Nowadays, most high-performance sports cars, hot hatches, supercars and muscle cars are installed with ballistic launch control systems that enable them to rocket off the line without a second thought.
However, one of the most noteworthy performance cars to recently launch doesn’t have any kind of launch control system, the Aston Martin DB11. As further evidence that the brand continues to see its flagship model as a GT car above anything else, the driver is left totally in charge to get the DB11 off the line.
Given that it is an automatic, you could be forgiven for thinking it would be a walk in the park to launch. As this video proves, it is anything but.
When Motor Trend got its hands on the DB11, it swiftly set about performance testing it to see what numbers it could deliver. However, it took the tester no less than 12 tries to clock a 0-60 mph (96 km/h) time of exactly 4 seconds, slightly behind the model’s claimed 3.9 seconds.
The key reason for the difficulty seems to be that the engine doesn’t produce much torque down low, causing it to bog from a launch. As the torque from the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 suddenly arrives, it can cause the rear wheels to lose traction at the top of 1st gear.