Performance and 0-60mph time
Performance figures are all but meaningless in today’s cars, especially in a world of launch control where driver skill is replaced with an ECU and an unhealthy attitude to drivetrains. The DB9 GT doesn’t have any such fancy gimmicks, so it’s torque converter six-speed auto will get you to 60mh in 4.5-secs and on to 183mph. BMW’s M4 is two-tenths quicker and if it had its electronic limiter removed could run on beyond the Aston’s top speed, too.
What the DB9 may lack in straight-line performance its V12 makes up for in aural delight, with not only with one of the most scintillating soundtracks of our time, but a reminder that organic, naturally-aspirated torque is still far more rewarding and satisfying to experience than the forced induced wham-bam thank you mam thrust of today’s turbocharged engines.
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The tall ratios of the six-speed auto mean you find yourself having to rev the V12 to higher than expected crank speeds to extract every last one of its 540bhp, but the trade off is you will have ridden the 457lb ft wave of effortless torque along the way.
There are quicker cars you can drive for this money, much quicker, but few are as stylish and as effortless as the DB9.
