Aston Martin DB9 Volante Review

Aston Martin DB9 Volante

You want an Aston Martin. however perhaps you don’t have the smoldering need to have one amongst the company’s three hundred DBS flagship vehicles to be made this year. That’s fine. develop a DB9 Volante instead. think about the DB9 because the DBS’ additional reserved, better-educated sibling. certain it doesn’t have the ultra-limited availability of its supercar stable mate. however what it will have — fluid refinement, a hand designed engine, a prime speed of 191 MPH — is difficult to resist. You’d need to be named Dr. No to refuse a ride during this sucker.

The first day we have a tendency to took the automobile for a spin we have a tendency to kept the front-mounted five.9 liter 470 BHP vehicle on a strict diet of town driving: no freeways, no tightly coiled back roads. Trudging through serious traffic nearly felt sadistic — reasonably like taking a thoroughbred racehorse and giving it polio. however when exiting the town limits and tearing down a stretch of asphalt connecting San Francisco with Napa Valley, the DB9 snapped up, greedily devouring 90-degree curves with simply a touch of oversteer.

Our DB9 came with a 6-speed automatic transmission smoother than a cue ball. Sport mode, that shifts gears at higher revs, conjointly delivers a more durable punch. If you’re somebody who likes to require matters into his own hands, column-mounted paddle shifters allow you to up- and downshift with a finger flick. This manumatic is made by an organization referred to as ZF that conjointly creates OEM slushboxes for Jaguar and Porsche. For an automatic tranny, it’s regarding as smooth-shifting as you’ll notice. however if you’re laid low with severe clutch-withdrawal syndrome, a 6-speed manual is additionally accessible.

Aston Martin is that the automotive equivalent of a befuddled, Luddite uncle. Despite this, they’ve created a real effort to outfit the DB9 with tech that slides toward the geeky finish of the spectrum. A hard-drive-based GPS system is plunked within the middle of the dash; Bluetooth permits you to chatter on your cell hands-free — there’s even an iPod adapter. the quality 700-watt stereo is really pretty spectacular with particularly deep low thump and nice separation within the mids. Aston offers a one,000-watt Bang and Olufsen stereo for an additional seven,000 bucks. we have a tendency to didn’t take a look at it, however in spite of, the stock stereo had us swooning.

The rest of the cabin is appointed sort of a Mad-Men era gentleman’s club. Hand-cut wood paneling composes the dash whereas hand-stitched leather seats predictably lend a loving cup to your posterior. Taking exhausting turns, our butts never slipped or fell out of the comfortable buckets.

The DB9 isn’t while not many flaws, though. Syncing up an iPod proved to be head-scratchingly tough. Here’s what setting it up is like: Plug in iPod, wait 2 minutes for music library to look on GPS screen, poke through a menu tree that divides songs up by playlists. Fail to search out song. Swear and shake fist at dashboard. Eventually notice song buried in backwater space of menu tree. Play one song, and switch to satellite radio.

Oh and let’s not get into the rear seats, physically or figuratively. They’re thus tight, you’d be lucky to suit a sack of groceries within the back. ignore a full-bodied person.

So, really, who would get the DB9? If you’re in would like of a way of transportation which will get you from San Francisco to Napa Valley or Manhattan to the Hamptons, the DB9 can do it with a healthy dose of favor, category and class. you simply might need to benefit many bonds to afford one — if they’re still price something.

Fast sort of a sports automobile, additional refined than a quart of 40-weight. Gorgeous; induces whiplash in head-turning bystanders. Zippy acceleration for a GT — you can’t front on a four.6 second zero-to-60 time … unless you’re armed with a Ferrari or a Bentley.

Hood-release switch located in impossibly exhausting to find/reach nook (as if an Aston owner would ever do that). IPod access tres tough to line up. Chugs gas like an ASU freshman rips beer-bong hits. Back seat more durable to urge into than MIT.