Word on the street this week, from Britain’s Autocar (which also believes we’re looking at the new DBS), is that the mystery Aston Martin coupe will hit the market with it’s 6.0-liter V-12 bumped up by an additional 40 horsepower, for a claimed output of 550 horsepower.
The car reportedly gets a new ZF transmission, too, this time using eight speeds for improved performance and fuel economy.
While few would call the current DBS underpowered, a bump of just 40 horsepower on your flagship coupe and convertible seems a bit... underwhelming.
On the other hand, an output of 550 horsepower would represent a bump of 80 horsepower for the DB9, which sounds more reasonable (and seems to support our belief that we’re looking at the next DB9, not the next DBS). It also positions the next DBS to be quite a bit higher in performance than the model it replaces.
Of course there’s still the chance that we’re wrong on this, and the car pictured really is the new Aston Martin DBS. If that’s the case, the replacement Aston Martin DB9 (whose design predates the DBS by some three years) is the best kept secret in the automotive world. Unless, of course, Aston’s plan is to kill off the DB9 altogether.