911 Turbo S vs. Aston Martin DB11: The PistonHeads’ Review

The Porsche 911 Turbo is a de-facto super sports car; massively fast, massively capable and massively ubiquitous? That’s the angle being covered by Matt Bird over at PistonHeads, the United Kingdom’s biggest motoring forum. Of course, ubiquitous is a bit of a misnomer when the category at hand is $200,000+ automobiles; that’s akin to ubiquitous exotic animals, hint: they’re still exotic.

So what is the slightly less conventional pick? Thankfully Aston Martin is here with the all-new DB11 to answer the cause. Starting just North of the $200,000 mark, it’s squarely in the 911 Turbo S’ price bracket and ideology as a 2+2 sports car. New for 2016 is the DB11’s twin-turbocharged engine, built by none other than Mercedes-Benz. The 5.2L V12 engine powering this new Aston makes 600 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, compared to the 911 Turbo S’ 580 horsepower and matching 516 lb-ft of torque from it’s likewise twin-turbocharged flat six engine. So the Aston has a slight power advantage, but it is carrying around about 500 pounds worth of weight penalty.

So we have two 2+2 grand tourer super sports cars (that’s a lot of adjectives) that directly compete with one another, at least on paper. What’s it like for day to day use, and how does each fit into your life?

Jake Stumph

Jake Stumph is a lifelong car enthusiast and racer, and former content editor for Internet Brands Automotive which he joined in 2015. His work has been featured by several other prominent automotive outlets, including Jalopnik and Autobytel.

He obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science at the Ohio State University in 2013, then pivoted from covering politics and policy to writing about his automotive adventures, something that, he says, is a lot more fun. Since that time, he has established connections with most of the world's major automakers, as well as other key brands in the automotive industry.

He enjoys track days, drifting, and autocross, at least, when his cars are running right, which is uncommon.

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