DBS Control
A true sports car has to be light and well balanced. A lightweight, rigid structure is the design engineer’s ultimate goal, and achieving the right balance between strength and mass is crucial. Like the DB9 and its sibling DBR9 and DBRS9 race cars, the DBS uses Aston Martin’s class-leading all-alloy VH (Vertical Horizontal) architecture, a lightweight bonded aluminium structure that provides outstanding strength and rigidity.
This structure means that weight is kept to a minimum, with the front-mid mounted engine and rear-mid mounted transaxle ensuring a near perfect weight distribution: 85% of the car’s weight is positioned within its wheelbase. The DBS’s polar moment of inertia is therefore very low, producing a car with natural agility, a strong, stable platform for the V12’s high power output and an exhilarating driving experience.
In order to take full advantage of its extremely precise and rigid platform, the DBS employs a new and sophisticated Adaptive Damping System (ADS) which uses two separate valves to set the dampers to five different positions, allowing instant adjustment of the car’s ride and handling characteristics. The Adaptive Damping System automatically alters the suspension settings to ensure the driver has high levels of control at all times, with the ability to respond instantly to different driving conditions. The dampers can be ‘softer’, with a corresponding improvement in ride quality, or ‘firm’, providing improved body control for more spirited driving.
The damper settings are determined by an electronic control unit which takes sensor readings from the car’s systems, including throttle position, brake position, steering wheel rotation and vehicle speed. This data establishes the prevailing driving conditions and the demands the driver is making on the car.
The DBS’s Adaptive Damping System perfectly captures the car’s sporting character, ensuring that stiffer dampers are available for better handling and control when the car is being driven enthusiastically, without compromising ride comfort during ‘normal’ driving conditions. A designated ‘Track’ mode automatically sets all dampers to their firmest positions, making it ideal for circuit driving. The DBS is fitted with Pirelli P-Zero tyres that have been developed especially for the car, along with new 20" lightweight alloy wheels.
The DBS has a revised Dynamic Stability Control system, designed to help maintain maximum traction in challenging driving conditions. In default operation, the DSC is automatically on. Select and press the button for two seconds and DSC ‘Track’ mode is engaged, raising the threshold at which the system intervenes to allow the experienced driver to explore the car’s limits. Hold the button for four seconds and DSC is disengaged entirely.
Aston Martin’s engineers have also employed advanced materials and processes to further reduce weight and increase the DBS’s performance and dynamics. A key feature is the extensive use of carbonfibre body panels, as in the DBR race cars. In the case of the DBS, carbon-fibre panels are used for the boot enclosure, boot lid, door opening surrounds, front wings and bonnet, giving a saving of some 30 kg over more conventional materials without any reduction in strength. Each panel has been carefully sculpted to direct the airflow around the car, into the engine and to help cool the braking system; the DBS bodywork is a harmonious composition of flowing, muscular forms. The carbon-fibre elements are produced using advanced manufacturing techniques developed from the aerospace and motorsport industries.
The car’s braking system features another innovation, the first time Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes have been used on a road-going Aston Martin. The DBS’s carbon ceramic brake system consists of 398 mm diameter ventilated discs with six-piston alloy monobloc calipers at the front and 360 mm diameter ventilated discs with four-piston alloy monobloc calipers at the rear. The end result is shorter stopping distances with excellent resistance to fade in even the most demanding driving conditions. CCM brakes are also some 12.5 kg lighter than a conventional system, reducing the weight of the car overall and, in particular, the unsprung weight and rotational masses, further enhancing the performance of the suspension.