A few years ago, Aston Martin announced that it would borrow engines from Mercedes-AMG. So far, the DB11 has gotten AMG's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, as has the new Vantage. But unlike AMG, Aston Martin decided to mate the boosted V8 to a manual transmission in the Vantage AMR.

And even though the AMG V8 produces a healthy 510 horsepower and 505 lb-ft of torque, it has plenty of room for additional tuning, exemplified by the fact that aftermarket tuners have managed to squeeze big power out of the new Vantage. The challenge to extract ever-higher horsepower figures could be why a German tuner called McChip-DKR has just announced three upgrade levels for the British sports car.

The Stage 1 tune is purely a chip tune, but it still extracts an additional 80 hp from the engine for a total of 590 ponies. Stage 2 adds downpipes with sport catalysts and then gives the car a software upgrade to match, bringing performance gains of up to 100 hp (for a total of 610). And for those who really want to torch the rear tires there's the Stage 3 tune, which gives the turbochargers newly milled compressors, turbine wheels with modified geometry, adapted inlets and outlets, and reinforced storage. The end result is a massive power increase of 190 hp for a total of 700 horsepower.

McChip-DKR notes, "All performance Stages have been developed and tested with the utmost care. Further information and prices can be found in our chip tuning database." The company doesn't mention if these tunes will also be available for the manual Vantage AMR.

Pricing for the Stage 1 kit starts at €1,899 (around $2,138) while Stage 2 costs €7,190 (around $8,094), likely because it includes mechanical upgrades. Stage 3 is the most expensive, at €14,669 (around $16,515), but seems worth the money considering it produces nearly DBS Superleggera levels of power. And though these upgrades are impressive, it should be noted they void Aston Martin's three-year warranty. So if you want an Aston Martin with 700 hp and piece of mind, the DBS Superleggera is still the way to go.