2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 Caught Testing with Turbo Aston Prototype

Youtuber cvdzijden recently visited the Nurburgring track in Germany, where the last few sessions of the 2014 testing season are taking place. What he saw (and filmed) was the new Mercedes-AMG C63 seemingly driving in the company of an Aston Martin V12 Vantage prototype. However, Daimler engineers look like they are more in the mood to have fun than do actual work, as on one of the laps, they floor the pedal and let the rear tires turn to smoke.

Can we blame them? No. With 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque at their disposal, they could probably do the whole 20.81 km (12.93 mi) Nordschleife loop while going sideways… if the tires would last that long.

C63 and V8 Vantage – they have the same engine

The Aston Martin prototype might look familiar to those who follow our spyshots. From the outside, it looks like just another V12 Vantage with a 6-liter engine. However, the flared wheel arches hide a new platform that's likely to be used by the DB9 in 2016. As you can hear from the video, the engine in the Vantage is turbocharged, something no Aston Marin currently offers.

That likely means that under the bonnet is one of Mercedes' V8, the two companies having recently signed an agreement. Recent reports suggest the 4-liter mill codenamed M177 will eventually replace the 5.5-liter one they currently use on other 63 AMGs. So the Vantage is actually using the same engine as the C63 that's following right behind it.

Guessing the exact output of the engine is somewhat like guessing the age of a woman just by looking. Current applications (C63 S and AMG GT S) stop at 510 Stuttgart ponies, but even 600 hp isn't out of the question here.