Aston Martin Is Building A Brand-New V12

The twin-turbo, 824bhp engine will power a new generation of flagship Astons, likely beginning with the DBS successor

01 May 2024

Until very recently, it seemed Aston Martin was ready to wave goodbye to the V12 engine, a configuration that had defined the company ever since it first appeared in the DB7 in 1999. Its cars were all switching out their twelve-pots for turbocharged AMG V8s, and it looked like the V12 Vantage and Valour were farewells.

Well, as it turns out, that’s not the case: Aston has announced that it’s developed a new twin-turbo V12 engine, which will debut in a new model later in 2024.

It seems that the engine will be a heavily reworked version of the 5.2-litre unit that currently sees service in the DBS, and previously featured in the V12 Vantage and DB11. Aston makes reference to a strengthened block, redesigned cylinder heads, reprofiled cams and new intake and exhaust ports. It also features reduced inertia turbos for greater response.

We’ve also been given some figures for the new engine: 824bhp and 738lb ft of torque. That’s a not-insignificant gain over the most powerful version of the firm’s current V12, which makes 759bhp and 664lb ft in the DBS 770 Ultimate.

The engine will be handbuilt in limited numbers each year and will be fitted to what Aston calls its “most exclusive and limited availability” models. We’ll see the first of these, “a new flagship model”, later this year. We don’t have any further details on what that model might be, but there have been plenty of spy shots of the successor to the current DBS testing, which is highly likely to use the new engine. Aston’s announcement video bears the subtitle “All Will Be Vanquished,” hinting at a potential return of the Vanquish name for the new model.

It’s gearing up to be a busy year for the storied British company, with its mid-engined Valhalla supercar also set to go into production. With this renewed focus on performance, chairman Lawrence Stroll recently said the company would be delaying its rollout of EVs and refocusing development on plug-in hybrids and planned to keep internal combustion around until legally told to stop.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.