Aston Martin confirms supercar testing in Oz

UPDATED: 29/01/2016 16:30pm ASTON Martin has confirmed a pre-production prototype, likely its upcoming DB11 supercar, is in Australia, where it is expected to undergo hot weather stress testing.

The only future production model confirmed from the British marque is the DB9-replacing DB11, expected to land sometime this year and, as Aston Martin told GoAuto local roads are often used to conduct trials of new and upcoming vehicles.

“Australia is an important market for Aston Martin and we frequently use the terrain to test our vehicles,” it said. “There is only one pre-production Aston Martin vehicle undertaking testing in the market.” The test car, which surfaced on the Melbourne Exotic Car Spotting Facebook page, will likely make its way to the Northern Territory for extensive hot weather testing and to make use of a speed limit-free stretch of the Stuart Highway.

The Northern Territory has become a popular destination for supercars since the derestriction of speed limits and has since seen Porsche clock 350km/h in its 918 hybrid hypercar and Bentley hit a speed of up to 331km/h in a Continental GT.

Aston Martin previously announced that the new DB11 will be powered by a 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine, rumoured to be sourced from Mercedes-AMG after a powertrain agreement was reached with the German marque in 2013.

Although no power figures have been revealed, it is expected the DB11 will push the performance envelope further than the soon-to-be-replaced DB9, which produces 400kW of power and 860Nm of torque from a Ford-derived 6.0-litre V12 unit.

Reports also indicate the styling of the new supercar will borrow substantially from the bespoke DB10 showcar used in the latest James Bond movie Spectre, which featured a heavily sloped rear windscreen, low roofline and prominent rear diffuser.

The production ready DB11 is expected to sport Aston Martin’s signature wide and heavy rear haunches, as well as the slimmed down tail-lights, front-fender cooling vents and wheels borrowed straight from the DB10.