#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE INSTALL#
#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE FULL#
#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE WINDOWS#

Music and phone information is shown in a small radio display on the stack. The biggest drawback of the interface is the lack of integration between the navigation screen and other car functions. With that six speed automatic transmission, you select drive modes with buttons on the dashboard. It's a nice design element, but also means that you can't attach the fob to any kind of keychain. The key fob fits into a slot in the center of the dashboard, with a clear acrylic end showing the Aston Martin logo etched inside. Right from the get-go, there are some quirks of the Aston Martin DB9 Volante to get used to. Surprisingly, this fine interior hides a bevy of modern electronics, at once letting you exercise fantasies of being a proper member of the British upper class, but still making hands-free calls on your BlackBerry and listening to tunes off an iPod.

#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE INSTALL#

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the cabin is decked out in fine wood and leather, offering a cozy feeling that would only be enhanced if Aston Martin could figure out a way to install a fireplace in the car. Fire up the 6-liter V-12, give it some revs, and the exhaust note will batter down your last sensible thought. The design makes a beeline past rationality and practical considerations to the seat of your pure, unadulterated desire.Īnd that's just the exterior. This long, classic grand tourer uses its creases and curves suggestively, without resorting to ostentation or cheap tricks. Then I rolled the window down and hit the gas one last time.People use the word sexy too freely when describing inanimate objects these days, but if ever a thing should deserve this adjective, it's the 2009 Aston Martin DB9 Volante. I looked at him and eyed the Aston Martin wings embedded on the wheel. A friend looked over from the passenger seat, “You don’t like to stunt, do you?”

#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE WINDOWS#

As my time with it waned, I was slowly cruising through downtown Dallas at night, the windows up but the bass blaring. I made it through much of my time with the Aston trying to be as invisible as possible, only noticed by those who knew what they were looking for.

#ASTON MARTIN DB9 VOLANTE FULL#

When you hit a straight stretch, flip the paddle shifters-gearhead note: the transmission is not full manual-push the “sport” button and feel your back get yanked to the seat as the car rockets forward. Turning it and guiding it through curves requires attention and just enough muscle to notice. This thing doesn’t mute the contours of the road. This is a driver’s car: Put your foot on the brake, push the key into the dashboard ignition, and listen as the engine roars to life-a teaser for the sound you’ll hear once the gas pedal touches the floor. And although its 12-cylinder, 510 horsepower engine makes it a breeze to zoom by the other, lesser machines on the tollway, its dark chrome color and sleek bodylines mean that it’s incognito enough to fit in at a supermarket parking lot. Not like its sportier ilk, at least: It doesn’t have a stark-red or bright blue body, nor do its doors open like outstretched wings.

And after the booming clarity of the Aston’s impeccable 7.1 digital surround sound system, listening to music in my Accord now sounds like it’s being coughed out of a Walkie Talkie someone duct-taped to the car door.īut the Aston ain’t showy. After spending those days gripping the DB9’s leather wheel, my rickety sedan drives more like a go-kart than an automobile.

My possession of the nearly $220,000 sports car was just enough time to make my perfectly serviceable 2008 Honda Accord suddenly seem woefully lacking. I had the 2014 Aston Martin DB9 Volante for a measly weekend.

Aston martin db9 volante