The Aston Martin DBX is now available in China with a new engine. It is the Mercedes-AMG engine with 3 liter 6-cylinders in-line with 435 HP.
6-cylinder inline engines have been a tradition at Aston Martin. In the David Brown era, after World War II, Aston Martin gained its legendary reputation due to its James Bond series and 6-cylinder inline engines. The iconic DB5 model had a 6-cylinder in-line engine.
Back in the 70’s, Aston Martin adopted V8 engines. The last model to have a 6-cylinder in-line engine was the DB7 and only in the first part of its career. The DB7 Coupe was powered by a 3.2-liter 6-cylinder in-line supercharged engine with mechanical compressor that developed 335 HP and 489 Nm between 1994 and 1999.
The same engine equipped the DB7 Volante from 1996 to 1999. 6 cylinders in-line disappeared from the Aston Martin offer in 1999. It is now back after 22 years, but for now only for the Chinese market. And it is no longer an Aston Martin engine but a Mercedes-AMG engine with which Aston Martin has a technical partnership. With a cylinder capacity of 3 liters, single turbo, 48V mild hybrid system and a small Borg Warner mechanical compressor that works at start-up until the turbo comes into operation, it develops 435 HP and 520 Nm. This engine is found on AMG 53 series models such as E 53 and AMG GT 53 4 doors.
The 6-cylinder in-line engine send power to all four wheels via a 9-speed automatic transmission, also from Mercedes. Aston Martin DBX Straight-six is also equipped with limited-slip rear differential, also supplied by Mercedes-AMG, electronically controlled active anti-roll bars, adaptive air suspension and a carbon fiber driveshaft. The braking system is with six-piston front and single piston rear calipers mounted inside the rims with dimensions between 21 and 23 inches.
The new Aston Martin DBX Straight-six accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds and reaches 259 km/h. By comparison, the DBX with the 550 HP and 700 Nm twin-turbo V8 engine accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 291 km/h.
Although the dynamic performance is only slightly lower, the Aston Martin DBX Straight-Six is much more economical. While the version with a twin-turbo V8 engine consumes an average of 14.3 l/100 km (CO2 emissions of 323 g/km), the 6-cylinder in-line model promises a WLTP consumption of only 10.5 l/100 km
(CO2 emissions of 250 g/km).
In China, DBX is very expensive due to the luxury tax. DBX with V8 engine costs 2.298 million yuan (equivalent to about 315,000 euros). The new Aston Martin DBX Straight-Six will cost 1.898 million yuan (about 260,000 euros). By comparison, in Germany the Aston Martin DBX with V8 engine costs 196,000 euros, almost 120,000 euros cheaper than in China.
But Aston Martin rules out a launch of the new Straight Six version outside of China.
