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Aston Martin Replacing Mercedes-Made Twin-Turbo V8 With Hybrid V6

Meredes-AMG has confirmed the end of their twin-turbo V8 engine, and while this makes us extremely sad for the future of the German brand, we’re even more worried about Aston Martin who relies on Mercedes for their V8s in the DB11 and DBX. Aston has confirmed that they will be looking at an electrified V6 to replace the outgoing 8-cylinder.

Andy Palmer, CEO of the British marque, confirmed over the phone to Car and Driver that this new V8 hybrid will replace the V8: “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,” he told the publication. “So we’ve got to make our own journey.”

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Aston Martin has little experience in producing V6s, but Palmer ensures us that his prize engineers will rise to the task of this expected hybrid powertrain, whilst retaining the characteristics of what we expect from the Aston brand.

“The key is sound, tuning the pipes to make it sound like an Aston,” Palmer commented. “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.”

Aston will, however, be maintaining its use of V12s, with the production of this engine moving from Cologne to the United Kingdom. “I hope the V12 is around for a good while longer,” Palmer says. “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.”

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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