2016 Aston Martin DB9 GT Review

I do what I can with the DB9 GT’s 5.9-liter V-12, which now produces 540 hp, an increase of 30 hp over the regular DB9. Whenever I think I have the chance to go flat-out, a small town springs up out of nowhere, the road tapers in, and a brightly painted truck gets disturbingly close to the Aston’s wide fenders.

I feel better if I turn my focus on where I’m sitting. Aston Martin cabins tend to be an odd combination of a fine leather tannery and discount electronics, but the DB9 GT rids itself of the cheap tech clutter and gets the clean, touch-sensitive infotainment system from the Vanquish. It has a Garmin-powered navigation system and luscious leather, most of it chocolate brown with caramel piping, covers everything from the perfectly bolstered seats to the headliner. One hand is on the Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel while the other turns the cold, metal volume button. An acoustic set by Kiwi band “Broods” cranks up crisply through the $8,450 Bang & Olufsen audio system. Who cares if I haven’t seen 60 mph in this supercar?

I do. The itch to push the Aston harder soon returns, so I get off the highway near the Cotswolds and use the navi to map out a tight, twisty route away from civilization. I turn onto a narrow, tree-lined road that has lots of elevation changes. But before I can touch a shift paddle, a Honda motorcycle in HRC guise, its rider wearing a fluorescent yellow outfit, charges around the corner and comes at the Aston head-on. I jerk the steering wheel left and, being on such a slender road, immediately put the front left tire in the weeds and scratch the outside edge of the diamond-turned wheel.

Scuffing a wheel on an Aston is a faux pas surpassed only by ragging on Queen Elizabeth or, worse, Sienna Miller. I treat the English countryside to a string of Yankee-twanged obscenities, and a man walking his dog nearby can’t help but laugh. I apologize, and then we start talking. We switch lives for a moment—I play fetch with his blue-eyed Australian shepherd puppy, and he sits in the 2016 Aston Martin DB9 GT, running his hands over its leather-lined cabin.