Acceleration is now a 0-60mph time in 3.1sec (0-62mph in 3.3sec), with 0-100mph in 7.4sec, a top speed of 193mph, with 19.1mpg in the Combined WLTP cycle and CO2 emissions of 323g/km.

They’ve speeded up the rear axle, reworked the power steering system and braced the front of the car even further to bolster the side stiffness and improve the steering response while taking out the artificiality, or so they say.

Walk up and the first thing that strikes you is the stretched and widened look, which has had additional cooling radiators stacked on each side of the grille. There are two sorts of brake cooling for the dinner plate-sized carbon-ceramic rotors and six-piston calipers. Tiny winglets and plastic filets help keep the air on the car (or fool it into flying off earlier than it wants to) with the result that despite the extra cooling and downforce, the coefficient of drag is exactly the same as the standard DBX.

Under the skin

The wishbone front/multi-link rear air suspension has been reprogrammed, there are a set of new seats front and rear and the centre console is reworked, although it’s still the previous-generation Mercedes-Benz screen in the centre. Frankly the instrument binnacle is a bit of a mess, trying to convey far too much information in too small a space; Aston used to do simple things like having one control to change the power delivery and gearbox set-up and another to control the suspension and stability algorithms.

So, it’s recognisably a DBX inside and out, but it all looks sharper and meaner without anything actually changing much bar a few ducts and darts. For those interested in such things, the luggage space is 638 litres plus 81 under the floor, there’s a spacesaver spare wheel, it’ll tow up to 2.7 tonnes and wade in up to half a metre of water.

The engine blares like the local factory hooter on start-up, although you can switch that off to prevent your neighbours forming a lynch mob. It moves off like a ship leaving dock, docile and actually pretty easy to control, with a lovely progressive feel to the steering and accelerator. Likewise the carbon-ceramic brakes, which can sometimes be grabby, especially when cold, but not here.

On the road

It really does steer beautifully, with a natural feel at the wheel rim; more front suspension castor provides more self-centring and an accuracy which occasionally betrays the car’s 2,245kg weight and bulk. In fact, the DBX707 is deceptively large with a 5,039mm body length on a 3,060mm wheelbase and a width without mirrors of 2,050mm and height of 1,680mm, yet it’s only when parked next to smaller fare (normal cars that you and I buy) that you notice – cliché it may be, but it does shrink around you at the wheel.

The ride quality is pretty good, with a stiffly-sprung but not uncomfortable feel, although the 22-inch Pirellis let you know about bumps and potholes with sharp edges. The active anti-roll system stiffens individual wheel rates in corners so the Aston thumps a bit if the outside wheels hit a mid-corner bump.

Speed up and at first the way the nose carves into a turn also defies the car’s mass. You only need stroke the accelerator pedal and the DBX707 wafts happily along, its rev counter barely registering any under-bonnet activity. Push the pedal farther, though and you’d better be ready for the response when the big turbos spool up.