Aston Martin DBX Could Get A Mercedes Inline-Six

Although it’s been quite some time since Aston Martin had a six-cylinder in its range, it appears that the upcoming Aston Martin DBX crossover could be offered with a six-cylinder engine.

During a recent event with Australian media, chief creative officer Marek Reichman suggested that a six-cylinder engine from Mercedes-Benz could suit the DBX quite well.

“It could [use a Mercedes-sourced six-cylinder], because that would be a pretty good engine and combination. Potentially,” he said.

While it remains to be seen which Mercedes six-cylinder Aston Martin could be given access to, one likely powertrain would be the M256 turbocharged 3.0-liter petrol inline six recently introduced with a 48-volt mild hybrid system.

While this powertrain isn’t as exciting as the V8 and V12s currently used by Aston, it can produce upwards of 382 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, figures more than adequate for everyday use.

Customers will have plenty of engines on offer.

While it remains to be seen whether Aston Martin will opt to use such an engine, we do know for sure that the DBX will be the marque’s first model to be available with a hybrid powertrain. According to the most recent reports, this variant could pair AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with an electric motor offering up 200 hp. Combined, this could give the hybrid DBX more than 700 hp, making it even more powerful than the Lamborghini Urus.

At least one other traditional gasoline-powered model will join the potential six-cylinder DBX. This powertrain will either be the 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 used by the DB11 and producing roughly 600 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque in DBX guise or the aforementioned AMG twin-turbo V8 but without any electrical assist.

Speaking with Motoring, Reichman added that the DBX will be particularly focused on the ‘Sports’ aspect of an SUV.

“The key descriptor in SUV is Sports, and since we’re pretty good at sports cars and lightweight structures and dynamic capability of cars, it is very much a Sports Utility Vehicle.”