Unless you’re a foot fetishist, it’s not often the light pressure of a toe will bring you this sort of smile; this flutter in the belly. But sit in Aston Martin’s DB9, lightly depress your right foot, and the soundtrack you’ll unleash will have just that effect.

The massive 6.0-litre V12 is based on that of the DB7, but fettled to release around 22 additional kilowatts.

But it’s not the numbers that impress — though 335kW at 6000rpm and 570Nm at 5000rpm is impressive enough. No, it’s the sheer wall of noise you unleash. For beneath the car adjustable baffles ensure it sounds sanitised round town, but on the open road the covers come off and all 12 throats bellow their joyful song. And what a song. That rasping undernote; the ripples as the throttle blips itself when you snick down the gears.

And though this is an auto, you can snick down them thanks to those magnesium paddles tucked just behind the steering wheel. It’s a clever system — a button on the dash for park; others for reverse, neutral or drive. Tap a paddle to access the gears manually; tap ‘D’ to revert.

Breath-taking impact

Simplicity is the key to this car, despite its luxury focus. The simple lines are strong, yet elegant — it has the same breath-taking impact as the Jaguar XK when it came out; that same air of barely sheathed muscle flowing beneath a skin so elegant it’s timeless.

The interior has everything the fussy could want, from seat heaters to a sound system that plops you down in any concert hall of your choice. But it dispenses with fancy screens and racks of buttons to concentrate on the job.

That job isn’t to beat a Porsche 911 at what it does best. This isn’t a sports car. But it is most certainly at the far sporting edge of the luxury GT class. It’s a tourer par excellence you can also hurl around the bendy bits.

It’s only when those bendy bits get as narrow and tight as only a New Zealand back road can that you realise this car isn’t the nimble dancer you thought.

But it’s here you almost have the most fun. That 50-50 weight balance; the delightful chassis response; the level of feel through wheel and seat; and the traction control’s protocol which lets things get just a little loose sees to that. Hauling her up into some tight, 25kph bend; wrestling the muzzles onto the beast under the bonnet only to floor it, feel the rear wheels light up as you swivel around and charge for the next corner, your innards vibrating ecstatically in tune with the car is — well, words fail me. That relaxed traction control protocol will appeal to the keen driver, as will the gearbox’s habit to leave you to it. You can get the thing screaming in manual mode, and though the gear selection light will flick from green to red it won’t change for you. Because you, not the car, are in charge.

That feeling is enhanced by this independent all-round suspension package, which did a decent job of damping the big hits and smoothing over the small, as well as keeping the DB9 well under control during the hoonery that engine incited me to.

The whole lot sits on the DB9’s bonded aluminium chassis. This time it’s not been filched from another car and it’s light, as are the aluminium and thermoplastic body panels — the result is a total weight around 200kg less than the DB7.

And this car’s hand-built; something Aston’s clearly proud about. Lest we forget, not only does the sill say ‘hand-built’ but the name of the man who signed it off sits under the bonnet.

Quibbles?

Any adult and most kids sampling the rear seat should first make a chiropracter appointment. Deeply dished and lavishly leathered they may be, but they’re not designed for anything other than emergency use or baggage, something acknowledged in the DB7 which lets you order a luggage ledge in place of pews.

But other than that — and the fact its $320,000 price tag is beyond my reach — I found little to complain about, and lots to love. Though I’d like to sample the manual with this powerplant, something that, along with the drop-top car, won’t be available until June this year.

Aston Martin DB9

• Engine: all-alloy 60-degree V12

• Transmission: Touchtronic six-speed gearbox or six-speed manual

• Capacity: 5935cc

• Brakes: disc; with ABS EBD, EBA, DSC and traction control

• Max power    335kW at 6000rpm

• 0-100kph: 5.1 seconds (auto), 4.9 (manual)

• Max speed: 299kph (186mph)

• Economy: urban/extra urban/combined: 24.9/11.7/17.1l/100km (auto)

Price: $320,000

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