550 vs DB9: One man's impressions

So, as many of you know, I was daily driving the 550 quite a bit. Unafraid of driving it everywhere, putting a bike rack on it, etc. - I put the 550 through its paces (I've even been a passenger on the rear shelf). Recently, I had the opportunity to drive the new DB9, given that I have an early order (hopefully due before year-end).

The DB9 ordered is Black/black with grey stitching, some options, etc. The car I drove was actually a pre-production car that is, I'm told, almost completely identical to the real deal. It was a sky-blue color, with a dark blue interior. Actually, very pretty.

For those who don't know, the DB9 is the first unique Aston in a long time. The car is brand new from the ground up, in a brand new factory. Unlike the Vanquish, which shares myriad parts with Jags and lesser (amazing how many parts are disappointingly the same in the XK8 and the Vanquish), the Aston proves to be unique (for now anyways).

Ok, so let's start with the exterior: now, I'll admit it, I've never liked all the lines of the 550. I always knew what the 550 meant, but some lines bothered me, and some still do. The DB9, in all the pictures, looks kind of effeminate (not the sultry but masculine lines found in a DB4 GT Zagato or even the muscle-car A-Ms of the 70s). Look at in the flesh, and even in pretty sky blue you immediately think of the taut muscular lines of the Vanquish, but smoothened a bit in order to lend an air of fluidity and continuity. The sharper pointed nose may not be as stout, but the overall muscle tone is definitely aggressive in a composed, setback kind of way. Maybe not bodybuilder poured into Armani a la 550, but it’s definitely a more manly bit than Adrian Brody in Zegna. I will say, when you pop that hood there isn’t much to see in this plastic-covered world. But the engine is very set back and the hood goes on and on.

Styling is a very subjective thing, but I can say that the car is much prettier than it looks in the pictures and videos. The razor-sharp LED tail lights will look absolutely sinister at night. One strange thing I couldn’t figure out was where the fog-lights are. Could be because it was a pre-production car. But you wouldn’t be surprised if there were two stinger missiles hiding behind the lights, or a couple of Browning 50s waiting to be unleashed as you cut through the French Alps, trailing another of Auric GoldFinger’s henchman. Lithe and muscular, the rear end is actually in keeping with the flowing lines of the front and mid-sections. The hood is as long as it looks, and the proportions seem so right. Aston, by the way, has the best wheels of any manufacturer. Ferrari, Lambo, Mercedes – I can think of no manufacturer who can come close to the perfection of Aston’s wheels.

So let’s focus on the interior now. And frankly, I can’t stop short of W-O-W. Aston has created an absolutely gorgeous center console and dash. The “Organic Electroluminscent Lighting” is very cool. The displays in the dash are mostly useful, although it wasn’t painfully obvious how to cycle through information. The anti-clockwise tach takes a little getting used to, but it’s a quick novelty to see the needles spinning in opposite directions.

As for the rest – well it all seems well laid out. The center console’s mix of aluminium and wood works surprisingly well. The dash layout and feel is excellent. Tactile response of the buttons, knobs, etc. all worked well. I was a little annoyed with the layout of the nav buttons, as they didn’t cater to my plebian mind, making life a little complex at first. But you figured out pretty much where everything is, and the combination of NAV display and center console display work in unison effectively. The NAV display hides away nicely as it tucks back into the wood – a silly gimmick, especially for Ferrari owners who aren’t used to such luxuries, but an amusing one. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try the NAV itself as the demo car didn’t have a disk.

The rest of the interior seems well laid out, door hands are equally funky in the 550 and less obvious. The one thing you notice about the Aston is the lack of space to keep anything. The 550 had door pockets, the document net, etc. The Aston has a deep center console tray, and nothing more. Even the glove compartment seems smaller than that of the 550. As for the seats – my 550 has the power seats, which were actually adjustable in more ways than the Aston. In the DB9, the seats are extremely cosseting and comfortable – think of sport seats with a lot of padding, but as a result weren’t overly adjustable. Further, the controls for the seats were along the sides of the center tunnel as opposed to the side of the seats themselves. Odd. As I mentioned, the seats do hold you well, and I can imagine they would be comfortable after many an hour behind the wheel. As for the 2+2 concept, this is laughable at best. It is absolutely silly to think that these are fit for anything more than Mickey on Seinfeld – and even he might have a hard time.

So, on to the most important part – the driving experience. I’ll have to break this one down, but I’ll start with visibility: compared to the 550, it’s not as good. I mean, you get good visibility over-all, definetly better than a 355, but it’s more comparable to a 360 than a 550. I never felt that there was something obstructed in my field of view with the 550, whereas with the DB9, that long hood is very hard to tell (no I didn’t bash it), the rear window is very high and slopes too much. You don’t get a good feel from the rear-view mirror. However, the side views, over the shoulder, and through the side view mirrors prove to be fine.

Beyond that, the driving experience is about three things: power, feedback from controls, and general feel. Power delivery seems to be fine. The number say that the car is slower than the 550, but frankly speaking, in all practical purposes it’s fine. The torque curve is actually flatter than the 550, which is partially helped by the larger displacement. Power kicks in nicely, although the car pulls strongest in the last 1700rpm. Redline is a disappointing 6700 if I recall correctly. The rev limiter cuts in, but it’s hard to tell exactly how and when consistently, as if sometimes its 6800, sometimes 6500. Nevertheless, the car pulls perfectly fine, and you never feel lacking for power and torque. You also don’t get any heady-high end surges, as you do from 5500-7700 in the 550. It does, however, follow the “speak softly carry a big stick” theme – power when you need it as you need it. Oh, but it doesn’t speak softly…more on that later.

Tactile feedback is mixed. Luckily, the DB9 hasn’t got the flappy paddle-box of the Vanquish, which in my opinion, was its biggest detractor. It does, however, have an automatic six speed with paddle-overrides if you like. Press D on the console and fine, it’s automatic. Or pull the paddles and have a go. Paddle response is obviously not manual-quick. Frankly, I was not terribly pleased with the response from the paddles. I mean, it’s a poor substitute, even by which to play boy-racer. Honestly, the 575 F1 is a considerably better setup, although the functional advantage of shifting the automatic is that you’re not going to be paying for burnt-out F1 clutches as with the Magneti Marelli system. Throttle response, however, was pretty spot-on for an automatic, especially with sport mode on. I couldn’t tell if the suspension was any tauter in sport mode, but throttle response was noticeably quicker. Steering feel, however, made up for all of it. I have always been a fan of heavy, responsive steering wheels. The DB9 doesn’t disappoint – not so heavy to be cumbersome, but well weighted indeed. You get a good sense of what’s happening with the road beneath you, but aren’t overwhelmed in an Elise-kind of sense. It still feels as a GT should, and honestly, is one of the best I’ve felt for such a car.

Overall, the feel has a softer, more luxurious and cushioned feel. It is more Rolls than F40, that’s for sure. It feels like a GT car with a sporting element, as opposed to a sports car with a GT element. There’s no question that this car could be used for daily purposes, although even I wouldn’t put a bike-rack on it. Limited cabin pockets and a considerably smaller trunk mean that you’ll have a hard time finding places to put your gate and garage door opener, let alone fit an actual set of golf-clubs. Actually, I think the latter is impossible with the trunk-space they’ve allotted. There’s plenty of leg-room, though, especially if you aren’t carrying 2 people and 2 children who have legs. The swan-doors are also a neat trick – they actually make ingress and egress easier, but more than that, they’ll prevent your car doors from ever curbing. Plus they look cool open. The single largest thing that an Aston has going for it is the sound. That glorious, Aston sound. Absolutely unequivocally the single part of the car that draws you and keeps you going, pulling paddle after paddle just to hear it gloriously growl and bark. It really sounds like a squadron of Merlins is making a low-flying pass as you scream forward trying to outrun them. One can only imagine what Aston’s after-market exhausts will sound like.

So at the end of the day, how does the car stack up? If you’re planning on using the 550 almost exclusively as I did, you may find yourself a bit bored. It’s 8/10ths as involved, like a razor a few days old – sharp enough to shave but you don’t get that fresh-cut feeling. But if you’re looking for the kind of car you can take to the office every-day, feeling just as comfortable in traffic as attacking that mountain pass. Just the perfect car to complement the manic, crazy F40 sitting along-side it, or the Elise to match it. And at the price Aston is offering it, I’ll be impressed if it doesn’t capture a vital part of the Bentley Continental GT, 575 and even the Vanquish’s sales.

--Dan

 

You mail me! Are you in Paris or Rio right now? I'll send you a PM.

--Dan

 

JERRY! How are you sir? It has indeed been quite a long time. I do realize that the car is Fisker's work all around. Interesting notes about the production vs. pre-production cars. If it turns out to be true, I can always back out, but let's see.

Luke: they have a lot of choices. I'm supposedly going with a much darker wood. Actually, I didn't get to spec the car, but chose one that was specced well.

--Dan

 

Oh - one thing I forgot to add: the Linn stereo system in the Astons puts the Ferrari system to absolute and complete shame. I know all of you guys gripe about how the only noise you need is the engine, but I listen to music a lot. And short of a low 5 figure stereo system in the Maranello (or any ferrari), there's just no comparison.

--Dan

 

He's Parts Manager for a Bentley/Rolls/Aston/Lotus dealership.

--Dan

 

No question I would take a DB9 over a Bentley CGT. THere is no comparison betwseen the cars, and the difference in "luxury" of the bentley over the Aston is not nearly as great as the different in sporting of the aston over the bentley.

Plus, who wants to see audi switch-gear in their bentley? Aston's brand-new and no parts sharing to the naked eye.

--Dan