driver more feedback. The front control arms receive hydraulic bushings. A new electronic rear differential can lock up quicker, and has a shorter final drive. A carbon-ceramic brake system with six-piston calipers clamping 16.5-inch discs in front, 15.4-inch discs in the back, saves 89 pounds of unsprung weight. The brake booster has also been retuned for better modulation and feel.

Ensuring the DBX707 looks the bruiser while still looking like an Aston Martin, the front fascia features a larger grille with double vanes, a new DRL signature, and new intakes and cooling ducts. Along the sides, window dressing comes in dark satin chrome, the gloss black side sills have more depth and sculpting. In back, there's a larger roof spoiler, a redesigned, vented bumper, and a larger rear diffuser fits around a new quad exhaust system in satin black. Soft-close doors counter all that "Oh!' with some "Oooooooh." Standard wheels are 22 inches in two designs; a set of 23 inchers is optional. Despite the added bulk seen in profile, approach and departure angles haven't changed from the standard DBX.

Inside, accessing the meat of the crossover's performance will be easier thanks to a redesigned lower instrument panel with switchgear to access drive and suspension modes, ESP settings, Auto or Manual gear selection, and the active exhaust settings. Sport seats come standard, comfort seats are a no-cost option, both are heated and with 16-way power adjustment. When Aston Martin revamped its configurator, it created interior environments: The one known as Accelerate will be the stock choice here, but Inspire Comfort and Inspire Sport can be swapped in. Switchgear comes in dark chrome, matching the greenhouse trim outside, bright chrome and carbon fiber on the options menu.

Company boss Tobias Moers has mentioned a run at the Nürburgring's SUV record, that trophy currently sitting in Stuttgart thanks to the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT sealing a time of 7:38.925.

The DBX707 enters production shortly, first deliveries due in the second quarter of this year. Pricing in the U.S. starts at $235,086 after destination, $55,100 more than its entry-level progenitor.

The 707 in the model's name comes from the output in metric horsepower, which pairs with a metric 900 Newton-meters of torque. Those sums equate to 697 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque in American units

OLBIA, Sardinia – What is the definition of a supercar? It varies from generation to generation, from country to country, and from brand to brand. It’s the type of complex question that could fuel pub talk until the taps run dry. Aston Martin’s supercars have historically been the low-slung two-door kind, but the British firm submitted a different answer by releasing the 2023 Aston Martin DBX 707. It’s an SUV that serves supercar-like power, supercar-like acceleration, and a supercar-like price. Does it deserve a spot in this elite group in spite of its family-friendly proportions? I traveled to the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia to find out.

On paper, the 707 is a DBX with a more powerful engine – that’s one way to sum it up but it’s cruelly unfair. Dig deeper and you’ll discover hundreds of changes made to differentiate the two models, both in terms of design and in terms of driving dynamics. The grille is 27% bigger (it’s not just BMW riding this train), the side skirts have been redesigned, there’s a carbon fiber spoiler attached to the top part of the hatch, and the rear bumper is now vented. One of the most striking design cues is the rear diffuser: loosely inspired by the unit fitted to the Valkyrie, it sticks out far beyond the bumper and looks ready to pick a fight with every curb that comes its way. Aston Martin told me you can still fit the 707 with a hitch, so that’s a relief. Wait: tow? With this? Certainly! Bolt that hitch on it and you can pull approximately 6,000 pounds.

While some of these tweaks are purely aesthetic, others allowed Aston Martin to hone the DBX’s aerodynamic profile. Adding splitters to the front bumper stabilizes airflow, for example, and Sam Holgate, Aston Martin’s chief designer for mid-engined models and SUVs, pointed out that the 707 has about 5% less lift than the regular DBX.

“Mainly, that came out from the front of the car by venting air out of the arches, but then we got it back with the rear spoiler, so this car is completely lift-neutral front to rear, regardless of whether you’re traveling at high or low speeds,” he told me.

In a way, the 707 is a laboratory that incorporates some of the feedback that Aston Martin has received about the DBX since production started in 2020. Buyers wanted soft-close doors; it’s got them. And, there is one improvement that Aston Martin’s engineering team is particularly proud of. “We redesigned the cupholders to take a bigger variety of cups,” said Andrew Tokley, Aston Martin’s senior manager of vehicle engineering. Customer feedback, much of it from American buyers directly shaped the new cupholders (no mention of American car reviewers). Scoff if you must, but they were surprisingly useless before.

As in the regular DBX, all of the materials that the passengers see and touch are top-notch, which you’d rightfully expect in a vehicle that goes deep into $200,000 territory. Aston Martin really sweated the details: every stitch is correctly aligned and every switch feels solid. Its heritage is rooted in luxury, after all.

The only disappointment inside – and it’s not an insignificant one – is the infotainment system. Yep, I heard you: “no one buys an Aston Martin to get a fancy touchscreen!” Fair enough, but technology has, for better or worse, become one of the yardsticks used to measure luxury cars and the DBX falls short here. It’s fitted with what’s essentially an older Mercedes-Benz infotainment system, meaning one controlled by a touchpad and a dial rather than a touchscreen. It’s bulky and unintuitive; the DBX deserves better, especially since there are some cool features and menus stuffed into the software.

Power comes from a twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8. It’s the familiar eight-cylinder that Aston Martin borrowed from Mercedes-AMG to drop into several of its models, including the regular DBX, but here it’s tuned to develop 697 horsepower at 6,000 rpm (or 707 pferdestärke – hence the name) and 663 pound-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm. Enthusiasts familiar with AMG’s V8 cookbook will recognize that no in-house recipe yields these numbers, and that’s because this is a British recipe, not a German one.

“The Mercedes-Benz technology transfer agreement is very important for us, and this is one of the outcomes. We were able to make several refinements to the engine. The agreement also gives us the leverage to be much quicker to the market,” said Aston Martin boss Tobias Moers. Importantly, and this is not a coincidence, his last job was running the very company that designed the engine: AMG. His gravitational pull was strong enough to bring a few key people with him to England, including Ralph Illenberger. He’s now Aston Martin’s head of powertrain having previously been AMG’s head of engine development.

Tokley explained that some of the changes made in-house include fitting turbochargers equipped with ball bearings instead of journal bearings. Software and calibration tweaks entered the equation as well.

From the crankshaft, the V8’s cavalry reaches the four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission linked to beefy shift paddles, an active transfer case, an upsized carbon fiber driveshaft (which doesn’t have a center bearing in order to save weight), and an electronic limited-slip rear differential with a final drive ratio that’s 7% shorter than the standard DBX’s. Hitting 60 mph from a stop consequently takes 3.1 seconds, a number that becomes even more impressive when you take into account the 4,940-pound mass that the engine needs to lug around. The nine-speed automatic keeps up with the pace by delivering quick, crisp shifts, either on its own or manually. The shift paddles are even larger than those in the regular DBX, and are made of carbon fiber rather than metal.

Aston Martin lets you choose how loudly the DBX 707 comes to life. For the standard exhaust note, simply push the “engine start/stop” button located on the dashboard, between the buttons used to put the transmission in gear. To turn it up, which I highly recommend, keep the left shift paddle pulled as you push the ignition button. The difference in decibels is perceptible, both inside and out. The V8’s song is worth turning down the audio system for, and Aston Martin spent a great deal of time fine-tuning it. Moers, a man whose love of great-sounding engines is well documented, personally weighed in on it.

Unless you’re a current Aston Martin owner, the brand’s long-standing automatic shifter location takes a little bit of time to get used to; your hand instinctively reaches for the center console. But, once you’re off, you’re off. The DBX’s acceleration is nearly instantaneous, which is surprising because the engine’s full horsepower and torque outputs aren’t available until 6,000 and 4,500 rpm, respectively. There is so much of both under your right foot that the engine curve matters far less than it does in a car with, say, 150 horsepower. At full throttle, the DBX delivers the type of gut-twisting acceleration associated with a supercar. Try launch control once, and I’ll bet the cost of my test car’s optional 23-inch wheels (that’s $5,100, by the way) that you’ll immediately stop to do it again.

The chassis improvements came to life on twisty Sardinian roads. This is not a light car, and it never feels like one, but dialing in a 52% front and 48% rear weight distribution ensures it’s not as front-heavy as you’d expect. It’s reasonably well balanced, especially considering the segment that it competes in. The air suspension and 48-volt anti-roll control keep body motions in check, and the massive tires unlock a reassuring (and almost supernatural!) level of grip. Bend after bend, the DBX 707 delights with precise, well-weighted steering … until I come out of a sharp right-hander, foot half-buried in the throttle, and realize I’m barreling towards a group of goats chilling in the middle of the road. That’s where the standard carbon ceramic braking system comes in. Rest assured: the DBX passed the goat avoidance test with flying colors.

On straighter, faster roads where the odds of encountering cheese-producing livestock are lower, the DBX 707 is a pleasant and comfortable car to cruise in. Like the regular DBX, actually, the 707’s wild side is entertaining, but it knows how to be calm when the occasion calls for it. It’s also quiet thanks in part to remarkably thick windows. Only the V8’s song permeates the cabin. Some of it comes from the speakers, though Tokley stresses that the actual exhaust note is being piped through rather than a fake sound emitted by a synthesizer. For the braver souls among us, there’s an off-road mode that increases the ground clearance.

Due out in the second quarter of 2022, the 2023 Aston Martin DBX 707 starts at $239,086 including a massive $3,086 destination charge, and the $300,000 threshold is effortlessly reached when you begin ticking option boxes – my tester cost $291,586. At this stage, what are you really cross-shopping the DBX 707 with? Any of the other family haulers that cost nearly a quarter of a million dollars, sure, but you could also get a used Cessna or buy a cabin in a picturesque part of the Alps and a four-wheel-drive Dacia Duster to get there. That’s the point: the heart crushes the brain in this equation. No one needs a 697-horsepower SUV, but the acceleration, the sound, the design, and the luxury make you want one. Cast in this light, ground clearance and seat count be damned: the DBX 707 is a modern supercar.