In Praise of Aston Martin’s Borrowed Engine

McLaren F. 1. Lotus Ellis. Saturn Vue Red Sun.. They’re all mashups – cars that borrow magic from someone else’s engine. Or at least a fast Saturn Vue.

I used to talk secretly about cars like this. It seemed like a shortcut, a copy. But now that factory engine exchange is becoming increasingly rare, I have turned to this corporate mashup. I guess the lawn is always green on the other side of the aisle and electrification, the two main factors that conspire to deny us our sweet mechanical cross-breeding. Depending on the elaborate ecosystem of selected mutation manufacturers such as Ellis or Jensen Interceptor. This is not the case when the jeep catches a Fiat engine on the other side of the building. Similarly, no one is going to borrow someone else’s electric motor. Even if they do, who cares? It’s not the way you see it.

The 2020 Aston Martin Vantage is a rare modern mashup tuned to AMG’s dual turbo 4.0 – liter horsepower 503, a British car with a German V8. When I found out that Aston was filling Benz power in the new Vantage, I thought it was a weird move. After all, does their own V-8 help them get enough power? It may be, but it takes a lot of money to significantly restore an engine, I’d love to see Aston spend more on Aston-Y stuff, releasing the hood embedded in the passenger side footpath and the glass strip that allows you to activate Button seat heating and cooling simultaneously. (Why? Because I like to party.)

And, apparently, AMG produces a very good British V-8 Like Do, if possible. The engine is really sluggish until the peak, the turbo spool and then reaches its maximum of 6,000 rpm. Aston claims that it did some proprietary tuning, but with the exception of the power, it’s hard to say the difference between an AMG GT (the standard GT version produces 469 horsepower). The Benz style does not have an active overflow button, so you can ignore the roughness by choosing the Sport Plus or Track models, one of which will announce your arrival with a triumphant smile and Lars Urlrich double-bass thunder. There is a silent start mode The press the start button when the car catches fire – but I never tried it because I was cool.

Under the hood, the 4.0-liter looks similar to an AMG and thrives on the build plate. When AMG has a signature logo that certifies that the engine is made of the finest Fritz or Olga, the Aston logo simply reads “Aston Martin Vantage” and “Final Test of MVEC Operations”. The engine is still handmade, but they suggest it was the handiwork of someone named Simon.

All of that mess is definitely stuffed into a beautiful car. At 76.4 inches wide (excluding rear view mirrors), the Aston Corvette is slightly wider but half a foot shorter, giving it a discreet stance. But it does not seem to work so hard. I saw the width as I pulled it out of the towel and realized that I could barely get to the middle even though my tester gadget had long arms. It is a Vantage car with very fine details. I like the doors, when they open, not to interrupt, but Lambo doesn’t care about that. The rear hatch tips are even nicer, with a fuzzy aerial-looking multi-link mechanism, a piece you’d meditate on the door of a Boeing 787 aircraft.

Surprisingly, the Vantage $ 184,017 AMGG is not as big a piece as the one shown here. Whatever it feels like, it’s a small group of foreigners with a big budget engine. The V-8 is ruthlessly polished, but the key to starting it is bigger, lighter and smoother. Pour some of the vintage fob into the old stall, or at least glue it inside a piece of glue. The Benz Switchgear is scattered here and there, which makes me happy, because it’s fun to see how the shelves outside their desired home are integrated (okay, it’s fun for me, the guy who was happy to see Dodge’s navigation system in the first Ferrari FF ). The steering wheel is mounted on the left side at the request of the beggars and the despicable colonialists who release the hood on the passenger side.

But when you let it tear, it all comes together beautifully. The furious big power in a pretty small coupe is the perfect Aston, with the added advantage that in 20 or 30 years this car would have been easier to drive if it had had a lower volume Aston V-8. I’m not saying Aston’s internal engines are unreliable (as far as I know they are very strong), it will be difficult to get parts when the production numbers are very small. This point was raised to me by a Polaris dealer when we were talking about the new slingshot. The older one used a GM 2.4-liter four-cylinder; The new one is powered by the Polaris’ own 2.0 liter. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with one of those GM engines again,” he said. “But even if they do, that’s the common denominator you can get from any Chevy dealer. Who knows now? “Think about it, Slingshot is missing another mashup.

So celebrate, don’t underestimate, Aston’s engine borrowing strategy. That was enough for the McLaren F1 (BMW), Pagani Sonda (Mercedes) and Fiat 124 (the turbocharged Miata that Mazda does not build). You want the most attractive dog, get a puppy.

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