Definitely better than a Fighter. No.
IMC we actually made Aristocrat into a PC-level class, but not one that the PCs would (usually) take. They're sorta the anti-Bard, a very Lawful type of class. The thing to remember is, the DMG Aristocrat is already a very strong class. In one campaign my Psion actually took a couple levels of DMG Aristocrat, because it was actually better for him than any PHB class.
I mean look at them:
> Class skills and skill points of a Bard. All Knowledge skills, Perform, Speak Language, etc. can all be useful, and many of these are skills few classes get. Okay, so you don't get Hide/Move Silently or Craft/Profession.
> Full weapon and armor proficiency, with no reason not to use them fully.
> d8 HD isn't quite Fighter-level, but it beats the heck out of a Bard.
> Good Will save is better than Good Fort save, for a class expected to have a decent CON. And, it mixes better with other classes that way; a Fighter/Barbarian will have a high Fort save but lousy Ref/Will, but an Aristocrat/Barbarian would be good at everything but Reflex.
It's a good class, clearly better than any of the other NPC classes.
So, we gave Aristocrats some extra abilities in my world, all of which are nonmagical, all of which scale with class level. A boost to Leadership skill (treat the Aristocrat as being 1+1/5 levels higher for Leadership, even allowing them to have a cohort higher than their "true" level), some "inspire the troops" effects similar to Bardic Music, a "Connections" ability that works similar to Bardic Knowledge (except instead of getting information, you find some string to pull to get what you need, whether it's a meeting with the King or access to the behind-the-counter stash of a merchant), things like that.
We added a basic alignment restriction (no Chaotic), too. End result: a nonmagical "secondary melee" class with useful non-combat skills, like a Rogue, but focusing in a different direction.
