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Aston Martin has begun something of a new era in its history with the first production of its new 5.2-litre turbocharged V12 engine at the Aston Martin Engine Plant (AMEP) in Cologne.
With 608hp and 700Nm of torque, the new V12 will begin to replace the old naturally-aspirated 6.0-litre engine beginning this year with the new DB11 coupe. It has enough grunt to make the DB11 the fastest standard production DB Aston yet, with a 0-100km/h time of just 3.9 seconds, and a top speed on the naughty side of 330km/h.
The Cologne engine plant was opened in 2004, when Aston was still owned by Ford, and both the 6.0-litre V12 and 4.7-litre V8 engines have been built, and will continue for the moment to be built there.
Brian Fitzsimons, Aston Martin Chief Engineer, Powertrain, says of the new engine entering production: "To see this new engine go into full production at AMEP makes me very proud. Designing and developing the 5.2-litre twin-turbo power plant has been an all-consuming passion for me and my team. Knowing that the end result would be built with meticulous care in a truly state-of-the-art facility such as AMEP was an added motivation. It's a hugely exciting time to be an engineer at Aston Martin, not least because this is just the beginning for the new twin-turbo V12."
Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and CEO, commented: "AMEP is one of our great success stories and one of the jewels in the Aston Martin crown. To have the ability to design and then manufacture our own high-performance engines in-house is something very special. It gives us ultimate control of quality and that all-important character for which Aston Martin cars are renowned. I have no doubts that our new twin-turbo V12 is the start of an even greater era of success."