Aston Martin DB9

The Aston Martin DB9 could be considered one of the world’s most beautiful cars, and a recent sprucing-up has done little to change that reputation. It may not have changed much, but it’s still getting great reviews even after all these years. So what should the prospective DB9 customer know about?

Interior

Not a lot has changed in here from the last DB9, save for a few different material options. It’s still luxurious and well-built though, and the glass buttons and ‘Emotion Control Unit’ (that’s a key, to you and me) give the cabin a special feel. There’s plenty of hand-stitched leather too, and the headlining is trimmed with Alcantara.

Testers say the centre console is “clean and well designed” but a few drivers complain about the cabin’s usability. One says the climate and stereo controls are “fiddly”, while another says they’re “no more legible than they were a decade ago”. That leaves the cabin “as infuriating to operate as it is beautiful to look at”. One reviewer also says tall drivers will still find there’s too little leg room.

Driving

The DB9 is “very good” to drive and “a proper GT car” - Leaving the outright performance aside, it’s a car both happy to be pushed through corners or cruise on the motorway. There’s plenty of steering feel (and it’s “not too heavy” either, according to one tester) and good balance.

Selectable Sport, Normal and Track modes let the driver pick his or her ideal chassis setup, though one reviewer comments, “Most of the time, the car’s best left in Normal where true grand touring ride comfort awaits”. Several say it “flows” down a road with very little effort, giving the driver “supreme confidence”. The standard carbon ceramic brakes are incredibly powerful too.

Engine

Always the centrepiece of an Aston Martin, the DB9’s 6.0-litre V12 engine is as highly-praised as ever. It develops 517 horsepower at 6,500 rpm, and 620 Nm of torque at 5,000 rpm. Despite a relatively portly kerb weight of 1,785 kg, it’ll catapult the DB9 to 62 mph in just 4.6 seconds and not stop until it reaches 183 mph, you lose your nerve, or you lose your license!

The huge torque and the standard six-speed automatic gearbox mean several testers actually found it very easy to drive at low speeds, but there’s always power when you need it. The auto gets mixed reviews, most saying it’s smooth and quick, while others note that it’s a little old-fashioned - fewer gears than many rivals, not ideally geared, and not class-leading in the speed of its changes.

Value for money

One reviewer in particular sums up the difficulty here: “It’s hard to call a car costing £131,995 value but for a hand-built, ultra exclusive V12 Coupe as beautiful as the DB9, it probably is”. That’s a lot of money by anyone’s standards, but plenty of factors come into play at this end of the market.

Price-wise, a £122,000 Bentley Continental GT V8 is closest, but it’s not quite the driver’s car the Aston is. On the plus side, some say you lose very little to the far more expensive Vanquish - so in that respect, the DB9 is good value.

Worth noting

Aston Martin’s beautiful but identikit range could prove difficult to fathom at a glance. If you want a sportier car, you need the Vantage. If you need more doors, the Rapide S. For even more power and luxury, the Vanquish is the car for you. Beyond that, there’s little to note - the DB9 does exactly what you’d expect.

Conclusion

Aston Martin has managed to improve the DB9 over its predecessor, both in the way it drives and impressively, in the way it looks. There are still reservations over some of the cabin design and space, and the six-speed auto is getting on a bit these days, but as sports GTs go there’s little to touch the DB9. It rides and handles well and features one of the world’s great engines.