Choosing an Aston Martin Experience Day
Whether you like the marque itself of just want the experience of being James Bond, the Aston Martin is an outstanding motor vehicle that most people will only get to drive on an experience day.
There are lots of merchants who offer the chance to drive one of these fabulous machines up and down the country, as well as several motorsport venues that provide them direct. The question is which particular Aston Martin will you choose? To help you we've put together this brief guide to the Aston Martin models currently available at UK driving experience days.
Aston Martin DB4
For the classic car fan we have the DB4 and the DB6. The DB4 classic British sports car was made in the late 50s and early 60s, and marked a substantial departure from Aston Martin's previous models in terms of styling, design and performance. It was the first Aston Martin made in Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire although it can be argued that the styling is Italian in origin as the bodywork design was developed in Milan.
The engine is a 3.7 litre straight 6 cylinder producing 240 horse power with a top speed of 140 mph and acceleration to 60 mph in just over 9 seconds. This varies according to build as the car came with a choice of drive ratios depending on whether you wanted it for long-distance touring or high speed racing. Although the DB4 as such was never used in a Bond film, a DB4 Vantage that had been modified by Aston Martin to form a prototype for the DB5 was further modified and became the gadget laden DB5 used by James Bond in the film Goldfinger, so "choose your next witticism carefully Mr. Bond, it may be your last!"
Aston Martin DB6
The DB6 was built and sold by Aston Martin during the late sixties, having superseded the DB5 and slightly earlier DB4. It was based on a lengthened DB5 chassis and in many respects, its styling and bodywork was similar to the DB4 with the exception of the rear of the car which was somewhat modified.
The engine was a 4 litre straight six producing 282 brake horse power which gave it a top speed of over 240 miles per hour and acceleration to 60mph from a standing start of just over 8 seconds. Other versions produced included the DB6 Vantage model whose upgraded engine and Weber carburettors gave it 325 break horse power, and the convertible Volante model.
Aston Martin DB9
Launched in 2004, the Aston Martin DB9 was the successor to the DB7 as is considered one of the coolest cars ever built by Jeremy Clarkson and colleagues on his BBC Top Gear show - in fact they created a new category of "Super Cool Fridge" for it on their "Cool Wall". The engine capacity is 6 litres with 12 cylinders arranged in a V configuration, four cam shafts and 48 valves. This produces a total of 470 brake horse power giving a top speed of 190 miles per hour and acceleration from zero to sixty in just over four and a half seconds.
Incidentally, the reason it was the DB9 rather than the DB8 is reportedly either because Aston Martin were concerned people would assume a DB8 had 8 cylinders rather than the 12 with which this model was equipped, or that they simply wanted to emphasise how much of a leap forwards it was from the previous model.
Aston Martin DBS
On first appearances, the DBS is similar to the DB9 but in fact there's a whole lot of difference when you look deeper. The DBS has a 6 litre V12 engine providing over 500 brake horse power. This gives it a maximum speed of over 190 miles per hour and acceleration that takes it from a standing-start to 60 mph in a mere 4.3 seconds. I'm sure you'll agree this is a worthy successor to the DB9, as did James Bond in the movie Casino Royale.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
This gets a little confusing as there are two version of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Most driving experience days are offering the chance to tear round a race track in the later version however we thought we'd cover both in this introduction.
The original 1977 V8 Vantage is regarded by many as the first true British Supercar. Its V8 engine gave it a top speed of 170 miles per hour and acceleration to sixty miles per hour in just shy of five and a half seconds. This model also has heritage as a James Bond vehicle, having features in the 1987 film "The Living Daylights". We can't promise you a car fitted with tire spikes, missiles and a jet engine but if you decide you want a go in one of these then we're sure you won't be disappointed.
The later (2005) V8 Vantage was voted the best production car design in 2006 by readers or Car Design News. The original 4.3 litre quadruple cam shaft V8 engine produces 380 brake horse power, which takes the AMV8 to a maximum speed of nearly 180 miles per hour with acceleration to 60 mph achieved in 4.7 seconds. Later models were fitted with an enhanced engine giving even greater speed.
The beauty and elegance of this car was acknowledged by it being the only car other than the Aston Martin DB9 to be placed in the top "Super Cool Fridge" section of Top Gear's Cool Wall. Apart from generally being a great car to drive with its combination of power and handling, and having some of the most stylish looks around, the V8 Vantage is famed for a peculiarity in its exhaust system. The exhaust is fitted with a gas release valve that opens when you push it into high acceleration. This gives the car a sound that Jeremy Clarkson (Sunday Times, 19/9/2005) described as "a good enough reason to buy" the car on its own, and as sounding "like all the most exciting bits of the Bible". In our minds, this probably makes it the ideal car to drive on an experience day as what petrol-head wouldn't want to drive a car that, on top of its magnificent handling and speed, really sounds like it's a supercar with a difference.
Aston Martin Vanquish
The Aston Martin Vanquish was introduced in 2001 as Aston Martin's flagship car and it remained their top of the range model until 2007 when it was discontinued. Its 5.9 litre V12 engine produces 460 brake horse power giving a top speed of just shy of 200 mph with acceleration to 60 mph in under four and a half seconds. The later Vanquish S improved on this by adding a further 8 mph to the top speed and shaving 0.4 seconds from the nought-to-sixty time.
For younger drivers, this (rather than the DB5) is probably the car they most associated with James Bond, having seen it vanish into thin air, shoot missiles and battle its way across an ice field in the film "Die Another Day". It made so great an impression in this film that readers of Auto Trader voted it the third best film car ever after the Italian Job's Mini Coopers and KITT from Knight Rider.
Aston Martin Trivia
We hope you've found this tour through the available Aston Martins useful and entertaining. On a final note, we thought we'd share a little trivia:
The name Aston Martin comes from the name Lionel Martin, joint founder of the company and Aston Clinton, the Buckinghamshire village between Aylesbury and Tring where he made a name for himself on the hill climbing course.
The DB prefix attached to nearly all models for the last 50 years refers to the initials of David Brown, the owner of Aston Martin from 1947 to 1972.
An article is from the Driving Experiences UK website where you can find a whole range of Aston Martin Experience Days.
This entry added Friday January 29, 2010