I've been very fortunate to drive a lot of attention-grabbing vehicles during my tenure at Jalopnik — Skittle colored supercars, high-end luxury limos and everything in between — but I've never gotten more of a reaction from passersby than I did in this Liquid Crimson red 2025 Aston Martin DB12. Because of its drop-dead gorgeous looks, the heritage the Aston brings with it and a deep V8 burble that demands your attention, I was the coolest guy in town.
I drove this big bruiser of a coupe over 700 miles, and I honestly lost count of the number of thumbs-ups, waves, smiles and requests to rev the motor I encountered. If you don't want to be seen, the DB12 certainly isn't the car for you, but if you're like me and enjoy a little bit of attention, well, Aston's creation deserves your consideration. It brings with it a certain air of tastefulness that is missing from the Lamborghinis and McLarens of the world. A car like this lets everyone know that you've got just as much high-class taste as you've got money.
Full Disclosure: Aston Martin gave me the keys to a gassed-up DB12 to do with as I pleased for a week.
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What's Cookin'?
Sure, the 2025 DB12 is a very fun car to drive, but the thing that first drew me in was its looks. I've been an Aston fan for a long time. If you ask me, one of the best-looking vehicles ever made was the 2007 DBS and the DB9 it was based on, but I was never really a fan of what those British designers did with the DB9's replacement, the DB11, which preceded this car. It just didn't work for me. Luckily, the DB12, while only really being a heavy facelift of the DB11, fixed a lot of the issues I had with it. The car is far more sculpted and muscular-looking than before, with sharper edges that give a more athletic vibe to the big grand tourer.
It's got that classic Aston Martin design language we've all come to know and love. The low-slung body, endless hood and short rear overhang are all the hallmarks of a classically beautiful car. Around the side, we can see Aston's ⅔-body ⅓-window design philosophy that has made its cars so distinct for decades now. And out back, the DB12 gets revised taillights and a very aggressive diffuser. This thing's stance is wonderful from the rear. It lets everyone know that it means business.
Sure, I'm not personally a huge fan of the black accents and wheels of my tester, but who am I to complain?
Doing More With Fewer Cylinders
Ironically, even though Aston called this car the DB12, it's the first DB car to not have a V12 option since the DB6. While it's sad to lose out on a great engine like that, the AMG-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 isn't exactly lacking in power or character. It lays down a substantial 671 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque — improvements of 41 hp and 74 lb-ft over the DB11's twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12. All of that power is routed through an eight-speed automatic transmission, and if the driver gets the launch right, they'll be able to hit 60 mph from a standstill in about 3.3 seconds. That's mighty impressive for a rear-wheel-drive car. Eventually, it'll hit a 202-mph top speed, which is more than enough if you ask me. Keep in mind, this isn't even Aston's flagship vehicle. That honor belongs to the somehow even more bonkers Vanquish.
While the DB12 excels at straight-line speed, it's no slouch in the corners, either. Sure, it weighs 3,900 pounds, but it's far more nimble than its size and tonnage would suggest. A lot of that comes down to the very communicative steering box. No matter what drive mode it's in, the steering is rather heavy — not that that's a bad thing — and it did a wonderful job of letting me know what sort of road surfaces I was passing over.
There were a few times I overcooked a corner, and that's when the DB12 started to push at the front a bit. This was easily solved by feeding in a bit more power to swing the back around. The traction control let me have fun while keeping me from getting into trouble.
When it comes to performance driving, I only really have one complaint: the brakes. In normal conditions, the $14,400 carbon-ceramic units were more than up to the task (save for their penchant for squeaking), but after just 15 or 20 minutes of spirited driving, the pedal got worryingly soft. That's something I haven't experienced with carbon ceramics before. I had to slow my pace way down and let the brakes cool off. After that, the stiffness returned, but my confidence did not.
Of course, most people aren't buying a DB12 to be some sort of canyon carving lunatic. They're buying one because it's one of the best vehicles in the world for covering huge distances in very small amounts of time. I can attest to this. While it wasn't a huge distance, I did drive the DB12 from New York City to Cape May, New Jersey, and back — a 350-mile round trip — and all the while it would sit happily at a [redacted] speed while cruising down the NJ Parkway. All the while, that big motor was returning over 24 mpg. Not too shabby. It only sort of gave me issues when the pavement was rough, but it's New Jersey, so the pavement is always rough.
Spending Time Inside
The DB12's interior lends itself to making those many hundreds of miles as pleasant as possible. Even at its lowest point, with the worst parts bins to choose from, Aston Martin has always been good at making an interior feel special, and this one is no different.
As you'd expect, all of the materials, whether it's leather, wood, carbon fiber or metal, feel as premium as the DB12's $300,000-plus price would suggest. There's an air of quality in this car that is missing from a lot of new cars these days. Everything feels heavy. All of the inputs are purposeful, and it scratched that part of my brain that craves tactile feedback.
Because Aston's buyers are quite old (for the most part), the company decided not to make the interior too tech-laden. The driver still gets a couple of screens to serve as the gauge cluster and infotainment center, but most of the other core functions can be operated by a hard button or a lovely-feeling scroll wheel. That's probably a good move, because the tech isn't exactly world-leading in the DB12. It's a bit too laggy and clunky to deal with in most instances, but ask yourself something: do you give a crap? Do you care if the climate control menu in a 671-hp super coupe is a bit laggy? I know you don't, and neither do I. It's fine. It's usable, and that's all anyone needs it to be. Regardless, Apple CarPlay Ultra is coming down the pipeline for iPhone users, so it's only a temporary problem.
One downside of the DB12 is its slightly cramped quarters. It's adequate enough for two adults in the front seats — though it could use some bigger creature comforts in the cupholder/storage department — but if you think you're going to get a living, breathing human person in the rear seats, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Why Aston even bothered to give this thing rear seats is beyond me, but it has them, so I decided to stick the little guy of my friend group back there, Patrick, who is 5-foot-6 on a good day. It was cruel and unusual punishment to shove him in that space, but I'm a cruel and unusual guy. I wouldn't suggest doing this with your loved ones. At best, this area works as a good way to supplement the awkwardly shaped 9.3 cubic foot trunk. My partner and I were able to get a weekend's worth of luggage into the DB12, but any more than that would have been a real issue.
Pricy, But You Knew That
We live in very uncertain times right now in many regards. It just so happens that a great example of that uncertainty is car prices. Because of President Trump's tariffs and the reciprocal levies other countries have put on the U.S., it's very hard to say what a car will cost today, let alone tomorrow. The only thing I know for sure is that when this DB12 was sold, it started at $249,000, including destination.
No Aston Martin has ever been a base spec in the history of time, so that's why we've got all sorts of expensive options for this tester. Some of the real highlights are a $10,000 Bowers & Wilkins audio system (which sounds fabulous), $14,400 carbon-ceramic brakes, $15,200 in leather and $5,800 21-inch black wheels. All of this, plus a handful of other extras, brought my car's as-tested price to $324,700. I know that sounds like a lot (because it is,) but it's nearly a bargain when you consider this car's older brother, the Vanquish, starts at nearly $430,000. It's also right in line with the hyper-luxury grand tourers you're going to get from Bentley and Ferrari. That's hardly a consolation, but these cars aren't for everyday common schmucks like you and me. They're for rich schmucks.
DB12 Out Of 10
It hasn't been particularly easy going for Aston Martin over the past years. Financial troubles and tumbling sales have made life quite difficult for the iconic British automaker. With products like the DB12, though, it reminds you that these guys really know how to build a good car that is both forward-looking and harkens back to iconic cars of its past.
The general public seems to agree, too. Passersby are digging what Aston is selling right now, and they should. The DB12 is damn good, and it's a wonderful return to form for one of the coolest, most historic model lines in the entire automotive industry. Now I just need to wait a few years for these to get cheap enough that I could buy one.
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