550 vs DB9: One man's impressions

Bobafett

thanks, excellent write up, having just purchased a 550 I was worried how it would fair against the DB9, which to look at and listen to is awesome.

I've not had the benefit of driving a DB9 but spent a long time talking to a pro race driver that does a lot of the promotional stuff in the UK for Aston Martin and has been very busy with the launch etc, he's not entirely complimentary about it's virtues

 

Bobafett, thanks for the review. I sold my 360 in Sept 03 as I was approaching 60 and wanted something a little more civilized. At that time I put down deposits on a DB9, 612 and Conti GT. While the Ferrari was fabulous I just couldn't bring my self to spend a quarter mill on something so homely, even though it was a blast to drive. The Bentley, while fast, handled like a tank. I might consider it if I ever put ouy a rap cd. The AM will be delivered next week and I drove a pre-production demo today for the first time. Notwithstanding published reviews which started out called it the greatest blend of gt/sports car of all time and then became extremely critical, l I found it just about perfect. I only drove it for an hour under less than ideal conditions but my only complaints are the front license plate holder which is part of the safety system and is unremoveable and the difficulty in reading the dashboard wearing sun glasses. The stlying and sound alone are worth the price of admission. As a daily driver I think it will be great as long as you confine it to 2 people with very little luggage.

 

Hey Dan,
Great write-up. What about boot space ? Can one actually travel with a tiny bit of luggage ? Are the A-pillars as large as in the Vanquish ?
I did not follow-up on a test drive appointment proposal, could not figure myself trading in ze shark for a DB9.
I can relate to what you say about the 550's styling in comparison, the DB9 does not have any disturbing lines, but there's much less character as well.

PS Sorry, couldn't make it on Thu.

 

ze_shark - fwiw, i never noticed the a pillars once on my 45-60 minute drive.

the boot is small. you might be able to get a golf bag in there if it's a very small bag. no way to get any meaningful luggage stored in there. i'd say it's a bit smaller than the boot of a 550 WITH the optional spare tire kit. so it's small.

and i too couldn't imagine trading a 550 for a DB-9 Coupe.

a six speed DB-9 convertible might be another story though

doody.

 

Dongtam: I think you've made the right choice. What color combination / options did you choose?

JC: I feel even worse than you about Thursday. I had two chances, but at least this time you blew the second one! Of course, this doesn't change the fact that I'm due to Lausanne now!

As far as A-pillars and trunk: I concur with Doody's comments: pillars never impeded driving view whatsoever (I didn't notice them). Sideways / front visibility is quite good, it's the rear-wards that I had issues with.

The trunk - you have a 550 and know. Think of the trunk area, then remove the two "extensions" on the side (that fit under each of the rear 1/4 panels), and then move the wall forward about two inches. That's about the size. So Doody's right, you can fit a golf bag, just don't bring any clubs.

--Dan

 

Sure, and I need to have bicrural amputees for kids in the rear seat. Ava the 3.5yo will most certainly mind, Leo won't for awhile @9mos. Glad to see you back. How's the remains of the shark?
Lee

 

Curious... do you still have your DB9.... your 550M?

I also owned a DB9 (2005, British Racing Green on Tan) and 550 simultaneously.

I still have the 550.

While the fit and finish on the DB9 was superb, the interior design was to-die-for, and the exterior design simply.... handsome... the car was plagued with electrical gremlins. For example, after filling the car up, I could drive approximately 50 miles and the fuel gauge would drop to "E". Drive another 30 miles and it would pop back to the current fuel level. Turns out that if the trip computer noticed that you'd traveled 50 miles or so with no movement on the fuel sender unit (because the fuel was filled above the float), it would trigger an error. Then once the fuel physically dropped to a level that created float movement, it would register again.

This drove me nuts, especially when Aston said there would be no fix for it because it was a Ford system and Ford no longer had any ownership or interest in Aston.

The driver side LED tail-light was replaced three times... each time after it would just go dim and have me looking stupid at night (one dim light and one normal).

Then there was the issue with the automatic door locks. I can't remember now the conditions that caused this, but at the time I had figured out how to replicate the issue... which boiled down to the car constantly locking and unlocking itself without pressing the FOB (I had to press the FOB every time to stop it).

Saying I kept a Ferrari over the Aston for electrical gremlins could be considered the pot calling the kettle black, but crazy enough my 550 was the most reliable.

Aside from the electrical issues, I really loved the car and wanted badly for the gremlins to be resolved.

So again... just curious as to whether you still have them both

 

This is a great time-capsule of a thread!



Matt

 

Unfortunately Dan ( bobafett ) passed away last December.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/rossa-subscribed-private-forum/539642-dan-kaleem.html

 

550 Maranello is the best car in the world. Simple as that. It just needs to be driven regularly, and always kept inside a dry safe storage. Then it is your best friend!

 

Oh, no! Sorry to hear that

I tried clicking the link but I guess I need to be subscribed to access it?

 

Here's the deal. While the 550 might have an edgier feel to driver input, the DB9 is no slouch. And you can get a convertible...a must for some of us. Get one with a 6 speed manual and you have a very satisfying exotic cruiser with V12 power and sound - that does everything most of us need on the street. I have both, and would be challenged to decide between the two if I was forced to make the choice...

 

Boy I hear you. I had a 2009 DB9. Absolutely stunning to look at but it had a lot of gremlins as you say. My 550 is a much better car. Now I recently drove the new DB11. It has German electronics and much better technology. The car is very fast but I'm still a little leary because of my experience with the DB9. For now I'll wait to see how the DB11 does and certainly wouldn't think of buying a new one. Astons depreciate like a rock.

 

I've had relatively few issues with mine. Sorry to hear that you were not satisfied. Many others are...

 

I think some of the issues that plagued the earlier DB9 might have been worked out in later year models. What year is your DB9? Been thinking about picking up a 14-15 year model. I still love the styling of the DB9.

 

Mine is a 2007. Probably the first year to consider owning. I bought mine primarily because it was a manual shift convertible and would have gone a year or two newer if a similar opportunity had presented itself. One owner and low miles helped. These were mostly $80-$100K cars when I bought.

It is possible that 2009s had electrical gremlins due to the newness of the change in the center stack design. Sadly, electrical problems are not that uncommon in low production vehicles. I'm somewhat surprised to hear of the LED tail lamp issues, as I have a bit of historical knowledge of the design and manufacturing of the part. It seemed like a robust product at the time.

 

So do I, which is why I still monitor the pre-owned market for DB9s from time to time.

I really did love the styling and the ride/drive. Very solid craftsmanship I think. Just a terrible electrical system.

 

The DB9 is almost a decade newer than a 550 and while it's a beautiful car, my impression driving the various iterations of the car over the years, for review purposes, was that it lost composure and communication in hard driving in a way a 550 just does not. I particularly remember a hard blast across Highland roads in Scotland which should have been a joy, but the memories of understeer, lack of fluidity and of feedback at the limit really showed it up.

This was a factory-fresh media review car, prepared by the press office, quite early but not one of the first press launch cars, those I remember Ulrich Bez commenting had a ride that was a bit too hard, this was certainly ironed out over the years.

I wanted to love the DB9 but my overriding impression of it was of a car that looked great, sounded great, cruised great, and had a great convertible option, but was stuck between the proper super GTs of the Maranellos (then out of production) and 599 (much faster, more expensive) on one hand, and the fast cruiser Bentley Contis on the other. Or maybe that's just the perfect balance..

I'm interested that owners have different views; am I wrong about the DB9's characteristics when pushed hard? I drove a few, good distances.

 

Here are a few pics. It's been a while, so I had it wrong. It was the passenger side taillight that was replaced three times.

You can also see the fuel level sensor error. I would fill up, drive until the indicator dropped to "E". Then drive some more until the indicator resumed functionality at which point it would trigger this CEL.
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