Say Hello To Aston Martin's New 600bhp 5.2 Twin-Turbo V12

When we took a farewell drive in the Aston Martin DB9 recently (see below), there was one thing we wanted to focus on: the engine. That’s because it won’t be long before its 5.9-litre, naturally-aspirated V12 will be taken out of production and replaced with something of the turbocharged variety.

Now we know exactly what it’s going to be killed off by: an all-new 5.2-litre, twin-turbo V12, and it’s arriving this year. Other than the size and aspiration, not a lot has been confirmed, but there’s little doubt this is the engine that powers the incoming DB11. As far as a power output goes, we can expect around 600bhp, a healthy increase over the 568bhp you get from the 5.9’s most powerful state of tune in the Vanquish.

The big question is will it still sound as good as the old N/A? We get a vague idea in the reverb-tastic release video at the top of the page, and we have seen spy footage of DB11 prototypes running what we assume is the new 5.2-litre engine - but we’ll be reserving judgement for now.

While the 5.2-litre V12 is an Aston Martin-developed unit, the replacement for the company’s 4.7-litre V8 - originally based on a Jaguar engine - will debut at a later date in the form of an AMG-sourced mill, presumably the 4.0-litre twin-turbo found in the C63 and GT.