When you point your right foot out toward the horizon, the DB9 does everything in its power to bring that horizon right into your lap, lunging forward in first gear and then it REALLY gets going. The manumatic paddles, right for upshifts and left for downshifts, are far more fun to use than the big, round D button, so I used them all day long, running the engine up to 7000 rpm, way past the top of its torque curve, just to listen to the music. A paragon of smoothness, this V12, with enough punch to satisfy anyone currently living inside the lunatic fringe.
The roads we traveled were so narrow, so twisty and so populated with those wacky Frenchmen that I wanted to keep my hands on the wheel and my left foot poised above the brake pedal at all times, seldom getting above third gear, which was all right with me. Time and again I was faced with a steep downhill hairpin followed instantly by a steep uphill hairpin, and the DB9's combination of low-down power, race-quality brakes and amazingly precise steering made the driving process a joy.
This car's somewhat hefty steering effort, mathematically precise steering gain, and 50/50 weight balance on the big Bridgestone RE050 tires made it the most satisfying all-around luxury sports car I've ever driven. Chief engineer Jeremy Main said that the entire car layout was designed to have 85% of the car's mass inside the wheelbase, and the yaw center in exactly the right place, right at the driver's stomach. This delivers the most accurate handling and the greatest driver perception of that accurate handling, and it apparently worked very well, at least on my stomach.
The DB9, bristling with a unique combination of beauty, technology and performance, will come to the United States at a price in the range of $155,000 for the six-speed manual coupe, $168,000 for the Volante convertible. The Touchtronic 2 six-speed manumatic transmission option will add about $6,000 to the price, and about a million dollars' worth of driving enjoyment.
Coming From Newport PagnellAston Martin's future will see the Bloxham plant shut down and Vanquish supercar production moved to Newport Pagnell, which is also the headquarters for Works Service, the vintage car parts and service arm.
Next year, the company will add a third product, the AM V8, a shorter, lighter, sportier model to be priced in the $100,000 range. Dr. Bez said production will be about 3,000 DB9s per year, about 2,000 V8s per year, and about 300 Vanquishes, with the Vanquish due for a complete overhaul in the near future to reflect an even more powerful engine and an even more masculine, muscular exterior design. -JM
Aston Martin Returns...To Sports Car RacingAston Martin will also return to racing during 2004, after a long, long layoff. The last corporate race car, the Nimrod, ran unsuccessfully in FIA Group C prototype sports car competition, and the last major win was at Le Mans in 1959, leading to the sports car title that year. The logic is that the company should go after its direct competitors, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, on the track as well as in the showroom.
The company has created Aston Martin Racing to look after that program and will use its DB9s for production-based world sports car racing in the FIA GT championship. The racing program will be overseen by AM chief engineer Jeremy Main and run in conjunction with Prodrive. Prodrive will design and develop the cars and campaign them at the races. Design of the Aston Martin DB9 race car has already begun, with an eye toward racing the first car before the end of 2004. -JM