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Official: Aston Martin gets its hands on Mercedes AMG engines & Electronic Architecture

Aston Martin & AMG confirm they’re getting in bed together Back in December we reported that Aston Martin had new investment from Investindustrial and wondered if that would mean – thanks to an existing relationship between Investindustrial and AMG – if we’d see Aston Martin finally getting access to AMG’s engines and platforms. By May, things had moved on and it was clear that Aston Martin and AMG were in talks for Aston Martin to get access to their engines for the next generation of AML’s cars. Now those talks have borne fruit and AMG and AML have signed a letter of intent for Aston Martin to “access significant Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Mercedes-Benz Cars’ resources, allowing the development of bespoke V8 powertrains and the use of certain components of electric/electronic (e/e) architecture.” Interestingly, there’s no talk of V12 engines – which could mean Aston Martin are going to move from the current Ford V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish to a powerful V8 from AMG – and nor is there talk of sharing platforms.

GM claims 23-mpg average in E-ROD 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air

First introduced in 2009, the GM Performance Parts (GMPP) E-ROD program was born with the mission of creating fuel-efficient, emissions-compliant engine packages for hot-rodders. Now the program is back in the news as GMPP claims that an E-ROD-powered 1955 Bel Air returned 23 mpg on a trip from Michigan to Florida while producing emissions comparable to those of a new Camaro SS. All of that green doesn't come inexpensive--or easy.

Renault Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R Special Edition celebrates Nurburgring record

The Renault Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R (pictured) breaks a Nurburgring record We knew Renault were planning to take the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy to the Nurburgring to have a crack at the FWD production car record and wrestle it back from the SEAT Lean Cupra 280. After some extreme weight saving measures – and some chassis tweaks – Renault managed to push the 275 Trophy round the Nordschleife in 7min 53.4 seconds, beating the SEAT’s time of 7min 58.4 seconds to take the record (video below). But not being one’s to miss a marketing opportunity, Renault has decided that they should celebrate the Nurburgring record with a new limited edition Megane – the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R Special Edition.