2009 Aston Martin DB9 Volante Video

2009 Aston Martin DB9 Volante Video Transcript

>> Q: You'll be using this Aston Martin DB5 modifications.

>> To millions of people, it is and always will be Bond's car. An Aston Martin. Whether a vintage DB5 or its progeny, this DB9, let's see if it's aged as well as the Commander. ^M00:00:18 [ Music ] ^M00:00:40

>> Damn it. ^M00:00:41 [ Music ] ^M00:00:46

>> Sorry, dear. This car's too nice to flip.

>> Bastard. ^M00:00:50 [ Music ] ^M00:00:54

>> Now, just as Bond's black tie is likely to be untied these days, so Aston's have become more athletic and visceral. This cheeky little number is a Valente [assumed spelling] as you've noticed, a drop top. No retractable metal top here, however. No, sir, we are speaking of a proper English roadster with only canvas overhead lest it rain. Now, as you might expect, the base audio system isn't really base, it's fabulous. Seven hundred watt, Aston Martin-branded system. I think its dine [phonetic] audio equipment in here because it's very similar to a lot of Volvo's we've seen on the high end. Your sources include, of course, a six-disc, indash CD changer that will also eat CD's that have mp3's on them. Satellite radio's in here. Auxiliary jack. USB port over here in the console as is a connector for an iPod. The system does a very good job with compressed audio files, my main test. Huge bass on this system, by the way. The subs that are somewhere behind me here are complete ass rattlers. They are incredibly powerful. And should this rig not be enough, you can option a 1,000 watt B&O-branded audio system. I think it's very similar to the one we've seen in some high-end Audi's with those little tweeters that pop up on the dash. Don't know what the price is, but I'm guessing north of six grand. In classic Q fashion, the nav system doesn't just sit there. It has to play peaky boo when you need it. Not the most generous screen, but not bad. We've seen in this interface before, again, another Volvo piece. And I found that getting through it and setting up things like a destination address wasn't difficult. Not the best system out there, but it does move quickly thanks to being hard-drive based. I'm not crazy about this little controller. I wish it turned or rotated, but instead, it's just a jagknob [phonetic] with an interfunction directly on it. And even though this system is hard-drive based, that's all that's hard-drive based. The audio system's not tied into it, so no ripping music to the same drive the nav lives on. So this is the navigation system that is solely there for chasing Goldfinger over to Geneva. [music] Or going to the dry cleaner. Around all of this, acres of leather. From Bridge of Weir, Scotland. The same stuff found under the esteemed bottoms in the House of Lords. The smoker's kit is a $220 option, which takes a bit of cheek until you realize that that's a glass ashtray in which you'll service your shepherd's hotel. Now, Ms. Goodnight may swoon when she sees you on Savil [phonetic] Row in this car, but don't buy anything because as soon as you ram suit into this little tiny trunk, it's going to be a wrinkled mess. Have your man take it home in the Bentley. ^M00:03:21 [ Music ] ^M00:03:27

>> Under hood, we have a 5.9 liter V12 putting out 470 horsepower and 443 foot pounds of torque. Honestly, not the most stunning numbers for a high-end car in this day and age, but so smooth you'll swear it stalled at every stop. That is until you step into it, and the dual-mode exhaust emits this sound from the bowels of hell. [car revving] Our gear box is Aston's six-speed automatic. Paddles around the column, but an odd lineup of mode buttons over here on the console. D, or drive, is for some reason the furthest one away. Either a vestigial thing from right-hand drive or Q had a few Jamison's designing this. The six-speed automatic is fine, but even in sport mode, not the best in the business. Consider the manual. The mpg is the same, an OPEC-pleasing 12/19. Bring a lot of ego and/or love for humanity if you buy one of these. Even in jaded San Francisco, where so many people drive something fabulous or hate cars entirely, this one draws a crowd. ^M00:04:30 [ Music and car revving ] ^M00:04:41

>> OK. To make one of these your own, have the exchequer disburse about $197,000 U.S. Plus gas guzzler tax, we're talking 200 in round numbers. There really are no tech options to add except perhaps that B&O 1,000 watt sound system, but why listen to that when you can listen to this. [ car revving and music] ^M00:04:58