Review
One of the most beautiful cars of recent years, the DB9 is another stunning reason to put Aston Martin at the top of your lottery wish list.
Engineered with the technical resources of Ford it's a far better-rounded product than the earlier DB7, featuring advanced aluminium bodywork to save weight and increase strength. The exterior styling has an almost feline grace in its long proportions, with Aston-ness reinforced by the marque's trademark radiator grille and powerful rear haunches. It's certainly a far cry from the brutal, square-looking Astons of old.
The well-finished cabin combines pleasingly modern design with traditional materials, including plenty of the sort of wood and leather you'd expect to find in an Aston. The driving position is good and features plenty of adjustment, with even taller pilots fitting with relative ease. Rear seats are purely nominal and are best reserved for luggage, but boot capacity is good for a car in this segment.
Performance comes from a mighty 5.9 litre V12 engine, which boasts 450 bhp and provides enough urge to take the DB9 from 0-62 mph in under five seconds and then onto a top speed of 186 mph. The vast urge is delivered via either a conventional manual gearbox or a brilliant six-speed automatic transmission, which combines smooth power delivery with a quick-acting manual over-ride system.
Dynamically, the DB9 combines excellent high-speed stability with keen cornering responses, although it's not in the same league of dynamic reward as the Ferrari F430. Ride quality can be relatively poor over rougher road surfaces and a surprisingly amount of road noise finds its way into the cabin on anything other than ultra-smooth tarmac.
The Volante cabriolet features a brilliant hood and looks, if anything, better than the coupe.