REVscene Automotive Forum - Sick Cars in Vancouver

A couple of interesting ones from the past month that i got to test drive

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An engine by Ferrari, styling by Pininfarina, and 100 years of heritage. Put those ingredients together and you get the modern day Maserati.

Performance – The engine is built alongside other Ferrari engines in the same factory in Maranello, Italy. Unfortunately the 4.7L V8 in this Maserati is nowhere near as powerful as other Ferrari engines as it only produces 433hp and 361 lb-ft of torque. I’m not saying that it isn’t a lot, it’s just that it’s not as much as other Ferrari V8s that are being produced such as the 560hp Ferrari 458 or even the 454hp California. However, one very good thing about this engine is the exotic noise that it makes especially when you roll off from a stop. The noise is like an orgasm for your ears. On the move, the engine can be subdued when the car is in normal “D” mode or the engine can feel responsive and like a caged animal when the car is in Sport mode. However the “caged animal” under the hood doesn’t quite have the same punch as the more powerful and lighter Aston Martin DB9. If the GranTurismo had another 40hp then I think it would have no problem keeping up with the DB9 but unfortunately in Italy nothing is allowed to be faster than a Ferrari so I think they purposely kept the engine’s power low to ensure that a Maserati will not be faster than a Ferrari.

One place that Maserati wasn’t restricted by “Italian law” was the design of the suspension. This Maserati utilizes Skyhook suspension which I don’t really know what it means but what I can say is that it works brilliantly. On city streets, the shocks easily absorb bumps in the roads and when you want to have some fun in the mountains, they provide excellent feedback to the driver about what the front wheels are doing.

Comfort – In addition to providing good handling, the suspension also delivers an exceptionally good ride. I felt perfectly comfortable and didn’t cringe when driving over a bump on some of the worse Vancouver city streets. Unfortunately the seats did feel a bit hard and they did not offer any support whatsoever when taking fast corners.

The design of the interior is what one would expect from a premium Italian auto manufacturer. The design of the dashboard and center console is simple but it looks elegant. If I were to buy this car, I would have absolutely no problem enjoying my time inside this car and drooling over the trident logo on the steering wheel.

Odds and Ends – The elegant styling continues to the exterior of this Maserati. Pininfarina has been styling cars for decades and almost everything they design goes down into the history books as a timeless piece of art. There are however one or two little details that irritate me. For example, the side vents look like they came off of a Buick and it wasn’t a pretty Buick either.

This was the first proper Italian supercar that I’ve driven in my life and it did not disappoint. Sure it feels a little slower than it should be and the seats are not quite as comfortable as they should be but once you see the trident logo directly in front of you on the steering wheel and you hear the exotic soundtrack of the V8, all is forgotten and you just enjoy the drive of the Maserati.

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Power, Beauty, Soul. Aston Martin has incorporated these three words into every vehicle they’ve produced since 1913. So what do each of those words represent in a modern Aston Martin? Read on…

Performance – The “Power” of this Aston Martin comes from a howling V12 engine that produces 450hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. The only word that can accurately describe how the DB9 accelerates is astonishing. Yes, there are more power engines out there with fewer cylinders but few can match the smoothness and sense of urgency that this V12 provides. Whether the car is accelerating from a dead stop or overtaking at high speed, the rate at which it accelerates feels like it’s unending. My only criticism is that the throttle and brake pedals are a bit too sensitive. If this was a thoroughbred race car then they would be just fine but because it’s considered as more of a GT car, then the pedals are a bit too sensitive. The new 6-speed automatic ZF transmission helps to put all of the V12’s power down to the road. Shifting is smooth and fast but what impressed me more was how quickly the transmission responded to driver inputs. Usually in other automatic cars, there’s a delay between the time the driver puts his foot down on the throttle to the time that the car actually starts to accelerate. In this DB9 however, it feels more like a manual transmission rather than a “slush box”. Overall, the power train of the DB9 is perfectly capable of dealing with the slow pace of city traffic or the high speeds of highway cruising.

Aston Martin have also put a great deal of resources into developing a chassis that is capable of being comfortable when driving like normal human beings but also stiff and sporty enough to make even a 66 year old person feel like 16 again. The new chassis has double the rigidity of the outgoing DB7 but it is 25% lighter. What that means is that the lightness helps keep fuel bills low as well as 0-100km/h times and the rigidity helps keep the 19” wheels and 275 wide section tires planted on the road at all times. Steering is very quick and responsive and nicely weighted for enthusiastic driving but for city driving, and taking a lot of 90 degree corners, it is a little bit too heavy.

Comfort – “Beauty” is split into exterior, more on that later, and interior. Nearly a decade ago when this DB9 was launched, no other auto manufacturer could even come close to the beauty of the interior design and the quality of the materials. The brushed aluminum trim has a timeless design to it and the engine start/stop button looks like it’s encased in crystal. The instrument cluster is just as beautifully crafted with the prominent speedometer and the counter clockwise motion tachometer. The only let down is the steering wheel which looks like it came from a mid-size Ford sedan.

The ride quality is a little bit on the firmer side than one would expect in a GT car. It’s nowhere near as harsh as a true sports car like the Corvette Z06 but neither is it as soft and smooth as a Mercedes SL63 AMG, it’s just right in the middle. One thing I was not expecting was the feeling of claustrophobia in this car. The roof line is very low and the side windows are very small making it seem like there is less room inside the cabin.

Odds and Ends – The exterior “Beauty” of the DB9 is exquisite. Photographing this car was not difficult because from every angle the car has an interesting and appealing line that engages the human eye. Aston Martin DB5, Ferrari 250, Lamborghini Miura, these are all cars that half a century ago captivated onlookers and they all still do to this day. Half a century from today, this DB9 will also continue to captivate onlookers and lucky owners as it will become a future classic.

And that brings us to “Soul”. Most people don’t believe that a mechanical object can have a soul but for gear heads a car is more than just a lifeless machine. Some consider it as an extension of one’s body while others as a reliable lifelong companion. Whatever the case may be, Aston Martin’s in general bring out certain special feelings when a person drives or even sees an Aston Martin. It’s those special feelings that can turn a good car into a timeless classic that will be revered for decades to come.