Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday, 9th September 2003, the DB9, is first car to be produced at the company's facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The innovative Aston Martin DB9 heralds an exciting new era for Aston Martin as it reflects the direction that the company is taking with all future models. Using a radical new aluminium bonded frame, the 2+2 Aston Martin DB9 is one of the most sophisticated and technically advanced sports cars in the world. It successfully balances the attributes of a sports car with features normally found on luxury cars. DESIGN DB9 is a modern interpretation of a traditional Aston Martin sports car, representing a contemporary version of classic DB design elements and characteristics. "We wanted an elegant, beautiful car - in keeping with Aston Martin tradition," says Director of Design Henrik Fisker. "I was of course acutely aware that Aston Martin is renowned for its superb styling. It has launched some of the most beautiful sports and GT cars ever seen." Key traditional Aston Martin features incorporated into the Aston Martin DB9 include the distinctive grille, side strakes and clean, crisp, uncluttered lines. Clean and elegant surfacing "Aston Martins are not edgy cars - they don't have sharp surfaces or pronounced power domes," says Fisker. "The bodywork is elegant and gently curved, like a supremely fit person, with great muscle tone. But it is not like a body builder, who is bulky and out of harmony." The side profile is very clean, with a single-sweep roofline.
There is a pronounced boot - a noticeable feature of the Aston Martin DB4 and Aston Martin DB5 - and the haunches on the rear wings are wide and curvaceous. "A great deal of time was spent on the detailing," says Fisker. "In particular, we wanted to cut down on fuss. There are very few cut or shut lines. Each of the headlamps is set in single apertures in the front wings." Nor is there a separate nose cone, another typical source of sports car design fussiness. The aluminium bonnet runs all to the way to the leading edge of the car. "This accentuates the length of the bonnet and the power of the car," says Fisker. All front cut lines emanate from the grille.
The Aston Martin DB9's bumpers are invisible. The front number plate is part of the crash structure and computer modelling has enabled Aston Martin to use invisible 'hard pressure zones' to cope with bumps. "We wanted the Aston Martin DB9 to look like it was milled out of a single solid piece of aluminium," says Fisker. "No fussy detailing and a minimum of shut lines have helped." The side strakes - an Aston Martin DB signature - are made from metal. The door handles are flush with the body opening the unique 'swan wing' doors, which rise at a 12-degree angle for improved access. There are no visible gutters on the roof panel, and no visible drain channels at the front or rear windscreens. Nor are there any plastic 'dressing' plates. The importance of good stance "The way the car sits on the road is crucial," says Fisker. "A sleek, long look is what we wanted." The wide track and long wheelbase are further advantages. Compared with the outgoing Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, the Aston Martin DB9's wheelbase is 149mm longer, yet the track is 52mm wider at the front. Yet overall length and width are only marginally increased. "The 19-inch wheel has taken into account the optimal size for this car's design and dynamics," says Fisker, "although different wheel styles will be available." This low bodywork, relative to the wheels, is possible because of the suspension design.
The front suspension uses wishbones that 'fit' within the diameter of the wheels. This narrow spacing, between top and bottom wishbones, means the bodywork can be low - because there is no high suspension to clear. It also improves camber stiffness, improving handling. "The Aston Martin DB9 had to have the best quality and most luxurious cabin in the 2+2 sports car class," says Fisker. As with the exterior, the design is simple and elegant and a premium quality look and feel are crucial. "The latest technology is also essential, and that's exactly what the Aston Martin DB9 customer gets," says Fisker. "But in an Aston Martin, the technology is aimed at increasing the driving pleasure. There are no computer gimmicks. You don't buy an Aston Martin to play games on the in-car computer, or to send emails." Aluminium is used for door handles, on the dashboard, in the instrument cluster, and for some trim panels. The most distinctive use of aluminium is probably in the instruments. The dials are made from aluminium, and are of noticeable 'three dimensional' design. They are flood lit, not back lit - making them especially attractive and clear at night. There are 20 new leather colours, supplied by Bridge of Weir in Scotland. The hides are particularly soft and supple. The leather skins the seats and is used widely throughout the rest of the cabin. "We spent a lot of time considering how best to use wood," says Interior Designer Sarah Maynard. "Today wood is typically used as an appliqué, strips of highly polished veneer simply adding decoration to the car. We wanted the wood in the Aston Martin DB9 look more structural, as it does on avant-garde modern furniture. We also wanted to use large pieces of wood, rather than little strips - again, as in top furniture." Maynard adds: 'Wood is used in two places only: on top of the centre of the dashboard and, if the customer chooses, for the door caps. Three types of wood are offered: walnut, mahogany and bamboo.
The wood is one piece, so it looks completely different from burr strips, and can be oiled rather than high gloss. Glossy wood invariably looks like plastic." Maynard, a former fashion designer, attended numerous international fashion, furniture, leather and fabric fairs, as she, Fisker and the design team, conceived the cabin. Her favourite cabin design feature is the clear glass starter button. "It seemed wrong to us that most car starter buttons - the first point of contact between driver and engine - is a plastic button. We wanted something better so decided on crystal-like glass. The Aston Martin logo is sand etched into it. It's lit red when the ignition is on, and afterwards changes to light blue. I think it's a really cool piece of design." A great deal of effort has been put into ensuring that the Aston Martin DB9 is stable at high speed and has excellent front-to-rear lift balance. Aerodynamic performance was tuned using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), at Volvo's studios in Sweden. This is one of the most advanced and effective ways of ensuring good drag figures and excellent stability. Aston Martin also used England's Cranfield University's state-of-the-art 40 percent model wind tunnel, which is widely used for motor sport. Just as much effort was put into the underside, as the top side.
A full undertray reduces lift and drag, and wheel arches are carefully profiled to allow for good airflow. Even the exhaust silencer has been shaped to be as aerodynamic as possible. The designers of the Aston Martin DB9 balanced beauty with aerodynamic performance. Sharp corners and chiselled profiles can reduce Cd figures, but can also lead to bland and unsightly styling. Pushing wheels out to each corner, in the Aston Martin tradition, improves stability and handling but also means 'Coke bottle' curves down the car's sides, which can have an effect on the Cd figure. The Aston Martin DB9's drag coefficient is 0.35, similar to that of the Aston Martin Vanquish. "A low Cd figure was not an absolute priority," says Fisker. "The goal was superb styling with high speed stability and great front-to-rear balance." TECHNOLOGY The Aston Martin engineers' goal was to make a beautiful, distinctive car that was also outstandingly nimble and fast, and a car that was a worthy successor to the Aston Martin DB7 - the best selling Aston Martin in history. In every case, technology is used to make the car better and to make the driving experience more enjoyable. In most cases, the technology is invisible, always there, always helpful, never intrusive. In a long list of technological innovations, the most important is the bonded aluminium frame. Aston Martin believes it is the most structurally efficient body frame in the car industry. The new Aston Martin VH (vertical horizontal) aluminium structure gives immense benefits. It is very light, aiding performance, handling, economy and durability. It is also enormously strong. Despite being 25 percent lighter than the Aston Martin DB7 bodyshell, the Aston Martin DB9 structure has more than double the torsional rigidity. This is the car's backbone, the skeleton to which all the mechanical components are either directly or indirectly mounted. Drawing on the experience and technology pioneered in the Aston Martin Vanquish, the Aston Martin DB9's frame is made entirely from aluminium. Die-cast, extruded and stamped aluminium components are bonded using immensely strong adhesives, supplemented by mechanical fixing using self-piercing rivets. "It is far superior to the conventional steel saloon-based floorpan often used by high-value brands," says Aston Martin DB9 Chief Programme Engineer David King. "The torsional rigidity of a car is a key factor in driving enjoyment and good handling. Any flexibility of the body compromises the performance of the suspension, delays vehicle response and corrupts feedback to the driver." The frame is made in aluminium and the body panels are then fitted, again using adhesives, in the advanced body assembly area at Aston Martin's new Gaydon facility. This adhesive is applied by a robot - the only one at Aston Martin. Computer controlled hot-air curing ensures the highest standards of accuracy and repeatability. The bonding has enormously high stiffness, so that shakes and rattles are obliterated. Bonding also has excellent durability offering better stress distribution than welding - which is more prone to crack. The process is also used in the aircraft industry and Formula One. There are also advances in the welding procedure. On the Aston Martin DB9, the upper and lower C-pillars are joined by advanced ultrasonic welding. It works by using a vibrating probe, called a sonotrode, which oscillates at 20,000 Hz.
This high frequency of vibration agitates the molecules of the two aluminium panels to be joined, allowing them to form a molecular bond. Because the bond takes place at a molecular level, it is 90 percent stronger than a conventional spot weld. It also requires only five percent of the energy of conventional welding, and as it generates no heat, there is no contamination or change in the characteristics or dimensions of the metal. Aston Martin is the first car company in the world to use this technique. In addition to the aluminium frame, other lightweight or high-technology materials are used extensively.
