Driving: the surprising Range Rover Sentinel
16 June 2023
Philip Guston at Tate Modern this autumn
12 July 2023This peppy offering, a full 115kg lighter than the V12, is puppy-dog boisterous and eager to please. It may well show you over 100bhp less than the V12 and be 21mph slower but it’s a much nicer ride. The lighter engine, allied to a bespoke slimline wet sump, has enabled Aston Martin to mount it more centrally which benefits the balance.
The tuning encourages you to flex your toes and, if you’re in the right mood, it’ll turn in sharply, bringing its rear axle into play and is a whole bundle of fun. The new chassis, with double wishbone suspension up front and active dampers, makes the balance and poise of the vehicle really tight so when you turn in you will never miss an apex.
Turbochargers often muffle an engine’s innate exhaust note. Here, glory be, the engineers have worked their magic and the earthy growl as you press the starter button tingles your unmentionables. You can digitise a quieter start-up if you really don’t want to upset Mrs Miggins at number 4, but that’s an option you’d never get round to.
As GTs go the V12 is actually somewhat better being slightly restrained despite its higher output numbers – but the V8’s sportiness is its strength. It can be something of a handful round the twisty bits if you’re not fully engaged but settles down beautifully, with a nip and tweak of the driving modes, once you’re heading for the horizon. While the effect that poaching a selection of Lotus’ engineering team was noticeable with the Vantage, it is becoming almost comical now.
The V8 DB11 will whisper down the motorways as you lounge behind the wheel but the dichotomy is that you’ll probably want to step away from the comfortable of the straight tarmac to go and have fun with the lesser-known and more challenging parts of the topography.
Inside, thanks to Aston’s partnership with Mercedes, there’s some notably Stuttgart-like items. It’s not just the engine up front under the hood – the various media displays in the cabin are lifted straight from the AMG despite being cloaked in Aston Martin fonts. I drove the Rapide S back in 2015 which had an earlier electronics package and found it truly execrable.
This German variant, first experienced by me in the abovementioned Vantage, truly felt exciting and fresh when it was launched but it too is starting to age – it’s good and perfectly serviceable but the electronics that Mercedes use in their own vehicles feel much newer and on point.
As a place to sit though it really appeals to the aesthete in me. Too often these days the interior of a vehicle is just too clinical and soulless. Here, the designers have been judicious in their use of wood, leather and metal and have just tipped over onto the comfortable side of the ledger.