Aston Martin DB9

Aston Martin DB9

The Aston Martin DB9 is a British grand tourer first shown by Aston Martin at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show. Available both in coupé and a convertible bodystyles, the latter being known as the Volante, the DB9 was the successor of the DB7. It was the first model built at Aston Martin's Gaydon facility.

The DB9 was originally designed by Henrik Fisker, has an aluminium construction. The chassis is the Ford developed VH platformwhilst the engine is the 5.9-litre V12 from the Vanquish. The 2013 model year facelift saw many improvements to the design, the engine and the overall driving experience.

The DB9 is rated well by car critics, who appreciate the car's interior and exterior design. In spite of comments regarding the DB9's poor handling, reviewers liked the car's ride and driving experience. Some also held issue with the DB9's small rear seats, cargo space and poor satnav.

Aston Martin Racing adapted the DB9 for sports car racing, producing the DBR9 for FIA GT1 and the DBRS9 for FIA GT3. These two cars are modified DB9 models adapted for motorsport; the interior features are removed and the aluminium body panels are replaced by carbon fibre panels. Additionally, the engine has been tweaked in both the cars to produce more horsepower and torque.

Production of the DB9 ended after 12 years in 2016, having been replaced by the DB11 which uses an all-new platform and engine.

Interior

The DB9's interior is upholstered in leather and has a walnut wood trim. In newer editions, the leather is additionally given hand-stitched accents and joins. On the dashboard, satnav and Bluetooth are standard in later models (options on earlier models). Later models also offered a Dolby Prologic sound system can be connected to satellite radio, a six-CD changer, an iPod connector, a USB connector, or an auxiliary input jack. This sound system can be upgraded to a Bang & Olufsen stereo.

The coupé comes standard with two front seats and rear seats. A seating package, which removes the back seats and replaces the front seats with lighter seats made of Kevlar and carbon fibre. The boot capacity is 187 L (6.6 cu ft) in the coupé or 136 L (4.8 cu ft) in the Volante.

Exterior

Made to follow the DB7 model, the DB9 is, according to Aston's initial press release, "a contemporary version of classic DB design elements and characteristics". It retains the traditional Aston Martin grille and side strakes, and the design attempts to keep the lines simple and refined. The boot of the car is pronounced, like that of the DB4 and DB5. At the front, DB9 is without a separate nose cone, and has no visible bumpers. The exterior skin is largely made of aluminium, though the front bumpers and bonnet are made of composite materials.

For the 2013 model year, Aston Martin made minor changes to the bodywork by adapting designs from the 2011 Virage, including enlarging the recessed headlight clusters with bi-xenon lights and LED daytime running strips, widening the front splitter, updating the grille and side heat extractors, updating the LED rear lights with clear lenses and integrating a new rear spoiler with the boot lid.

Engine

The Aston Martin DB9 was initially launched equipped with a 5.9-litre V12 engine, already being used in the V12 Vanquish. This generates 570 N⋅m (420 lb⋅ft) of torque at 5,000 rpm and a maximum power of 456 PS (335 kW; 450 hp) at 6,000 rpm. The DB9 can accelerate from 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) in 4.7 seconds and has a top speed of 299 km/h (186 mph). The engine largely sits behind the front-axle line to improve weight distribution. The 2009 model year DB9 had an increase of engine power and torque, as the V12 now has a power output of 477 PS (351 kW; 470 hp) and 600 N⋅m (443 lb⋅ft) of torque, resulting in a power to weight ratio of 271 PS per tonne, an increase of 11 PS per tonne over the previous model. The top speed increased to 306 km/h (190 mph) and the 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) acceleration time improved by 0.1 seconds to 4.6 seconds for the manual version of the car. Changes to the engine for the 2013 model year DB9 increased the power output to 517 PS (380 kW; 510 hp) and torque to 620 N⋅m (457 lb⋅ft). The car's 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) acceleration time decreased to 4.5 seconds and the top speed stood at 295 km/h (183 mph).

The DB9 can be equipped with either a six-speed conventional manual gearbox manufactured by Graziano Trasmissioni or a six-speed ZF Friedrichshafen 'Touchtronic' automatic gearbox featuring paddle-operated semi-automatic mode. The automatic gearbox increases the 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) acceleration time to 4.9 seconds, though the top speed remains the same. The 2009 model year featured a revised 'Touchtronic 2' gearbox, which offered faster gear shifts thanks to a new valve box and integrated transmission controls. The 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) acceleration time decreased to 4.6 seconds, an improvement of 0.3 seconds. The gearbox is rear-mounted and is driven by a carbon-fiber tail shaft inside a cast aluminium torque tube.

Chassis

The DB9 is the first Aston Martin model to be designed and developed on Ford's aluminium VH (vertical/horizontal) platform. The body structure is composed of aluminium and composite materials melded together by mechanically fixed self-piercing rivets and robotic assisted adhesive bonding techniques. The bonded aluminium structure is claimed to possess more than double the torsional rigidity of its predecessor's, despite being 25 percent lighter.

The DB9 also has anti-roll bars and double wishbone suspension, supported by coil springs. To keep the back-end in control under heavy acceleration or braking, the rear suspension has additional anti-squat and anti-lift technology. Later versions of the car also features three modes for the tuning: normal, for every-day use, sport, for more precise movement at the cost of ride comfort, and track, which furthers the effects of the sport setting.

Wheels

The DB9 was initially launched with 483 mm (19 in) wheels with a width of 216 mm (8.5 in) at the front and 241 mm (9.5 in) at the rear. They were fitted with Bridgestone Potenza 235/40ZR19 up front and 275/35ZR19 is the back. The brakes are large Brembo four-piston calipers in the front and rear. Carbon ceramic brakes were an option.

These were later changed to 20 in (508 mm) wheels with widths of 216 mm (8.5 in) at the front and 279 mm (11 in) at the rear. The tyres are Pirelli P-Zero with codes of 245/35ZR20 and 295/30ZR20. The brakes are carbon-ceramic with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear.