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From July 2006, Aston Martin began offering DB9
coupe customers an optional
Sports Pack. Essentially, the car featured a new lighter 5 spoke wheel design
and revised suspension to make the DB9 even sharper handling. The attractive
wheels were in fact exactly the same size as those of the standard car but are
each
more than 1kg lighter and initially featured titanium bolts. They even used the same
Bridgestone tyre. The Sports Pack was not available for the Volante although the
wheels could be optioned on their own The DB9 Sports Pack’s spring rates
were increased by 68 per
cent at the front of the car and 64 per cent at the rear. The front anti-roll
bar was modified, and the dampers were revised to support the new spring and
anti-roll bar characteristics. Together, the changes optimised body control and
front-end grip without compromising ride quality or adding weight. The ride
height was reduced by 6mm, lowering the car’s centre of gravity and further
reducing body roll while leaving ample ground clearance and backed up by
modified bump stops.
The composite undertray was also replaced by a load-bearing
aluminium panel that performs the same function in managing underbody airflow
while adding further structural stiffness, to resist larger lateral loads fed
into the front of the car by the uprated front springs and anti-roll bar.
Back in 2004 and Evo magazine was, I think, the only
motoring publication critical of the DB9 handling. Well, after driving a
9 with sports pack and they were impressed and completely won over.
Also, I need to add that the Sports Pack
wasn't just available for
new cars, it could be retro fitted to any DB9 by official dealers or Works
Service. This particular UK registered example to the left was photographed near the
paddock of the Le Mans circuit during the time of the 24 hour race in June 2006.
The Morning Frost car, a rare manual, was taken at the 2007 Geneva Salon.
In early 2010, AM began to offer the
Premium Sports Pack as an option on both the coupe and Volante. Premium Sports
Pack involved the fitting of the Adaptive Damping System as had been introduced
on the DBS. This option was discontinued a few months later when the 2011MY DB9
coupe and Volante had Adaptive Damping fitted as standard.
In some circles, the DB9 Sports Pack
was also known
as the 'Sport Dynamic Pack' or SDP, but this is not the correct factory
description - SDP was used to describe the uprated pre 'S' Vanquish. |
