Aston Martin DB11 V8
Aston meets AMG engine
When you invite an uncouth German death metal rocker to a bourgeois English dinner party, you do it in expectation of trouble. But there’s no doubt that Aston Martin knew exactly what it was doing when it took the decision, four years ago, that would lead to the DB11 getting a twin-turbocharged V8 engine from Mercedes-amg as an alternative to the Cologne-built twin-turbo V12 with which the car launched last year. This engine is an integral part of Aston’s future, in all sorts of models.
But here’s the thing: Aston’s pair of DB11S now have torque-toweight ratios of 373 and 384lb ft per tonne; and, because Aston’s V12 is a heavy old lump and AMG’S V8 can get away with one less radiator, it’s actually the cheaper V8 model that’s sitting pretty on that score. So in one respect – and arguably the most telling one where real-world performance is concerned – this new little brother is actually the bigger hitter.
It’s the V12 model for which the faster 0-62mph and top speed claims are made, though, because it’s almost 100bhp more powerful – and so Gaydon’s performance hierarchy isn’t exactly in tatters. But with only 18lb ft of between the siblings and 115kg saved by the newbie, there was never likely to be much breathing space left for the pricier model.
So why take the risk? Aston only ever offered a 12-cylinder engine in the DB9, it’s on the cusp of releasing an all-new Vantage V8 anyway and it never actually produced six and 12-cylinder DB7S at the same time, so there’s scant precedent for this. Well, it’s all down to globalism. While the £13,000 saving that DB11 buyers in the UK stand to make in return for giving up a third of their cylinders could easily be splurged on optional wheels, paint, trim and stereo equipment, there’s greater pecuniary justification for the car’s existence elsewhere in the world. In China, for example, the local tax regime will make Aston’s sub-4.0litre eight-cylinder car £70,000 more appealing than a V12. It’d take more than an optional celestial roof liner to wipe that out.
Conveniently for those of us living elsewhere, though, there are reasons other than financial to consider whether your new Aston really needs the full-dozen complement of cylinders – and, depending on your outlook, they may ultimately be convincing ones. On the back of that 115kg weight saving (not to mention a favourable redistribution of mass rearwards and within the car’s wheelbase), Gaydon has taken the opportunity to refocus the DB11’S suspension and steering to make it handle better and involve its driver more. This, you may recall, was one of only a few criticisms we had of the DB11 in last year’s road test. The V12 car plays the long-striding, rich and enigmatic grand touring coupé very well – but it was unusually softly sprung and light in its controls by Aston’s standards. Now we’ve driven the DB11 V8, it’s understandable why it was made that way.
Changes to the V8’s suspension include stiffer bushings and anti-roll bars front and rear, some altered wheel geometry and new adaptive dampers programmed for a greater spread of ride comfort and body control between the GT, S and S+ drive modes. There’s a new lateral link in the multi-link rear suspension and, according to Aston dynamics don Matt Becker, a much greater sense of support from the rear axle. The spring rates in effect haven’t changed, but the power steering calibration has, with an emphasis put on more weight and feedback and improved on-centre stability.
This, therefore, is quite a dramatically altered animal – particularly when you consider how significantly its weight saving must also contribute to that dynamic overhaul. But a better Aston Martin GT car? I guess that’d depend how badly you want your £150,000 Aston to have a V12 engine that’ll only ever appear under the bonnet of an Aston.
V12s are, after all, increasingly rare and enduringly special things. But Aston has done a remarkably good job of making Affalterbach’s 4.0-litre V8 its own. It sounds subtly different from that which you’ll find in a Mercedes-amg GT or an E63, thanks to new induction and exhaust systems. It’s more than potent enough to make the DB11 a first-class performer, and in some ways it even shows the V12 up a bit.
Granted, it’s a shame that this car doesn’t sound as majestic as last year’s delectable Vantage GT8 – but even the voice of God, in four-part harmony with a full complement of Bee Gees, would probably pale by that comparison. There’s certainly a muffled tonelessness to the DB11’S V8 compared with the old atmospheric 4.7, but there’s culture and soul aplenty nonetheless – not to mention greater subtlety and reserve than most AMGS normally bother with.
Having widened the gap between suspension modes, Aston has also created bigger and more clearly defined steps between the matching GT, S and S+ powertrain modes for the DB11 V8 – and to worthwhile effect. In GT mode, the car prefers to hold on to a high gear and allow that V8 to knuckle down through the lower mid-range. S suits the car best on the road, and in it the transaxle gearbox is quick to drop a ratio in
response to a dipped accelerator but not given to hunting or over-reaction. S+ is one to enjoy for short bursts but can make the car unhelpfully highly strung. Or there’s always manual shift mode, which is improved in the V8’s case by a shorter, snappier paddle action than the V12 has.
Whichever mode you’re in, the V8 is nicely lively and more responsive than the V12 – and really torquey. The vigour with which the car hustles from 3000 to 5000rpm is seriously impressive, and it makes for more effective overtaking potential and probably greater ground-covering pace than even the V12 car has.
The DB11 V8’s handling, however, is an even better advert for the car than its engine. Aston Martin is proud of the improvements made to the car’s feedback levels, body control and both its directional precision and its handling response, and rightly so. The V8 remains supple and compliant but also keeps check on its body movements quite a lot more closely and deftly than the V12 does.
The difference that weighty, newly communicative electric power steering system makes to your ability to gauge the level of grip under the front tyres is a big one too. Being able to take that much more confidence in the adhesiveness of the car’s front end makes the pace of the car’s steering rack easier to assimilate, and it also means you can begin to explore the balance and adjustability of the DB11’S chassis in a way you simply wouldn’t risk in the 12-cylinder car.
At the end of a long drive, you’re left in no doubt that this car feels much truer to Aston Martin’s longstanding tradition of building sporting grand touring coupés and proper driver’s cars than its more expensive and powerful cousin. The DB11 V12 retains its place, of course, and as a more isolating, gentleriding, luxurious distance machine, it’s great at what it does.
But for proof of the V8’s stature as simply a better-executed DB11, look no further than Aston Martin’s plan to transfer most of the V8’s suspension and steering changes onto the V12 as part of next year’s model year revision.
On balance, if I was going to buy a 12-cylinder DB11, I think I might therefore wait until 2018 to do it. But on this evidence, I might not actually buy a V12 at all.
The DB11 V8’s handling is an even better advert for the car than its engine