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Aston Martin DB11 V8 loses four cylinders but none of its grace

We love the Aston Martin DB11. Few vehicles combine speed, luxury, and comfort as well as that beautiful British coupe. That said, it's not the most efficient or affordable GT in the world, but Aston Martin is planning to change that. Starting this year, the company will offer the DB11 a twin-turbocharged V8 sourced from the mad Germans at Mercedes-AMG. We've known about the engine partnership for a while now, though we assumed the first Aston Martin to use a Mercedes-AMG V8 would be the next-generation V8 Vantage. At first, sticking a V8 under the hood might seem like an odd choice, but the DB series only recently started using V12s. Historically, the car has packed powerful inline-six engines. Offering two engines will allow the company to sell a lower-cost model and presumably boost sales. That means changes are strictly mechanical in nature. The engine is the now-common 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged Mercedes-AMG V8. Output is 503 horsepower and 498 pound-feet of torque. That's down 97 horsepower and 18 pound-feet of torque from the 5.2-liter V12. In the Mercedes-AMG C63 S, the 4.0-liter V8 makes equal horsepower and 18 more pound-feet of torque. Aston Martin says that the partnership with Mercedes-AMG allows the company to tailor the engine for Aston Martins. This means a new ECU with new engine and throttle mapping. Losing four cylinders changes the character of the car a bit. The DB11 V8 is a not-insubstantial 254 pounds lighter than the V12. Since most of the weight savings comes from behind the front wheels, Aston Martin says the V8 model is more agile than the V12 model. Engineers have adjusted the suspension bushing, geometry, anti-roll bars, springs, dampers, and stability control to account for the weight savings. The DB11 V8's diet helps offset the lower power output. As such, the 4.0-second 0-62 sprint is just 0.1 seconds off the V12. Top speed is down 13 mph to a still extralegal speed of 187 mph. We don't have fuel economy ratings for the US, but expect an improvement from the V12's current rating. The V8 will be available with all of the same equipment and trims as the V12, with just a few visual changes to distinguish the two models. The V8 gets unique wheels, darker headlight surroundings, and just two vents on the hood, available in either black or titanium. The DB11 V8 goes on sale in the US later this year. At $198,995, it undercuts the V12 model by $17,500.

Aston Martin's upcoming hypercar officially named Valkyrie

For all of the awesome design and impressive promised performance of the upcoming hypercar from Aston Martin and Red Bull, it has had until now a terrible name. AM-RB 001 never really rolled off the tongue, nor did it evoke power and beauty like past Aston Martin names, such as Vanquish. But Aston has fixed that with the car's new name, Valkyrie. It's a solid name, one that comes from Norse mythology. Not only that, but it continues Aston's use of names starting with "V" (Vantage, Virage, Vulcan, et al). It's also way easier to say than the serial number that was the old name. We're looking forward to getting the full official specs, too. So far, we know it will have a V12, and the company is aiming for a one horsepower to one kilogram power-to-weight ratio, similar to that of the Koenigsegg One:1. We've also heard that Aston will sell just 175 cars, with each running about $3 million. Related Video:

Aston Martin DB11 AMR coming very soon

Car manufacturers usually keep a very tight lid on upcoming product news, but because they are run by humans, mistakes are made. In this case, Aston Martin posted a link on their home media website to a page about the upcoming DB11 AMR, which we have no doubt will be the latest in the company's limited production AMR line of cars. Though they took the link down the same day, the linked page still exists and functions. There isn't really anything to see at the moment, because any assets are locked behind a password. We also reached out to Aston for information regarding the new model, but we didn't hear back from the company. Still, it's not hard to predict what this DB11 AMR will be like, since we have the preceding Rapide AMR, V8 and V12 Vantage AMRs, and the Vantage AMR Pro from which to extrapolate. It will probably have a paint scheme involving a slender center stripe, with different choices for body and stripe color. Certainly one of the color options will be the pale metallic green with a lime green stripe combo found on Aston Martin race cars. The only non-Pro AMR model to see any kind of power boost was the V12 Vantage AMR, and that was an increase of 30 horsepower, so there's a possibility the DB11 will see a mild power boost, too. The interior will likely feature loads of carbon fiber and a color-coordinated interior. In addition to its various visual updates and possible performance upgrades, the DB11 AMR will undoubtedly be extremely limited production. The Vantage AMRs numbered 300 units total, 200 of which were the V8 and 100 were the V12. The Rapide AMR run consisted of just 210 cars. Since the DB11 is available with two engines, a V8 and a V12, we could see Aston offering 300 total units split between the two engines options. And again, since the web page is still up, we expect the car will break cover very soon. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Aston Martin DB11: First Drive View 58 Photos Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Coupe Performance Supercars aston martin db11 aston martin amr aston martin db11 amr