From today's London Times:

Aston Martin has inked a new deal with Ford that will see the American car giant supply it with engines for the next five years.

The deal will be cheered by workers at Ford’s factory in Cologne, Germany, which supplies the Midlands car manufacturer with V8 and V12 engines.

The James Bond car maker was in talks with other engine suppliers, including Mercedes-Benz.

Aston Martin is also understood to be closing in on a new chief executive to replace Ulrich Bez, who has held the position for 13 years.

 

Good! I would hate to see the brand be diluted by the Germans......

 

So 5.0L coyote motor?!

 

I guess I should know this but, the way the report reads, Ford now supplies the motors? Correct?

 

Yes, by God.......if it ain't broke, don't mess with it

 

That is good news but I do hope Ford uses higher quality materials in these new generation of engines.

 

I'd love to see the new EFI that FMC added to the 5.0. The application would help improve MPG, emissions and power.

 

This is great news!!! I hated the idea of a Merc engine in an Aston. Thanks for posting

 

Agreed that Ford should use higher quality materials.

The tuning possibilites would be better with Mercedes IMO. Im thinking AMG etc.... plus I think Mercedes engines would be more capable / reliable then Ford to take bigger power. Im thinking Kompressors as well

 

AFAIK the engines are not built by Ford, they are built under license by AM employees in a plant leased from Ford. It is this lease/license that has just been renewed.

There is plenty of scope for NA tuning in the V8 & V12
Aftermarket tuners have got 550BHP from the V8 and 650BHP from the V12 by using far better quality materials and build specs.
AM have a habit of drip feeding little improvements with each model changes, for instance the new Vanquish is the first AM V12 to get knock control, now the Vantage V12S has it and a new ECU.
Its their way of squeezing as much profit out of each development (frustratingly!)

 

I have never seen any tuner provide any dyno chart that comes anywhere near 550 naturally aspirated. Aston won't supercharge their motors bc of emissions reasons

 

Agree. They are AM built engines in the Ford Cologne plant.

 

well Im not sure??? merc engines are bullet proof the newer ones, when i drive my aston Im always a bit unsure how the day will end and I tend to drive it with more 'love' than my merc...possibly because merc parts are everywhere and the technical support is superior and more affordable and More reliable although i myself have not had a problem with my AM now at 23000Km.

However a Aston Vantage with a 6l Merc engine teeeeeked by Brabus would in my opinion be the ultimate, I would be able to drive it every day not wondering when the clutch is going to drop out or the gears wont change it will be a bit piece of mind, imagine a Vantage with 1000Nm of torque!!!! we wont have to turn away when a 911 or a jap pocket rocket turns up at the lights.... we could just smoke them. Instead we nod as if wearing a bowler hat implying that you go sunny boy us aston drivers are beyond robot to robot... my chief engineer wants to remove my aston motor and fit the jag 5l SC and its auto box... his waiting for the oppertunity, as he says lets put some reliability into the most beutifull car in the world

 

Those who claim newer gen Benz motors are not reliable or strong are clueless. The new biturbo V8s are making over 750hp at crank with just a retune. They are monsters. Shame, could have been in an Aston

 

My opinion on this has been stated fairly clearly here; let's just say I'm not unhappy about this news...

FWIW, my Aston has been completely reliable -- FAR more reliable than my wife's 2012 Merc , which hasn't been (no engine trouble, though).