2020 Aston Martin DBX gets 542-horsepower V-8

Nobody can blame Aston Martin for making a fast SUV, because it’s are already past creating a fast wagon. You know, the one that is called Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake, was limited to 99 units, and still costs all the money in the world. One could even order it in pink, so really, Aston already completed something of a mic drop in the field of extravagant wagons.

Bentley and Lamborghini have an SUV, Ferrari and Lotus are in the process of releasing their own, and Bugatti is thinking about it with a design that’s reportedly near ready to go. It’s just the world we live in. Aston Martin, too, is serious about the 2020 DBX.

Aston is building a brand new factory for the super-luxury SUV in Wales, creating up to 750 new jobs, and the DBX will use Aston’s most powerful current-production V-8 as a motivator. Yes, at 542 horsepower and 515 ft-lb of torque, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo unit (borrowed from Mercedes-AMG) produces 35 more horsepower than in the Vantage. Let’s wait and see what the upcoming Vantage S will have, but we know this engine can make anything up to 630 hp without a problem, because that’s how much it makes in AMG’s own four-door GT 63 S.

But back to the DBX. Aston’s SUV will debut in December, and the brand claims that on top of using its mules mostly as billboards for Pirelli and Tag Heuer so far, its “real-world test regime will ensure DBX test program becomes most extensive of any Aston Martin in history.” In short, Aston promises practicality and comfort with sportscar levels of performance. Yes, you should be able to race your friend’s Range Rover Sport SVR. Finally.

The DBX’s development at Silverstone and the Nürburgring is led by Chief Engineer Matt Becker, and Aston Martin says its SUV has delivered cornering speeds on par with the Vantage, while out-braking the DBS Superleggera. This combination means the team “regularly achieves sub 8-minute Nordschleife lap times during their regular testing.”

The production DBX will go faster than 180 mph, but until then, Aston’s acoustics team is focusing on getting a deep bass with increasing mid-tones, which should make the V-8 sound better than in this early teaser video. Full concerto in 2020.