Has substituting Aston’s V12 engine with Mercedes-AMG’s smaller, lighter, twin-turbo V8 created a more agile, more responsive DB11?
THERE’S SOMETHING inherently ‘right’ about the combination of the words ‘Aston Martin’ and ‘V8 engine’. It instantly evokes images of the brutish, lantern-jawed ‘Oscar India’ AMV8 that kept the company afloat in the ’80s, or the current Vantage, which helped make the brand accessible to a much broader range of customers.
So the arrival of the DB11 V8 should be cause for celebration. Not least because it bears the most obvious fruit of the collaboration between Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz: under its long bonnet is the same twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 that normally nestles beneath the far less elegant bodywork of the Mercedes-AMG C63 S.
Lighter than its V12-engined big brother, the DB11 V8 promises to be a more agile, driver-focused GT –more of an evo DB11, if you will. The smaller engine plays a huge part in a weight reduction of 115kg (overall weight is now 1760kg), while setting the block further back in the chassis reverses the front-to-rear weight distribution to 49:51, versus 51:49 for the V12.
Apart from Aston’s own ECU software and a shallower sump for a lower centre of gravity, the 4-litre unit is carried over pretty much unchanged from the C63, which means the same 503bhp peak power output. However, the exhausts have been retuned to deliver a different exhaust note, while the remapped electronics are aimed at giving a more progressive torque delivery.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 2017 de Evo.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
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