http://www.autoblog.com/2013/05/09/d...-aston-martin/


It looks like this time they are more serious too now that there is a new owner in place. This time it may stick, I just don't know which engines they would use other than their NA 5.5L AMG engine I assume.


Discuss ...

 

OMG Aston, I can't take it anymore. Just get it done already!

FF

 

I'd kill for an SL65 with Aston looks. (owned both the SL65 and a DB9)

 

If it happens, it's the beginning of the end for Aston, unfortunately. The last thing Aston needs is 'help' from MB. If they need some new engine tech, they need to find it elsewhere, since they can't travel down that road to making their cars more 'Germanic' in nature.

 

I have no interest in an Aston Martin with a Benz engine dropped in it, no matter how good that engine may be. The engine is the heart of a car, and if I want a car with a Mercedes engine, I'll buy a Mercedes. That said, I have no objection to the use of Benz engines as a "base" from which to start the design of an Aston engine in the same way that the current V8 is "based" on a Jaguar engine and the V12 is "based" on a Ford V6 -- everything in the Aston engines are unique to Aston. Different "tuning" or "versions" of an engine to give "unique characteristics" and other marketing BS as seen, e.g., in the 4 liter V8 used in the Conti GT V8 and various Audis isn't even close to being good enough.

 

Me too. That's probably exactly why Mercedes have been hesitant to date......

 

@XJRS and Speedraser; you guys are crazy. Where do you think the hundreds of millions of dollars that it takes for new engine development will come from otherwise?

 

AM needs another FoMoCo

 

I'm not excited about Aston sourcing engines from MB but Aston needs to modernize their engines and just doesn't have the cash required to develop them from scratch. As for the outrage over a partnership with MB, I'm guessing that people reacted the same way when the news broke that Ford was taking over. That partnership worked out okay so I'm going to reserve judgment.

 

They don't need hundreds of millions to be competitive.

Just do what Jag and MB do. Slap a supercharger on the v8 ala Jag and twin turbos on the v12 ala MB. Job done. And it doesn't cost anything close to hundreds of millions to accomplish that.

 

Not in the Heath Robinson bolt-on world it doesn't, you are right. But when you need a new engine because the old engines cannot be stretched any further, and that new engine has to comply with global homolagation, global emissions, be tooled, endure an OEM warranty, and on top of all that produce power worthy of an exotic, then yes I'm afraid it does. Much simpler just to partner up with someone......like practically anyone else that is successful with small volume sales.

 

Frank,

Supposedly, several hundred million IS being invested. Also (and while I love NA engines), as pointed out by XJRS, a compressor or two would give ALL the power anyone complains may be lacking now.

Aston has wealthy backers, if not Fiat or VW (or M-B) wealthy. Like Ford did, and as I said in my earlier post, staring with a Benz engine and re-engineering to the same extent as was done with the current V8 engine that was "based" on the Jaguar engine, would be great. But an Aston with a Benz heart/engine dropped in would be of ZERO interest to me. An "SL65 with Aston looks" would just be a better-looking SL65.

 

Frank, doing what is "much simpler" isn't what made Aston great, and it won't keep them great.

 

You are quite wrong. Adding forced induction is not hundreds of millions to accomplish. Since the JLR and AM engines are cousins, what makes you think that a) the AM engine can't meet emissions and b) it is difficult to add a supercharger?

And for the v12, adding twin turbos is a piece of cake. The MB v12 is nowhere near a hi tech engine...3 valves per cylinder. Plop a couple TC's on the engine, and bingo, more power and lowered emissions.

You don't need MB tech to accomplish that. Give me a break.

 

I get that you may not want an MB engine in your Aston, but I'm not sure I understand the "heart" analogy. There is nothing uniquely Aston or British about AM's engines and, therefore, nothing about them that makes them the heart of the Aston driving experience. IMO, the uniqueness of an Aston comes from the beauty and elegance of the car, as well as the exhaust note. My guess is that if the car had an MB engine in it, it wouldn't change the user's experience that much, except perhaps to improve it with greater responsiveness and power. Unfortunately, the only thing that is a bit unique about Aston's engines today is that their technology is so old.