Aston Martin has not installed a 6-cylinder engine in any of their cars since the death of the DB7 in 1999, even though the company was, for decades, synonymous with inline-six touring coupes. Thanks to the British sports car maker’s partnership with Mercedes-AMG, inline-six power could be back on the table again, in the form of the 429-horsepower 3-liter turbocharged and mild-hybrid unit just launched in the AMG 53.
Aston Martin Chief Engineer, Matt Becker, told Wheels Magazine of Australia that he’d recently driven a CLS 53 in Stuttgart at Mercedes’ test facility, and he concluded that “it’s a very impressive engine for sure.” He went on to say, “With emissions regulations going where they’re going and getting harder and harder, we have to consider all powertrain options, and we are considering six-cylinders for the future. Previous Astons have had six cylinders – a long time ago – but I think with CLS 53, the engine that has is a very complicated and clever engine and it’s something that could fit with the brand in the future.”
Becker continued by hinting that Aston Martin would not necessarily be tuning the engine for more power, meaning an inline-six powered Aston would make 76 fewer horsepower than the 2019 Vantage (which uses AMG’s 505-horsepower 4-liter twin-turbo V8). The engine bay of the Vantage, so says Becker, is large enough to fit the DB11's V12, so it’s possible to fit the inline-six without issue. It could soon come to play that Aston Martin will sell three levels of Vantage, an entry level model with this hybrid turbo I6, the 2019 MY V8 model, and a range-topping V12 Vantage. I like the idea of this future, and applaud all inline-six applications.