With spring having seemingly sprung and Industry Pool sessions at the Nurburgring under way the spy snappers are busy getting pics of 2017's early prototypes. Last week we had the 'next gen'
Porsche 911
, now a car that will be facing it in the not too distant future: the next Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
If you're thinking it looks like
a DB11
that'll be because... it does. No surprise there; Aston Martin's styling language may have moved on with the introduction of that car but let's just say when the firm settles on a look that works it tends to stick with it. It's early days yet too so likely this mule has deliberately been mocked up to look like the DB11 to throw the snappers off the scent, the fact the scalable aluminium architecture introduced on the new car will likely underpin the Vantage too making this relatively easy. The shorter wheelbase is obvious enough in these pictures, the rear windowline looks similar to that on the existing Vantage and the proportions are familiar enough. The rear-end treatment seems likely to follow that of the DB11 and the small vertical pop-up spoiler - part of the Aeroblade system - looks to be carried over too. This test car also has a pretty aggressive diffuser under the rear bumper. It'll be interesting to see if the Vantage also gets the DB11's clamshell bonnet and distinctive side vent treatment - the area behind the front arch is heavily disguised but looks less cut away than the DB11. Even at this early stage the signs are promising though.
Well course it's going to look a bit like a DB11
Shared architecture is good news too. The DB11 underpinnings are (a little) lighter than before, plus they move the engine down and behind the front axle and maintain the transaxle layout for great natural balance. In this respect the Vantage follows the format of the Mercedes-AMG GT, a car we expect will also 'donate' at the very least its engine.
Seems like this has been a long time coming, right? Well it has - we first reported on Aston Martin signing up to an engine supply deal with AMG back in 2013. The DB11 uses an Aston Martin-designed V12 but already features Mercedes electronics; the Vantage will supposedly take things further and adopt the 4.0-litre AMG 'hot-V' V8. No bad thing there - if you're going to use a turbo V8 it may as well be one of the best sounding and most engaging in the business! Given AMG already pairs it with a dual-clutch gearbox in Aston's preferred transaxle position it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to find this carried over too. Can boss Andy Palmer honour his promise to offer a manual option in as many new Aston Martins as possible? That'll add to the complexity and cost if the auto-only AMG powertrain is being lifted wholesale but we can live in hope.
[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]