Top Gear‘s Chris Harris drives the new Aston Martin GT car and discovers some things that he wasn’t expecting.
By now, you’d think not much would surprise Top Gear‘s Chris Harris when it comes to cars. He’s driven some of the most exotic metal out there – machines with eye-popping price tags and face-flattening levels of power – on breath-taking roads and world-class race courses. So even something as gorgeous and powerful as the Aston Martin DB11 must be old hat to him, right?
Not necessarily. In the video above, it has a few surprises in store for Harris.
After only a few seconds of driving the big coupe, Harris is confident calling the DB11 a grand tourer, not a sports car. The DB11’s size and comfortable ride quality are enough of a rationale for him. The same goes for the levels of wind and tire noise that make their ways into the DB11’s cabin. On the road, the 8-speed ZF gearbox does a great job all by itself – no paddle shifting required to make it hit the sweet spots.
It’s on the rain-soaked Anglesey Circuit where the new DB shocks Harris. The 600-horsepower 5.2-liter V12 has twin turbos, but at times Harris forgets it’s a forced-induction engine because of its wonderful growl and linear power delivery. He’s also stunned by the DB11’s balance, finding it a lot more predictable and forgiving at its limits than other “spiky” Astons. The DB11’s rear bias allows Harris to steer the car into turns more sharply with the brakes, not the throttle.
Perhaps Harris sums up his surprise the best by saying, “All around, I didn’t expect it to be this much fun.” He goes onto to say, “This is miles better than I expected.”
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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