Aston Martin DB9, Supercar Successor To DB7 Puts

Superb V-12 engine, lightweight aluminum frame, sports suspension, a realistic price and superb looks put the new Aston Martin DB9 near the top of the tree in the supercar league. And there's a smaller Aston on the way.

Aston Martin has been on the up and up ever since Ford bought it and the company developed the DB7, which was based on the under body of the Jaguar XJ-S. That model was a lifesaver for the company, and despite being heavy, and starting with quite an old engine, it has been a success not least because of its good looks, ride and handling. 7,000 have been built in the last 10 years.

Then came the much more expensive Vanquish, which put Astons further back into business with a real supercar. Now, comes the DB9, with most of the features of the Vanquish, but at a lower price another truly beautiful coupe from Britain, and a stunning performer as well.

Sleeker, faster

Compared with the DB7, the side windows give the car a stronger look, while the tail is slightly shorter and deeper. There are many other subtle changes to the lines which make the car look a little more sporty and sharp.

DB9 supercar side view

A maximum speed of 186 mph not governed down to a speed, it's good to see and acceleration of zero to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds are claimed. That's pretty quick, despite the fact that the competition in the supercar league is getting more intense each year.

Magnificent V-12 pushes out 450 bhp

The stunning performance comes from the combination of the Aston Martin 6.0 liter V-12 engine and a lightweight aluminum space frame similar to those of the Audi A8, Ferrari 360 Modena, Challenge Stradale and Lotus Elise. The all-alloy V-12 is part of Ford's family of engines, which includes V-6, V-8 and V-12, but the V-12 is used only by Aston Martin, who hand-build it like the rest of the car. Like all V-12s it has that superb burbling exhaust which V-8s just can't match. And of course plenty of power.

With four overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, the V-12 is up among the best of supercar engines. It is not identical to the Vanquish engine, having been modified to reduce weight and also to produce more low-speed torque and a little less power. If you're after sheer performance, it's the Vanquish you want, but for grand touring and everyday use, the DB9 is you car. Maximum power is 450 bhp at 6,000 rpm 30 bhp up on the DB7 V-12, and just 10 bhp shy of the Vanquish engine.

Maximum torque is 420 lb ft at 5,000 rpm, which gives this new supercar better low-speed performance than the Vanquish,which is still Aston Martin's top performer with a top speed of 196 mph, and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.

Six-speed automatic or manual

Equally important in making the DB9 a real performer and maintaining that supercar image are the six-speed gearboxes automatic with sequential shift, or manual. Produced by ZF, the automatic doesn't have a gear lever just paddles on the steering wheel for manual control and buttons on the console to select the various functions.

Mounted at the rear

The six-speed manual box is built specially for Aston Martin by Graziani, and like the automatic, is mounted at the rear of the car as a transaxle. This is a layout used by a few companies in the past, including Porsche which did so on the 924 and 944. Porsche and Aston Martin chose this layout for the same reason to get a weight distribution of 50:50 front-to-rear. A 50:50 distribution helps with handling and traction.

Because the clutch is at the front, you need to keep the mass of the propeller shaft down with this layout otherwise gearshifts can be slow. Aston Martin overcomes this problem with the use of a rigid torque tube between engine and gearbox which houses an ultra-lightweight carbon fiber shaft.

To give the good handling needed in a true GT car and to get the power onto the tarmac, double wishbone suspension is fitted front and rear, and the wishbones are forged aluminum which also saves weight. They are carried on aluminum sub-frames.

Lightweight aluminum space frame

Weight is the enemy of performance cars, and having built the Vanquish, the engineers at Aston Martin opted to use that experience to develop a new aluminum frame for the DB9, and the result is a useful weight saving over the DB7 of 242 lb. The frame is built from extrusions, castings and sheet aluminum, bonded and pierce-riveted together. This is an ultra-modern method that gives tremendous stiffness and strength and the stiffer the better for good ride and handling. A real supercar structure, this.

Does this aluminum space really save that much weight? Well, the DB9 is quite a big car, 185 inches long, and it weighs 3,766 lb in manual form, despite being luxuriously equipped, yet it has stunning performance. How does its weight compare? For a true comparison, compare automatics: 3,877 lb for the DB9 and 4,119 lb for the DB7.

A useful rather than spectacular weight reduction. One reason for this is that both cars have composite body panels, so the weight saving is less than when changing from all steel to all aluminum. Also, the DB9 has more bits and pieces on it to compete in the luxury class, which push up the weight sadly nearly all models weigh more than the model they replace, so in that respect a weight reduction is good.

The Aston is a bit lighter than the Mercedes-Benz SL500, which has a smaller V-8 engine, but the weight looks even better when the DB9 is compared with the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a fantasy car rather than a supercar, with its very high price and Grand Prix style carbon fiber body structure. Quite frankly with that spec I'd expect the SLR McLaren to be 100-200 lb lighter than the DB9. For a start the V-8 power train should be lighter, and that new body structure is reckoned to save a lot of weight.

In fact, it is the DB9 that is the lighter of the two cars! It weighs just 17 lb less than the SLR McLaren, which is surprising, to say the least, and shows that by the standards of modern, highly equipped supoercars, the DB9 is a lightweight.

Overall, the Aston Martin DB9 is one beautiful car, with a wonderful exhaust note, and masses of power. Yet it achieves that combination of stunning performance with refinement. No doubt the ride and handling will continue the Aston Martin tradition of suppleness with sharp steering and handling. It better had because the DB9 is to spearhead a return to racing for the British company, as they seek the glory of 50 years ago.

If you think the DB9 is a mite too expensive, or too big, or too powerful, you will soon be able to get a super-looking smaller Aston Martin. You'll need to wait till the summer of 2005, but then a compact Aston with a 4.3 liter V-8 engine is due. Expect over 350 bhp!