What's the news?
Aston Martin has revealed its range of '2016MY' cars ahead of their public debut at this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. The line-up is crowned by an exclusive new version of the DB9, called simply the DB9 GT.
Exterior
The DB9 GT is distinguished from other DB9s by a front splitter and rear diffuser painted black, restyled lights, 10-spoke 20-inch alloy wheels, black anodised brake calipers and a 'GT' engraving on the aluminium fuel filler cap. Buyers can, of course, personalise their DB9 GT a little more, with other brake caliper colours, alternative wheel designs and carbon fibre decoration. 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."
Interior
The four-seat coupé gains 'GT' embroidery on Glen Coe fluted leather upholstery for the seats and Alcantara for the steering wheel, with plenty of options to make the cabin a little more special, including Duotone leather and centre console finishes called Ice Mocha and Copper Cuprum. The interior also features Aston's upgraded touchscreen infotainment system, called AMi II. Ian Minards, Product Development Director at Aston Martin, explained: "Refining the DB9's already impressive attributes into what we have today in the DB9 GT has been a careful and delicate process.
"Maintaining the effortlessly refined nature of our core GT sports car, while boosting power and introducing state-of-the-art infotainment systems, has required fine judgements and painstaking engineering."
Mechanicals
Bespoke detailing is all well and good, but an Aston Martin wouldn't be deserving of the badge without a special engine, and this DB9 is the most powerful yet. It's propelled by an uprated 6.0-litre V12 petrol unit producing 547hp at 6,750rpm and 620Nm of torque at 5,500rpm. The claimed performance figures include 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 295km/h. Adaptive damping is fitted, as it is to all DB9s.
Anything else?
The 2016MY Vantage and Rapide S will line-up next to the DB9 GT at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Tweaks include more colours and material options inside and out, the adoption of Aston's AMi infotainment and new alloy wheels. They go on sale at the end of the summer.