Aston Martin’s High-Performance DBX “S” To Offer More Power, Possibly From A V12 Engine

We have our first shots of the high-performance variant of Aston Martin’s first SUV performance testing at the fearsome Nürburgring. Reportedly called the DBX S, the SUV should boast some serious performance.

Seen here sporting an enormous grille with big air inlets at the front, as well as four tailpipes at the back, all signs point to a big engine with big cooling needs under the hood. These shots also reveal massive brakes behind those big wheels, which further suggests that this will be the high-performance variant of the SUV.

First launched in 2020, the DBX has lit up the sales charts, somewhat unsurprisingly. At an investor presentation early this year, the company promised “expansion with derivatives and new car lines,” based on the DBX platform. To date, we’ve also seen a hybrid version of the DBX testing.

Unfortunately, we don’t know what engine the DBX S will have under its hood, but rumors suggest that it will be excessive. Currently, the SUV is powered by a Mercedes-derived twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V8 that makes 542 hp (405 kW/550 PS) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) of torque.

If Aston Martin wants to stick with the V8, there’s still some power to squeeze out of it as evinced by the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S, which uses the same engine and gets 603 hp (450 kW / 611 PS) and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm) of torque out of it.

Rumors, however, suggest that Aston Martin may opt to go even more over the top and add a quartet of cylinders. If it so chooses, the automaker currently sells the DBS Superleggera with a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 that makes 715 hp (725 PS/533 kW) and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) of torque.

Regardless of which way Aston Martin goes, the result should be mightily impressive. “O Gymru,” for those who saw it on the windows and were curious, is Welsh for “From Wales,” where the DBX is made.