I think telum1 is reffering to our conversation all together as it got off topic. We definelty high jacked this threat.

CaptVanquish I have heard of those guys but haven't had a chance to speak with them. Thanks for the info they will be on my list to call.

 

Maybe a new thread can be started. I don't know if BR will do non Europe projects, Velocity might. I was told Stuart can tune the stock ECU fuel and ignition maps..

Sorry for the hijack..

R

 

To bring it back to the original topic and also address the recent posts...

The DB9 GT should be a great car. I love Aston Martins, but I have ZERO interest in an "Aston Martin" that uses someone else's off-the-shelf engine, no matter how powerful that engine may be. Just drop a GM crate motor in your car and supercharge it if power is all that matters to you. The DB9 GT has an Aston Martin V12 (yes, I know its development story). I have no interest in an Aston with an AMG V8 or V12 whatsoever -- that would not be an Aston to me.

That said, and since we don't know much about the new AMG-derived V8 yet... If the new Aston engine is significantly changed from the AMG basis in a way similar to the way the current V8 engine is comprehensively different from its Jaguar basis, it could be fantastic. However, if it's merely electronically-&-exhaust-tweaked to "sound/feel like an Aston Martin engine" (which unintentionally but clearly acknowledges that such a thing would NOT be an Aston Martin engine), then that will be an abomination.

Would a Ferrari be a Ferrari if they start using AMG engines? Of course not.

 

The DB9 GT isn't named like the V8 Vantage GT. Rather, it's named after the DB7 Vantage GT (lol hold on...)

• The DB7 had a supercharged straight-6. (we're ignoring this one during the explanation but it exists so there it is)
• The DB7 V12 Vantage, usually just called the DB7 Vantage, had a 5.9L V12 with 420 hp and 400 tq.
• The DB7 V12 GT (the DB7 GT) had its power bumped up to 435 hp and 410 tq.

The DB7 GT was a slightly more powerful, sportier version of the DB7 Vantage - not a "stripped down" version.
So even though we're all used to the V8VGT being a "stripped down" V8VS, the DB9GT doesn't follow this - rather, it's named after the naming convention of the car it succeeded, the DB7GT.

DB7 Vantage => DB7 GT
DB9 => DB9 GT
V8 Vantage => V8 Vantage S
V12 Vantage => V12 Vantage S

Yessir, this thread went waaay off topic lol.

 

I'm not too confident that the AMG V8TT will be able to match the chub-inducing goodness of the AM V8's exhaust. I haven't heard the AMG GT in person, just video clips, and it doesn't sound particularly good. (Side note, I've seen the car in person and it's just as ill-styled up close as it is in pics.)

What I'm hoping AM does to keep the V12 going is to bring the work they put into the One-77 and Vulcan to the standard production V12 engines. The One-77 had a 750-hp 7.3L version and the Vulcan has an 800-hp 7.0L. Surely they can get a 650-hp 7.0L V12 into the Vanquish (and even the DB11 and V12V).

 

That would be ideal!

 

FYI,

The beloved Aston engines you speak of are currently made by Ford in Cologne Germany.

Using your logic, they are Fords and should not be purchased.

Most of Maserati's current engines are Ferrari pieces... Should we not buy Maseratis as well?

Bugatti W16 is a VW design executed by the Czech company Skoda, should we not consider Bugattis any longer?

The Lamborghini V10 is an Audi engine, so does that mean no more buying Lamborghinis?

I could list more..... Many more...

Just a thought......

 

Don't care who physically builds the motor. The V12 is ONLY used by AM and that makes it an Aston motor. A slightly disguised MB unit isn't. Maserati using a Ferrari engine? No problem since they are part of the same family. And to be clear, aren't the people building engines in Cologne actually Aston employees?

 

MRY,

You don't understand, or at least misinterpret, my "logic."

The current Aston engines are Aston engines IMO. Here's why:

The section of the Ford-owned factory that builds them is staffed by Aston Martin employees only and only Aston Martin engines are built there -- that is its only purpose.

The V12 engine has only ever been used in Aston Martins. The V8 engine, derived from the Jag V8, has its own bespoke block, crank, rods, bearings, pistons, rings, cams, heads, valves, cams, etc. This makes them Aston Martin engines.

I'd rather see Maseratis with Maserati engines, but at least they are different from Ferrari engines in significant ways, such as dual-plane crank V8 (Maserati) vs flat-plane crank V8 (Ferrari).

The Lambo V10 was a Lambo engine first -- designed specifically for the Gallardo, as I understand it. It was not an existing Audi engine that was then dropped into a Lambo. When Audi took it for its own use, that diluted its appeal to me.

The Bugatti W16 is clearly based on VW's W engine design, but at least it has its own configuration -- no VW or Audi (or Skoda) uses the 16.

The Bentley Conti series uses VW/Audi engines (and platforms, to add insult to injury).

An AMG engine electronically tuned to be "like" an Aston engine is, by their own words, NOT an Aston Martin engine.

I didn't buy a Maserati.
I didn't buy a Lambo.
I didn't buy a Bugatti (I wouldn't even if I could afford one).
I didn't buy a Bentley.

I have two Aston Martins -- with Aston Martin engines. I will not buy an "Aston" with an AMG engine that is really an AMG engine but for electronic tuning (if that's what it turns out to be), no matter how powerful it may be.

 

So you wouldn't like a Pagani because it too has an engine built by AMG? Or a Mclaren F1 because its engine was built by BMW?

Let's not even talk about the fact that Lotus uses Toyota Camry engines. LOL

 

Neither Pagani nor McLaren has a heritage, never mind one that is a century long, of building its own engines. It's a big part of what makes an Aston an Aston, and it is no part of making a Pagani a Pagani or a McLaren F1 a McLaren F1. Of course, now McLaren is doing its own engines...

In addition:

1) The BMW engine in the F1 was designed specifically for the F1 -- no BMW (or anything else) has ever used it.

2) The AMG engines in Paganis are not merely off-the-shelf AMG engines -- they are specifically modified for Pagani only, and are not simply the same-but-for-electronic-tuning engines as the engines under the hoods of M-Bs.

 

I'm shallow. The "heritage" of building your own engines means nothing to me. But, if the new engine sounds like an AMG GT instead of an Aston, that I care about and in that case I wouldn't want it either.

 

I thought the super rare SL73 had the same engine as the Zonda?

 

So everyone seems to agree that the sound of AM motors are special. Moving to an FI motor and keeping that sound will be a real challenge. Has anyone ever heard a FI motor that sounds as good as a NA motor?

 

To me? This:
(skip to the 12:46 mark to see the actual test drive)