No, you’re not seeing double. A hardcore version of the Aston Martin Vantage was spied testing at the Nurburgring, with no fewer than eight exhaust pipes. As you can see in the spy images here, there are two exhaust pipes traditionally positioned at each corner of the car, plus four more in the middle.
The test mule, believed to be the upcoming Vantage RS, was also sporting an aggressive, racing-style rear wing and turquoise-colored brake calipers. Nothing on the front end or the sides gets our attention, really, so it’s hard to tell what exactly Aston is shooting for here. Of course, the obvious answer is a tweaked powertrain.
The Vantage currently sports four exhaust pipes, two on each side, so the pipes in question are the units in the center of the car.
Chances are that those middle four aren’t operable and are either a weird setup on the test unit from a previous shakedown or simply there to throw off the cameras. I can’t imagine there’d be a legitimate reason to run eight exhaust pipes, especially in that odd configuration—though now I’m wondering which configuration would best fit eight pipes? Mmm…
The current Vantage is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that produces 656 to 670 horsepower depending on spec, and 590 pound-feet of torque. The AMG-derived engine can do 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 202 mph.
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