Publications
Partners
• Showcases 'very best of DB9'
• Most powerful V12 engine
• Extra colours, trim and equipment
LONDON, England - Aston Martin has revealed its DB9 GT – a car the automaker says is its most compelling production *DB to date.
IMAGE GALLERY: 2015 Aston Martin DB9 GT
Designed to offer the best of what DB9 can be, the new car delivers world-class grand touring and hand-built excellence, says its maker.
Claiming the title of "the most potent DB9 yet, by virtue of its uprated 6.0 V12 which now delivers 402kW" – the DB9 GT is making its public debut as part of Aston Martin’s presence at the UK's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
WIDER VARIETY
The automaker has also expanded colour, trim and equipment enhancements across its Vantage and Rapide S ranges.
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said: “The arrival of the 2016 model year cars, including the sophisticated DB9 GT, gives us our most compelling sports-car line-up to date as we continue to build our strongest-yet global offering.”
Since their debut in the early 1950's, the automaker says, its DB models "have been synonymous with sophisticated grand touring and thrilling sports-car performance".
"In the tyre tracks of DB4, DB5, DB6 and DB7, today’s DB9 GT continues that distinguished tradition of luxury, excitement and style with many engineering, equipment and styling developments calculated to make it the very best it can be."
Fundamental to the new model’s unique appeal is its V12 petrol engine that can make 402kW at 6750rpm and 620Nm at 5500rpm. The all-alloy, quad-cam, 48-valve, 5935cc front mid-mounted V12 is mated to a rear mid-mounted Touchtronic II six-speed transmission with electronic shift-by-wire control.
The drive train is capable, the automaker says, of 0-100km/h in 4.5sec and about 290km/h.
Adaptive shock-absorbers can be set for Normal, Sport and Track.
REFINED ATTRIBUTES
Power, Aston Martin says, is only part of the story: most notable among the interior equipment updates, it says, is the arrival of a touch-screen infotainment system - one debuted on the range-topping Vanquish at that car's launch and equipped with a user-friendly menu.
The system includes text message integration, vehicle status information, many background themes, all-band radio reception, USB ports, Bluetooth audio streaming and "superb connectivity and entertainment".
Product development director Ian Minards explained: “Refining the DB9’s already impressive attributes into what we have today has been a careful and delicate process. Maintaining the effortlessly refined nature of our core GT sports car, while boosting power and introducing a state-of-the-art infotainment system, required fine judgement and painstaking engineering."
Core visual characteristics of the DB9 have been retained, the automaker says, "but refined styling enhancements inside and out, signal that this new car once again leads its class".
"Subtle GT badges and a black splitter and diffuser, revised head and tail lights and new 10-spoked 20"alloy rims, black anodised brake calipers and a GT engraving on the aluminium fuel-filler cap further distinguish the new model."
CARBON OPTIONS
Options include carbon-fibre tail-light inserts, side strakes, front splitter and rear diffuser, graphite diamond-turned 10-spoked alloy rims and other brake caliper colours.
The 2+2 seating configuration remains but the seats now have ‘GT’ stitched into the unique fluted leather. An "iridium trim pack" and Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel (coupe only) further identify the car.
A broad array of options inside the DB9 GT include various centre console finishes, two-tone leather for seats, door inserts and headlinings, and steering wheel design inspired by the One-77.
Aston Martin chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, said: “The purity of form and proportion, together with a lithe powerful, stance, remain at the core of what the DB9 is to look at. With these changes, we have made the DB9 GT yet more stylish, while retaining its unmistakable and globally renowned identity.”
The DB9 GT is available around the world. Aston Martin South Africa says the car is available in either coupe or convertible versions and base prices are R3 050 000 and R3.2-million respectively.
*DB stands for Sir David Brown - the entrepreneur who bought a struggling Aston Martin in 1947 and revitalised the business, focusing on an improved Atom, a prototype from 1939.
RANGE REFRESHED: Aston Martin will unveil its DB9 GT at the 2015 UK Goodwood Festival of Speed but it has also expanded colour, trim and equipment enhancements across its Vantage (above) and Rapide S ranges. Image: Aston Martin
