Aston Martin AMV8 - Dawdle Test & Top Speed Runs - Riding Shotgun - Road Test Review - Motor

We reach the mountain top, park, and leave the car running in the direct sun, letting the Aston's monitors measure heat-soak levels. We repeat the run, this time at crawling speed in second and third gears--called the dawdle test--torturing the car by starving it of even the slightest cooling breeze.

With the data downloaded onto a laptop, it's time to head onto the main highway leading out of Abu Dhabi. It runs for over 100 smooth and gently undulating miles, and Porritt's team has the blessing of the local police chief to drive as quickly as they can along it.

And quick the Aston is, rocketing to an indicated 170 mph with ease and settling back to swallow one quick mile after another. After 15 minutes, Porritt peels off the highway and kills the engine immediately. I wince. This car has gone from giving everything to getting nothing in 10 seconds. Chris laughs at my discomfort. "It has to be done because this is what some drivers might do. We have to cover every contingency."

We repeat the exercise twice and then do a further three top-speed runs, this time letting the car idle in the searing sun for half an hour at the end of each lap. The Aston never misses a beat--the needles on the oil and water temperature and pressure gauges sit firmly in the green.

It's three in the afternoon, and the sun is still blistering hot, but the team calls it a day. Despite such a small operating window, over the next eight weeks Porritt's group will rack up 20,000 miles in this car, constantly recording its every tire turn.

"That's the great thing about testing in Dubai--apart from the ridiculously low cost of the fuel here--this is our most climatically challenged market," explains Porritt. "Getting the AMV8 to operate in these conditions is the toughest test. If it can work here, it'll work anywhere."