Aston Martin DB11 V8

Has substituting Aston’s V12 engine with Mercedes-AMG’s smaller, lighter, twin-turbo V8 created a more agile, more responsive DB11?

- James Disdale

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.