Aston Martin Abandoning AMG V8 for Homegrown Hybrid V6 Turbo
Back in 2013, Aston Martin signed a deal with Daimler to supply the next generation of its performance vehicles with Mercedes-AMG engines and electrical systems. That arrangement is now coming to an end, as AMG has decided to replace its 4.0-liter V8 with a hybridized four-cylinder unit that’s more efficient. While the older Mercedes-sourced mill will linger in Aston Martin’s Vantage, DB11, and DBX luxury crossover, the manufacturer will eventually need to find its replacement.
Fortunately, it already has a motor in mind.
In an interview with Car & Driver, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer explained that the company plans to replace the German V8 with the homegrown hybrid V6 it has scheduled for the upcoming Valhalla and Vanquish models.
“Mercedes have made no secret of where their engine technology is moving to, and obviously we don’t foresee four-cylinder engines in our Astons,” Palmer explained, “so we’ve got to make our own journey.”
When the time comes, any model using the AMG motor will have to swap over to Aston’s V6 — which should come in a variety of flavors. Not much is known about it, though it’s said to support advanced hybrid technology, with the company frequently making reference to twin-turbo power on the Valhalla. Palmer said the V12 will also stick around, serving as the primary unit in its fanciest grand tourers. Still, he admitted it probably won’t last forever, citing the United Kingdom’s quest to ban the sale of all internal combustion vehicles by 2035.
“I hope the V12 is around for a good while longer,” Palmer said. “You can see in the longer term it won’t last, but certainly over the next few years we can continue to produce V12 engines and we can make them more CO2 friendly. It will be a sad day when we see the V12 engine disappear from an Aston.”
Since we’re rarely dressed in the proper attire, we don’t spend a lot of time in Aston Martin products. Regardless, we’ll still miss the growl of the gnarly V8 and certainly plan on savoring it wherever we manage to find it (usually an upscale parking garage). Knowing this, Palmer explained that monumental effort is being taken to ensure the V6 makes the right noise — especially considering it has never built one.
“The key is sound, tuning the pipes to make it sound like an Aston,” he said. “Obviously we can use the hybrid system and the electric motor to fill in on torque so you can compensate for the cylinder size with the electrical assist. As long as it feels like a V8 and sounds majestic, I think it’s a perfectly sensible way to go, and a lot more sensible than an [inline] four would be for us.”
[Image: Aston Martin]
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"You could get the Reno with a manual transmission, but few buyers did so." Methinks *few* buyers went with the automatic, too.
The V12 Aston engine in higher-end models is two old Ford Duratec 3.0 V6 engines laid end to end with beefier mains. Noble made many souped-up turbo versions of the Duratec V6 engine in 3 litre form to get about 425 hp. The V12 blocks and heads are cast by the Cosworth Coscast system by the real folks themselves. Easy enough to make a pretty radical turbo V6 from that base, without reinventing the wheel, surely? Enough spare engineering resources lying around with experience in the UK. All it needs are more modern heads with new combustion chambers, DI and exhaust manifolds in the head which is the trend everywhere to keep the turbo as close in as possible.