The Aston Martin DB12, what the British marque deemed the “world’s first super tourer,” now has a souped-up halo model to look up to. The new DB12 S joins the recent DBX S and Vantage S in continuing the British marque’s traditional nomenclature for its highest-performing variants, a practice that began in 1953 with the DB3S racer.
As Hagerty points out, the model’s core 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 gets uptuned by 10 horsepower to 690, while torque stays put at 590 pound-feet. The 60 mph time sheds a tenth to 3.4 seconds, while top speed remains at supercar-rivaling 202 mph. Several adjustments also promise to improve the driving experience, with shift times being halved, software updates for the Bilstein DTX dampers, optimized chassis settings that allow for throttle while cornering, and standard carbon ceramic brakes that save some 60 pounds.
Visually, there are slight tweaks from bumper to bumper. To generate more downforce and guide stabilizing airflow, the splitter is lowered and widened. Together with gloss black or optional carbon fiber hood vents, the front takes on a more aggro look head-on. More gloss black additions and S badges appear on the sides, leading to a fixed rear spoiler, a new lift-reducing rear diffuser, and quartet of model-exclusive tailpipes.
The interior is also distinguished from the standard DB12 via a red anodized finish to the drive mode rotary controller, as well as red seatbelts, seat welts, contrast stitching and headrest embroidery. Optionally, customers can select an Alcantara heated sports steering wheel or have the Aston wings applied to the headrests with an industry-first embossing/debossing technique, which promises “unprecedented precision and sculptural depth.”
Prices will be revealed closer to when the DB12 S, available as a coupe or as a “Volante” convertible, hits dealers in early 2026.
