Traffic jams will be commonplace around parked DB9s. The car is so beautiful, so instinctively Aston Martin, that people are forced to stare.
Identifying weak aspects of Henrik Fisker’s design is virtually impossible. It’s less muscular than a Vanquish, but more consistent. Shut-lines are millimetre-perfect and the headlight units suitably ornamental.
The aristocracy probably won’t be overjoyed to learn that their sports car manufacturer of choice is now gluing its cars together though. Aston Martin has effectively taken the technology used by Lotus on the original Elise and honed it during three years of Vanquish production.
The structure is bonded aluminium; it’s twice as stiff as a DB7’s, and 25 per cent lighter. The construction process itself is fascinating and potential owners can visit the factory to see it for themselves.
From this impressive platform, Aston has allowed its chassis engineers to really go to town.
Classic coil-over-shock double wishbones sit at each corner of the 2740mm wheelbase. There’s no electronic damper control and no electric power steering.
Weight distribution and polar moment of inertia (PMI, effectively centre of mass) were an engineering obsession, and a 50:50 front/rear weight split and PMI ideally suited to the DB9’s sporting GT credentials result.
The drivetrain is similarly impressive. The 6.0-litre V12 is borrowed from the Vanquish, but thoroughly revised. Outputs are 450bhp at 6000rpm and 420lb ft at 5000rpm. But the transmission is the key to the DB9’s multi-faceted appeal.
Aston is the first manufacturer to offer a genuine sports-oriented, downshift-matching, paddle-shift gearbox based on an automatic, rather than a manual.
The advantages are immense: a choice of immediate shifts one minute or full access to the world’s finest auto (the ZF six-speed) at the touch of a button the next.
