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Episode 2 of The Grand Tour will feature knives, explosions, guns, and also cars

Following an immensely successful debut, The Grand Tour will follow up its first episode with exciting, dangerous things. Based on the trailer above, the episode will start peacefully enough with the trio driving up to the tent in South Africa with a convoy of off-road trucks. However, it seems each segment will be much more exciting. Right at the start of the trailer, there are clips of the Aston Martin Vulcan, a 7.0-liter, 820-horsepower V12 supercar, which will likely be the car tested at the "Ebola-drome" this week. Of course the car is communist because it doesn't have a V8. Then things get steadily more dangerous through the trailer. James May is shown as a somewhat unwilling participant at some sort of drifting exhibition. He apparently doesn't like tire smoke in the evenings. We also see that the trio went to Jordan for another segment. This is when we get a glimpse of Richard Hammond playing with large knives. Immediately following are clips of some sort of car chase challenge with large SUVs and luxury sedans, during which James May shoots an assault rifle out the back of an Audi S8. The shooting results in big explosions. It's worth a look yourself, to get in the mood for the next episode which hits Amazon on Friday. Related Video:

AMG's partnership with Aston Martin won't extend past engines, for now

There's been talk of late about the technical partnership between Aston Martin and the AMG division of Mercedes-Benz going beyond engines to include Mercedes sports car and SUV platforms for the English brand, perhaps as a way to kickstart the development of a Lagonda SUV. But AMG CEO Tobias Moers, speaking to Top Gear, said that's effectively out of the question because, "No one has the time to discuss any more involvement than that for now."
Moers believes Aston Martin will be so busy "for the next two to three years" integrating its AMG-sourced engine and electronics that it won't have the resources to devote to working out a platform-sharing deal; Daimler sources have already said that Aston Martin's development budget "just isn't enough" to even consider a whole new model, and that greater cooperation would require something like a larger ownership stake in the boutique sports car maker.
AMG, in the meantime, is busy with the recent launch of the GLA45 AMG, the coming C63 AMG and its rumored 4.0-liter V8, the Mercedes-AMG GT and its assault on the Porsche 911 among who-knows-what other skunkworks projects. Moers said the technical partnership is about profit for AMG, clear and simple, and, "All these rumors about platform sharing are nice but no one at Aston or Mercedes has the time to discuss them."

Aston Martin CEO to personally inspect first 1,000 DB11s

The Aston Martin DB11 is going to be a significant vehicle for the British automaker and to ensure that new owners are getting a flawless vehicle, CEO Andy Palmer will be going the extra mile to personally inspect the first 1,000 models. According to a recent tweet by BBC Autos reporter Matthew Phenix, Palmer will be working overtime to give the first set of vehicles an extra dose of love. The CEO will also be placing an inspection badge, which bears his signature, onto every one of the DB11's V12 engines he looks over. Only 1000 Aston Martin DB11 V12's to be made with this particular inspectors plaque! pic.twitter.com/lkmMTJpGE8 — Andy Palmer (@AndyatAston) July 13, 2016 The idea of giving the DB11 more love over the rest of Aston's lineup makes sense as the DB11 is the first all-new vehicle to debut from the automaker since Palmer took over as CEO in 2014. The DB11 is the 10th car in the iconic DB lineage that began with the gorgeous DB1 in 1948. And with the DB line being the most successful model for the automaker, there's a lot riding on the new DB11. This isn't the first time a CEO has gone to extreme lengths to ensure that vehicles are up to snuff as Elon Musk reportedly slept in a sleeping bag on the factory floor for the production of the Tesla Model X. Hopefully Palmer's extra effort will pay off for the DB11. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin DB11 View 42 Photos News Source: @AndyatAston, @mattphenix Auto News Aston Martin Coupe Luxury Performance aston martin db11