Key facts:
Model tested: Aston Martin DBS Touchtronic
Price: £170,500
Date tested: September 2010
Road tester: Stuart Milne

The Aston Martin DBS looks like a warmed-up DB9, which is no bad thing, as the DB9 is one of the world's best-looking and most desirable cars. But the DBS is far more than a DB9 in a sharp new suit.

The Aston Martin DBS shares its basic architecture with the much cheaper DB9, but the way both cars feel from the driver's seat couldn't be more different.

While the DB9 is a sumptuous grand tourer, the DBS is more visceral: gut-wrenchingly fast with glorious handling.

At the heart of the DBS sits a 6-litre V12 engine, tuned to deliver a colossal 510bhp with 420lb/ft of pulling power. That adds up to a 4.3 second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 191mph.

Unsurprisingly, the DBS is capable of eating up straights at an other-worldly pace, but it's in the bends when the car really comes into its own.

It has an exceptionally strong chassis, shared with the DB9 and its racer derivatives, so chassis flex is minimal. This means softer suspension can be fitted, so while handling is first rate, so is the ride comfort.

Naturally the DBS features an adaptive damping system, which allows the driver to firm the suspension at the touch of a button; the softer setting gives a perfect compromise between comfort and handling.

A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, but our test car had the optional Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission. A series of buttons replace a conventional gearstick, and a fully-automatic mode is offered too.

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Paddles behind the steering wheel allow the driver to manually select gears, and a Sport mode offers some of the most aggressive automatic shifts of any car. In its normal setting, shifts are smooth.

The cabin is snug but beautifully assembled and offers possibly the most elegant instrumentation in any car. Only the graphically-poor Volvo-derived sat-nav is a letdown.

There are no such quibbles about the exterior though. Extensive use of carbon fibre for the boot lid, wings and bonnet save around 30kg and the bodywork has been styled for direct air around the car to aid engine and brake cooling. The fact it looks sensational is a bonus.

As you'd expect, the DBS comes with a wide range of standard equipment, including a Bang & Olufsen 1,000-watt audio system, with speakers that dramatically rise out of the dashboard, developed specifically for the DBS.

Other standard kit includes leather and alcantara upholstery, electric seats with memory function, climate control, cruise control, sat-nav, Bluetooth plus USB and iPod connectivity.

Of course, none of this comes cheap. The DBS is £170,000 and there are plenty of costly options too. Insurance, road tax - it emits 388g/km of CO2 - and an average of 16.4mpg add to the expense.

The DBS is a worthy model to crown Aston Martin's incredible range of sports and supercars. It's an elegant, bona fide supercar and so much more than a flash DB9.