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New Aston Martin V12 Vantage rumored with 670 hp

In August, spy photographers at the Nurburgring took pics of an Aston Martin Vantage mule doing hard laps. The primer black test car sported an extra wide body, a big ol' V-shaped mesh net on its hood likely hiding heat extractors, an enormous grille with extra intakes along the sides, and dual pipes jutting out the center of the rear diffuser. It looked like Aston Martin had put its 5.2-liter V12 into a Vantage engine bay, and reports from ears on the ground said it sounded that way, too. Remember, last year's Aston Martin Speedster was based on the Vantage chassis and was powered by that 5.2-liter V12, an engine not available in the series production Vantage. In the Speedster, that engine produced 690 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. The Supercar Blog reports that its sources say a reborn V12 Vantage might have its engine restricted to 670 hp. That seems a logical number, possibly putting the V12 Vantage a notable step down from the 715-hp DBS and the 690-hp special edition Speedster. If it does get 670 hp, that figure would put it 40 ponies ahead of the DB11 with the same V12, but TSB reports the V12 Vantage will be a limited edition. Expected to arrive for the 2023 model year as part of the standard Vantage's model update, sources say there will only be 299 made.  The last time Aston Martin put its biggest engine in its smallest car, the result was arguably the best and most enjoyable car in the automaker's range. We have the same expectation this time around. Unlike the last time, though, there won't be a manual transmission on the menu; it's said the updated Vantage will go with the eight-speed automatic only. Now that the Vantage F1 Edition starts at over $160,000, a V12 Vantage could start beyond $190,000 and even creep over $200,000. Company CEO Tobias Moers has said he plans 10 derivatives of existing models by 2023, so it seems likely that this won't be the only special edition Vantage on the way.

Autoblog's adventures at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race [spoilers]

The brand-new Audi R8 LMS, said to share 50 percent of its components with the street-legal R8 shown off at Geneva, has won its very first race at the 2015 Nurburgring 24-Hours. The No. 28 car driven by Christopher Mies, Edward Sandstrom, Nico Muller, and Laurens Vanthoor for the Audi Sport WRT team out of Belgium finished only 40.279 seconds ahead of the No. 25 BMW Sport Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3 in second place, for the smallest winning gap since the race began in 1970. Those two cars traded the lead throughout Sunday morning and were less than a minute away from one another for the last two hours. They were part of a total 35 lead changes during the entire race – a record for the event – and both did 156 laps. Third place went to the No. 44 Falken Tire Porsche 997 GT3, one lap down. The Audis did what they always do: lurked close to the front, stayed out of trouble, then pounced when everyone else faltered. For the opening stretches the BMW Z4 teams owned it, running 1-2-3 for a while, but all of them hit trouble. When morning came and the race got over its yellow-flag fever, the No. 28 Audi was in front and stayed there. It was the third Nurburgring 24-Hour win for Audi in four years, the brand's first win only coming in 2012. Last year's winner, the Phoenix Audi team that set a race record by doing 159 laps, had both of its cars retire. One hit an oil patch about 12 hours in, spun and was hit by another car behind, taking on too much damage to continue. The other retired with engine issues. Other Notes Three cars crashed out of the race while leading, after the rains that weren't supposed to happen, happened about 90 minutes in. The No. 20 Schubert BMW Z4 led the first 50 minutes of the race, hopped a crest at Pflanzgarten, landed in a pool of water, and hit the wall on the 30th lap. Then the No. 30 Frikadelli Porsche, with a driver team that included ex-'Ring Taxi driver Sabine Schmitz, hit the No. 31 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on the approach to Carrousel and crashed out. Then the No. 1 Phoenix Audi, last year's winning car, took the lead but hit the wall after that oil patch near Pflanzgarten and was out of the race. Aston Martin celebrated a class win in the SP8 category with the No. 49 Vantage GT4 N430. This being the tenth anniversary of the Vantage running the Nurburgring-24, this year's car was painted in the same colors as the racecar from ten years ago.

Refreshed Aston Martin DB11 appears in spy photos

At nearly 7 years old, the Aston Martin DB11 is starting to show its age, so it makes sense that we'd see at least an updated version like the one in these spy photos. They show a thinly disguised coupe, and the design revisions are pretty minimal, too. But they should come with some useful upgrades under the new body. The front fascia is really about all that's changed on this car. The front grille is much larger, extending farther down and farther to each side than on the current DB11. The old slatted grille is gone, too, in favor of a very large egg-crate mesh. It looks as though the headlights may be updated, too, but it's a bit difficult to tell for sure. As for the rest of the car, it's pretty much identical to the current car. This is all in keeping with the report last February that the entire Aston Martin lineup would be updated, and not just stylistically. Powertrain updates are apparently coming, with hybrids on the horizon. Nothing on this car indicates it's a hybrid, though, and the hybrids are probably another year out. Odds are, we'll see more powerful versions of the base AMG twin-turbo 4.0L V8 and the Aston twin-turbo 5.2L V12 first. Additionally, updated infotainment systems and interior upgrades will be reportedly be part of the refresh. Last year's report said the updated Astons would be launching this year. This prototype does look very close to production-ready, so that timeline still seems likely. And with it being Aston's 110th anniversary, it's a great time to start rolling out fresher product. Related video: 2017 Aston Martin DB11 First Drive