The Aston Martin DB is a grand tourer first shown by Aston Martin at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Available both as a coupe and a convertible known as the Volante, the DB was the successor of the DB. It was the first model built at Aston Martin's Gaydon facility. The DB, designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker, is made largely of aluminium. The chassis is the VH platform, also found in the Aston Martin DBS. The engine, on the other hand, is the .L V from the Aston Martin V Vanquish. The most recent Aston Martin has a top speed of km/h and a to km/h time of . seconds. The DB is rated well by car critics, who appreciate the car's interior and exterior design. In spite of comments regarding the DB's weaker engine and handling, reviewers liked the car's ride and driving experience. Some also held issue with the DB's small rear seats, cargo space and poor satnav. The version has seen many improvements to the design, the engine and the overall driving experience. It now has the most powerful engine yet with peak power of PS and NM of torque. It also comes with carbon ceramic brakes as standard. Aston Martin Racing has adapted the DB for sports car racing, producing the DBR for FIA GT and the DBRS for FIA GT. These two cars are lightened DBs; the interior features are removed and the aluminium body panels are replaced by carbon fibre panels. Additionally, engine has been tweaked in both the cars to produce more horsepower. The DBR has won in several events, including its debut event. Development and design The DB was designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker, and was first revealed at the Frankfurt Auto Show. The moniker "DB" stems from the initials of David Brown, the owner of Aston Martin for a significant part of its history. Despite being the successor of the DB, Aston Martin did not call the car the DB due to fears that the name would suggest that the car was equipped with only a V engine; the DB has a V). It was also reported that Aston Martin believed that naming the car "DB" would indicate a gradual evolution and misrepresent the car. The DB is the first model to be built at Aston Martin's Gaydon facility in Warwickshire, England. In a interview, Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez stated that, though Aston Martin was traditionally a maker of more exclusive automobiles, he believed Aston Martin needed to be more visible and build more cars. At launch, Aston Martin planned to build between , and , DBs per year. The DB was facelifted July . This facelift was mainly the increase in engine power, to kW and a redesigned center console. Externally, the DB remained virtually unchanged. Interior The DB's interior is made with leather and walnut wood. In newer editions, the leather is additionally given hand-stitched accents and joins. On the dashboard, satnav and Bluetooth come standard. A Dolby Prologic sound system can be hooked up to satellite radio, a six-CD changer, an iPod connector, a USB connector, or an auxiliary input jack. This sound system can be upgraded to a Bang & Olufsen stereo. The coupe comes standard with two front seats and rear seats. A seating package, which removes the back seats and replaces the front seats with lighter seats made of Kevlar and carbon fibre, can be chosen. The boot is , cm in the coupe or , cm in the Volante. Exterior Made to follow Aston's DB model, the DB is, according to Aston's initial press release, "a contemporary version of classic DB design elements and characteristics". It retains the traditional Aston Martin grille and side strakes, and the design attempts to keep the lines simple and refined. The boot of the car is pronounced, like that of the DB and DB. At the front, DB is without a separate nose cone, and has no visible bumpers. The exterior skin is largely aluminium, though the front bumpers and bonnet are composite. For the model year revision, Aston made minor changes to the bodywork, including enlargening the recessed headlight clusters with bi-xenon lights and LED daytime strips, widening the front splitter, updating the grille and side heat extractors, updating the LED rear lights with clear lenses and integrating a new rear spoiler with the boot lid. Engine The Aston Martin DB was initially launched equipped with a .L V engine, originally taken from its sister car, the V Vanquish. The engine provides N·m of torque at , rpm and a maximum power of PS at , rpm. The DB can accelerate from to km/h in . seconds and has a top speed of km/h. The engine largely sits behind the front-axle line to improve weight distribution. Changes to the engine for the model year DB increased the horsepower to PS and torque to N·m. The car's to km/h time decreased to . seconds and the new top speed is km/h. The DB can be equipped with either a six-speed conventional manual gearbox from Graziano or a six-speed ZF automatic gearbox featuring paddle-operated semi-automatic mode. The automatic gearbox increases the to km/h time to . seconds, though the top speed remains the same. The gearbox is rear-mounted and is driven by a carbon-fiber tail shaft inside a cast aluminium torque tube. Chassis The DB is the first Aston Martin model to be designed and developed on Ford's aluminium VH platform which also underpins Aston Martin's flagship DBS. The body structure is composed of aluminium and composites melded together by mechanically fixed self-piercing rivets and robotic assisted adhesive bonding techniques. The bonded aluminium structure is claimed to possess more than double the torsional rigidity of its predecessor's, despite being percent lighter. The DB also contains anti-roll bars and double wishbone suspension, supported by coil springs. To keep the back-end in control under heavy acceleration or braking, the rear suspension has additional anti-squat and anti-lift technology. The car also features three modes for the tuning normal, for every-day use, sport, for more precise movement at the cost of ride comfort, and track, which furthers the effects of the sport setting. Wheels The DB initially launched with mm wheels with a width of mm. These were later changed to in wheels with widths of mm in the front and mm in the back. The tyres are Pirelli P-Zero with codes of /ZR and /ZR. The brakes are carbon-ceramic with six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston calipers in the back. Variants DB Volante The Aston Martin DB Volante is the convertible version of the DB coupe. The chassis, though stiffer, uses the same base VH platform. To protect occupants from rollovers, the Volante has strengthened the windshield pillars and added two pop-up hoops behind the rear seats. The hoops cannot be disabled and will break the car's rear window if deployed. In an effort to improve the Volante's ride while cruising, Aston Martin have softened the springs and lightened the anti-roll bars in the Volante, leading to a gentler suspension. The retractable roof of the Volante is made of folding fabric and takes seconds to be put up or down. The Volante weighs kilograms more than the coupe. The coupe and Volante both share the same semi-automatic and automatic gearboxes and engine. The car is limited to km/h to retain the integrity of the roof. Like the coupe, the original Volante has N·m of torque at , rpm and a maximum power of PS at , rpm. The to km/h is slowed to . seconds due to the additional weight. On newer models, like the coupe's, the Volante's horsepower and torque have increased to PS and N·m respectively. DB LM To commemorate Aston Martin's GT victory at the Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin released the DB LM in the first quarter of . The DB LM comes standard with the DB's optional sports pack and is only available as a semi-automatic coupe. The LM is painted Sarthe Silver, named after the Circuit de la Sarthe, where Le Mans is run, and has red brake calipers, a chromed mesh grill, and a special black leather interior, with red stitching and the Le Mans track stitched on the central consol. The car is also fitted with the DBS clear rear lights. Only DB LMs were authorized, one per dealer. However, some dealers did not take their allocation with the result that only DB LM's were finally built by the factory. DB Carbon Black, Morning Frost, and Quantum Silver Following the success of several special edition models of other Aston Martin cars, like the V Vantage Carbon Black and DBS Carbon Black, Aston Martin announced three special edition models of the DB in the DB Carbon Black, Morning Frost, and Quantum Silver. All three models are denoted by a sill plaque bearing their respective names. All three models have the same .L V engine as the base DB, which produces PS. All three models are available both as a coupe and a Volante. The DB Carbon Black, as its name suggests, has a black paint finish and matching interior. This includes a black center console and interior door handles on the inside, and black grills, a black tailpipe, and black mm -spoke wheels on the outside. The interior also has numerous add-ons to make the car more sporty, including silver stitching for the leather and a polished glass gear stick. The exhaust has been modified to create a different sound to add to the sporty feel. The Carbon Black is only available as a six-speed semi-automatic. The DB Morning Frost's paint finish is a pearlescent white. However, on the inside, the Morning Frost is fitted with metallic bronze leather and a black center console and interior door handles. On the outside, the Morning Frost has silver mm -spoke wheels, silver brake calipers, and silver grilles. Like the Carbon Black, the DB Morning Frost has a six-speed semi-automatic transmission. The DB Quantum Silver uses a silver paint scheme also found on the Aston Martin DBS in Quantum of Solace, hence its name. Inside, the Quantum Silver shares the black center console and leather. On the outside, it also has black grills and mm wheels. The Quantum Silver has the same semi-automatic transmission as its counterparts, and shares a modified sports exhaust with the Carbon Black. Motorsport DBR The DB has been adapted for use in sports car racing by Aston Martin Racing, a collaboration between Aston Martin and Prodrive. Called the DBR, the car debuted in . It retains the DB's . L V engine basic parts, but the car has been extensively modified to decrease its weight as well as to improve performance. Most of the car's aluminium body panels have been converted into carbon fibre panels, and several external features, like a front splitter and a rear wing, have been added to increase the car's downforce. Inside, the DB's interior has mostly been scrapped to save weight. Likewise, though the suspension's layout remains the same, it has been improved to racing specifications. The brakes are upgraded to Brembo carbon-carbon disks and six-piston calipers. The transmission in the DBR is a Xtrac six-speed sequential manual, containing a Salisbury friction-plate limited-slip differential, and the prop shaft is also made of carbon fibre. The engine modifications allow the car to develop PS and N·m of torque; that power, in addition to the lost weight, allows the DBR can go from to km/h in . seconds. The DBR won in its debut at the Hours of Sebring, and has gone on to take wins in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, as well as the Hours of Le Mans. DBRS Aston Martin Racing also developed a different car following FIA GT regulations. Called the DBRS, the car shares carbon fibre bodywork and the chassis and suspension layout of the DBR. While the engine has also remained the same, it has been tuned to develop PS. The DBRS can be equipped with either a six-speed H-pattern gearbox or a six-speed sequential box and has a to km/h time of . seconds and a top speed of km/h. The DBRS competed in several endurance races, including the Hours Nürburgring, Spa Hours, and Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race. The car additionally raced in the FIA GT European Championship for which it was designed before being replaced by a GT version of the V Vantage in . The DBRS was made available to consumers and included an adjustable driver's seat and steering. Reception Car critics have generally rated the DB coupe and Volante well, praising the car's luxurious interior and exterior design. On the British automotive show Top Gear, the DB is thought of highly. Notably, on the show's "Cool Wall" segment, the presenters called the DB "too cool" for the wall and gave it its own category, dubbed the "DB Sub Zero Fridge", a mini-refrigerator containing the car's card. While reviewing the Volante, Richard Hammond called the interior of the DB "one of the best known to man". He felt that the car was less stiff than the coupe, however, to the point that the car was "wobbly". Both Edmunds.com and Road and Track critiqued the DB for not having as good handling as other sports cars, noting that the car isn't stiff enough. However, Edmunds noted that while the Mercedes-Benz SL and SL AMG were objectively better cars, the DB was more desirable. When compared directly against other cars, like the Porsche Turbo S Cabriolet and the Ford GT, the DB was ranked poorly, though the reviewer noted that comparing it against faster cars "highlighted its shortcomings". Likewise, when compared to the Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes-Benz CL, and Ferrari Scaglietti F, the DB ranked poorly again, though reviewers said that "despite its problems, the DB would be their personal choice". The issues with stiffness were largely fixed by later iterations of the DB, however, as noted by Autoweek and Edmunds. The DB's interior has been called "regal" and "dazzling", with Edmunds saying, "[w]ords like 'rich' and 'crafted' just don't cut it, though 'decadent' and 'sculpted by the Almighty himself' get close". Critics liked the comfort of the almost racecar-like driver's seat. Reviewers complained about the back seats however, with Forbes saying "think of it more as a padded parcel shelf". Likewise, reviewers complained that the space for cargo was limited, though many quipped the small back seats could help hold luggage. Another common complaint was car's poor satnav system, which Automobile Magazine called the car's "Achilles heel", noting that "selecting a route is painful at best". Newer models contain a much improved satnav system sourced from Garmin
