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Aston Martin Rapide AMR spied testing at the 'Ring

At last year's Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin launched its AMR line of limited-edition, high-performance models. The first two models presented were a Vantage AMR Pro designed only for the track, and a Rapide AMR that's was a slightly hopped up version of the Aston sedan. Though they were fully revealed back then, it seems Aston Martin has still been doing a bit of testing, since one of our spy photographers caught the Rapide AMR at the Nurburgring. The car is most certainly a test vehicle, since the hood and front bumper are unpainted. It's also missing its florescent green stripe down the middle. But it looks like there haven't been any visual changes to the bodywork compared to the show car. It is also missing four massive exhaust tips at the back. Still, it should have the same 592-horsepower V12 under the hood with a louder exhaust system and plenty of carbon fiber bits inside and outside of the car. This may be one of the only times we ever see one of these cars at the famous German race track, or any race track for that matter. Only 210 Rapide AMR cars will be built, meaning collectors will probably be squirreling them away into garages and only bringing them out for the occasional car show or Sunday drive. Hopefully Aston will also record and announce a lap time for the big-engine sedan, since we doubt anyone else will try to set a record time. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Aston Martin Rapide AMR spy shots View 13 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Aston Martin Luxury Performance Sedan aston martin rapide aston martin racing aston martin amr

GM says second recalled ignition switch was made in China

The defective ignition switch that led General Motors to recall an additional 3.4 million large sedans earlier this month was manufactured in China, according to a report filed with safety regulators obtained by Reuters. The switches can be knocked out of the run position, much like those affecting the Chevrolet Cobalt and other GM small cars, turning off the engine and safety systems like the airbags. Unlike GM's previous ignition switch recall, though, this latest issue will see dealers simply modify the key rather than replace the ignition switch outright, despite the fact that the switches were "slightly" below torque specifications. If what GM is claiming about this switch's origin is true, it'd mark the second high-profile recall of a part manufactured in China, following Aston Martin's (relatively) huge recall due to faulty accelerator arms in over 75 percent of the cars it had built since 2007. For what it's worth, from our perspective, the link between the Aston plastics and this GM switch seems just a bit too tenuous for us to put a lot of stock in GM's problems stemming from the location of its parts supplier, especially when the related investigation into its corporate culture has resulted in so many other culpable actors. Featured Gallery 2008 Buick Lucerne CXL Special Edition News Source: Reuters Recalls Aston Martin GM Safety supplier gm ignition switch recall gm safety ignition switch

Aston Martin's AM-RB 001 hypercar will have a 6.5-liter Cosworth V12 and so much more

It's been a while since we heard any big news about the Aston Martin-Red Bull hypercar, the plainly named AM-RB 001. When it debuted last year, we got a look at the shape – and that's about it. Sure, a super-powerful V12 hybrid powertrain was promised, but we didn't have any concrete details on it or what was going into the pretty wrapper. Well, now Aston has made some announcements about partners, and they certainly have our attention: Cosworth, Ricardo, Multimatic, and Rimac. Cosworth, the famed engine supplier, will be supplying the engine. It's a 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12. Aston had previously said the car will be a member of the one-horsepower-per-kilogram club, and so people are expecting the engine to make about 900 horsepower. It will of course be augmented by an electric motor, which will be fed by a high-performance battery from Rimac. (Yes, the same Rimac whose Concept_One has been shown in videos beating everything from Teslas to LaFerraris.) The as-yet-undefined amount of power will be routed through a seven-speed paddle-shift transmission supplied by Ricardo. And because you're going to want to stop, there will be big carbon-ceramic brakes – Alcon and Surface Transforms will supply the calipers and carbon discs. Multimatic, builders of awesome shocks, will make the carbon-fiber tub that everything goes into. Multimatic has worked with Aston in the past, including on its last limited-production vehicle, the One-77. Bosch is responsible for the ECU, traction control, and stability control. LED lights will be supplied by Wipac. So yeah, there almost aren't any high-profile companies left after this announcement. This car is going to be pretty extreme. Aston reiterates that it will build a maximum of 150for the road including prototypes, plus 25 more track-only models. They'll start going to customers in 2019. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001 Aston Martin Coupe Hybrid Lightweight Vehicles Performance Supercars aston martin am-rb 001