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Turbo Aston Martin Prototype Spied Lapping the Nurburgring, It's AMG-Powered

Ah, Aston Martin. Not only the British sports car manufacturer is using the same all-aluminum VH platform for all of its models since the first-gen V12 Vanquish, but its flagship models employ a Ford-developed naturally-aspirated 6L V12 engine since 1999. That's not something to boast about frankly, especially in an era when Ferrari, Audi and Mercedes are developing complex electric superchargers.
Turbo Aston Martin Prototype Spied Lapping the Nurburgring 31 photos
Photo: CarPix
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Something had to be done in order to bring Aston Martin into the 21st century and that helping hand comes in the form of technology borrowed from the AMG skunkworks of Mercedes-Benz. No wonder Daimler AG owns 5 percent of the company and is intending to buy more in the near future. Moreover, the Germans also signed a deal with Aston Martin, one that'll supply the British marque with Mercedes-sourced electrics, electronics and V8 powerplants.

We also know that Aston Martin will replace the DB9 in 2016 with an all-new model. Furthermore, a recent report claims that the automaker made registrations for trademarks DB10 through DB15. But that is then and this is now, so let's focus on the latest catch of our talented team of carparazzi. What you see in the photo gallery below isn't a V8 Vantage. In fact, that's a test mule that rides on an all-new platform.

Although it appears to have the same wheelbase as the outgoing Vantage, it's easy to see from the flared wheel arches that the axle track is a little bigger than before, both front and rear. In addition to that, we haven't seen Aston Martin fitting rubber as wide as that on any factory-specification V8 or V12 Vantage.

Aston Martin formerly used a twin-supercharger system on the 1992 V8 Vantage (Virage)

Furthermore, the vented V12 Vantage bonnet and what appears to be a pair of intercoolers behind the radiator grille and beneath the headlamps signal there's AMG twin-turbo V8 power driving the rear wheels of this gorgeous British brute. Our spy photographers confirmed that the sound is pure vee eight bellow, but the induction noise hinted the mill is turbocharged, which means only one thing.

Yup, there's a Mercedes-AMG GT M178 4-liter biturbo V8 mill under that bonnet. On the C63 S it's dubbed the M177 and produces 510 ponies and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft), but we can't tell how much oomph will this engine make on the production-ready next-generation Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9. It wouldn't be pretty for an Aston to use the same engine as the Mercedes-AMG GT S / C63 S and boast with the same figures, would it? Nevertheless, expect all future Aston Martin models to adopt forced induction.

UPDATE: we've added 20 new spy photos of the Vantage test mule for you to enjoy.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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