Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

has produced a number of V12

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as Autogas, liquefied petroleum gas and Common ...

s for its models. The first version appeared in 1999, when a 5.9-litre, 60° V12 debuted in the

Aston Martin DB7 The Aston Martin DB7 is a car that was produced by British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. It was designed by Ian Callum and Keith Helfet as a grand tourer in coupé and convertible (car), convertible b ...

Vantage.

Overview

The original Aston Martin "AML V12" project began in 1994, at Ford's Advanced Powertrain division. As Aston Martin was owned by Ford at the time, this gave Aston Martin access to Ford's considerable engineering and technology resources. The design goal was to build a unique V12 for Aston Martin, while leveraging many of Ford's best resources. The engine would be designed to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours, deliver very high torque from low RPM as well as high-revving power, would be scalable for power growth well beyond a "normal duty" Ford engine, and would only use a component from other Ford projects if it made sense and did not compromise the design. The AML V12 design featured all-new block, cylinder head and crankshaft designs, using the piston assemblies and valvetrain components from the then-upcoming Ford Duratec V6 family. The use of some Duratec components may have contributed to the myth of the AML V12 being "two Duratec V6s welded together". The reality is that the engines are quite different. The Duratec V6 is A319 cast aluminium with cast-in iron liners and bed-plate bottom end. The AML V12 is A365-T6 aluminium, features a deep-skirt six-bolt main block, thin-wall press-in liners and directly mounts nearly all of its drive accessories. It features 3.0mm-larger main bearings, a bank-to-bank offset approximately 15mm less than the V6, and has a completely different casting design including a precision water jacket. The cylinder heads differ as well. The Duratec V6s are A319 cast aluminium, the AML V12s are A365-T6 cast aluminium with unique combustion chambers, a higher compression ratio, a precision water jacket and unique intake ports (one of the design features that significantly improved low-end torque while maintaining high-end power). The AML V12 ran for the first time in September 1995. The first engine completed was taken by Ford to be shown in the Indigo concept supercar. This version was unique in that it was dry-sumped, unlike the later production versions, and fitted with a Ford V12 nameplate. Engine number 2 was installed in a DB7, which was the intended platform for the engine. The first time the public got to see the AML V12 with proper Aston Martin badging was in "Project Vantage", the prototype of the first-generation Vanquish shown at NAIAS in January 1998, a year before the 1999 Geneva Motor Show reveal of the DB7 Vantage. The DB7 Vantage became the first production model to feature the AML V12. Ford and Aston Martin partnered with

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

Technology to manufacture the AML V12s, until Aston Martin's dedicated engine plant within the

Ford Germany Ford-Werke GmbH is a German-based car manufacturing company headquartered in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of American Ford Motor Company. It operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a Cologne Body ...

plant in Niehl, Cologne became operational in 2004. The AML V12 has evolved over the years, with a number of power, torque,

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...

, and emissions upgrades. In 2016, the design was significantly modified, with a reduction in displacement to 5.2 litres, and the addition of twin turbos. This engine made its debut in the

Aston Martin DB11 The Aston Martin DB11 is a two-door grand touring car. It was manufactured as both a coupe and a convertible, the latter known as the Volante. The British carmaker Aston Martin produced the DB11 from 2016 to 2023 when it was replaced by ...

. In 2024, the engine received multiple enhancements for the third-generation

Aston Martin Vanquish The Aston Martin Vanquish is a grand tourer introduced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin in 2001 as a successor to the Aston Martin Virage (1993). The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, designed by Ian Callum and unveiled at the ...

, including a new, stronger block to cope with the extra output, larger turbochargers that spin 15% faster and at up to 15% higher compression, new camshafts, new cylinder heads and new intake runners.

RA engine

The RA is a completely new 6.5-litre,

naturally-aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...

, commissioned by

Adrian Newey Adrian Martin Newey (born 26 December 1958) is a British engineer, aerodynamicist, automotive designer and motorsport executive. Since 2025, Newey has served as technical director and co-owner of Aston Martin in Formula One; he previously serv ...

, and co-designed, developed and produced by

, in partnership and collaboration with Aston Martin, for the

Aston Martin Valkyrie The Aston Martin Valkyrie (also known by its code-names as AM-RB 001 and Nebula) is a limited production hybrid sports car collaboratively built by British automobile manufacturers Aston Martin, Red Bull Racing Advanced Technologies and sever ...

hyper car. It is not directly related to the original AM V12 design. The road-going engine is rated at at 10,500 rpm, with a max torque figure of at 7,000 rpm, making it the most powerful naturally-aspirated engine ever fitted and used in a production road car. The engine also revs to a maximum of 11,100 rpm, and has a

power density Power density, defined as the amount of power (the time rate of energy transfer) per unit volume, is a critical parameter used across a spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines. This metric, typically denoted in watts per cubic meter ...

making per litre.

Applications

Road cars

5.2L Twin Turbo (AE31)

* Aston Martin DB11 V12 (2016–2023) * Aston Martin DBS Superleggera (2018–2024) * Aston Martin V12 Vantage/V12 Speedster (2020–2022) * Aston Martin DBR22 (2022) * Aston Martin Valour (2023) * Aston Martin Valiant (2024) *

(2024–present)

5.9L

* Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage/GT/GTA (AM2/AM2A) *

Aston Martin DB9 The Aston Martin DB9 is a two-door grand tourer car that was produced in Gaydon, Warwickshire, by the British carmaker Aston Martin. It was manufactured as a coupé starting in 2004 and as a convertible known as the Volante from 2005, until th ...

(2004–2016) (AM04/AM09/AM11) * Aston Martin V12 Vanquish (2001–2005) (AM03) * Aston Martin V12 Vanquish S (2004–2007) (AM06) * Aston Martin V12 Vantage (2009–2018) (AM11/AM28) *

Aston Martin Virage The Aston Martin Virage is an automobile produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin as a replacement for its V8 models. Introduced at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1988, it was joined by the high-performance Vantage in 199 ...

(2011–2012) (AM11) *

Aston Martin DBS The Aston Martin DBS is a grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1967 to 1972. From 2007 to 2012 the DBS name was resurrected for a new model, also called the Aston Martin DBS. DBS (1967–1972) ...

(2007–2012) (AM08) *

(2012–2018) (AM28/AM29) * Aston Martin Vanquish S (2017–2018) (AM29) *

Aston Martin Rapide The Aston Martin Rapide ( ) is an executive saloon car that was produced by the British carmaker Aston Martin from 2010 until 2020. Aston Martin began development of the Rapide in 2005 as the company's first series produced four-door automobi ...

(2010–2020) (AM11/AM29) * Aston Martin V12 Zagato (AM11)

6.5L

(Aston Martin-Cosworth RA 6.5L)

7.0–7.3L

Aston Martin Vulcan The Aston Martin Vulcan is a two-door, two-seat, high-performance lightweight track-only car launched in 2015 by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The Vulcan was designed by Aston Martin's cre ...

(7.0L) *

Aston Martin One-77 The Aston Martin One-77 is a two-door, two-seater flagship sports car built by the British car manufacturer Aston Martin. The car was first shown at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, although it remained mostly covered by a " Savile Row tailored skirt ...

(7.3L Modified by Cosworth) (AM77) * Aston Martin Victor (7.3L Modified by Cosworth)

Race cars

6.0L

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

(AM04) * Lola B08/60 (AM04) *

Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 The Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, also known as the Aston Martin DBR1-2, is a Le Mans Prototype sports car built by Lola Cars International and co-developed with Prodrive for use by Aston Martin Racing. It is the first prototype to bear the Aston ...

(AM04)

References

{{Reflist, 1 Aston Martin Cosworth Ford engines V12 engines