Drum Magazine Issue 5 | Page 27

DA505 main

28/7/05

1:14 pm

Page 25

Photography © Warren King

Drum: WHEELS 25

the trade as an ‘exhaust note’; and finally, you will
praise God that someone has been blessed with the
genius to create such a glorious machine.
Not so with the Aston. Yes, it is mighty powerful
indeed, but chooses to deliver all that power ‘The
Aston Way’, its’ 5.9 litre V12 choosing to growl and
howl rather than roar, a style influenced partly by its
choice of paddle shift combined with switchable six
speed automatic gear change. It’s equally exciting if
not as ultimately powerful as the Porsche.
Push either of these exciting duo through quick cross
country terrain and the differences show even more.
The Aston typifies powerful front engine/rear wheel
drive characteristics encouraging you to blast down
the straights flicking through the paddles, brake early,
and then power through the bends. The car connects
with you, so you won’t have to learn the technique;
it just comes naturally.
The Porsche is of a different mind; it puts the power
through all four wheels, has the engine at the rear of

course, and on full Turbo boost is just oh-so-powerful!
Nothing can touch it; its overtaking ability is simply
phenomenal. Or put it this way –where an average
high performance car will overtake one car on a single
carriageway, the Turbo 911 S can overtake three or four
cars in the same distance. You can in the DB9 too, but
the 911 will be sitting in your rear view mirror ready
to assert its superiority.
So with test drive over, only the quality appraisal
remains. The Porsche is as tough as they come, its
interior comparatively dull to the Aston’s, but the
Porsche is pure understated quality through and
through. By contrast the Aston is very ‘Tag Heuer’
but sumptuous, sexy, sophisticated, and ultimately
the most seductive and impressive to the eye. Whilst
the Aston exudes quality at every corner, it doesn’t
have the rock steady sturdiness of the 911.
It now only remains for you to make that £100,000
choice. If we’ve made that task more difficult we make
no apology – for either way your choice will be a
winner.

911 Turbo S Specification (Coupe) £99,300

Aston Martin DB9 £103,000

Engine:
Top Speed:
Capacity:
Max Power:
0-62mph:
Fuel Consumption:

Engine:
Top Speed:
Capacity:
Max Power:
0-62 mph:
Fuel Consumption

6 cylinder
191mph
3.6 litre
450bhp
4.2 secs
21.2mpg average

12 cylinder
186 mph
5.9 litre
450 bhp
4.9 secs
17.1 mpg average