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I'm not a mechanical engineer, but was brought up to believe that a straight six was the perfectly balanced engine. Quotes from those high up in Audi seem to say the contrary, which leads me to believe that perhaps there's an attempt going on to sow a seed of doubt in Aston-Martin's minds.
Both Porsche and Jaguar managed to run successfully with six-cylinder engines, Jag's of course being an in-line six. Doubtless others more knowledgeable than I can add to that small list.
A quote from Wikipedia:
"An inline six engine is in perfect primary and secondary mechanical balance, without the use of a balance shaft. The engine is in primary balance because the front and rear trio of cylinders are mirror images, and the pistons move in pairs. That is, piston #1 balances #6, #2 balances #5, and #3 balances #4, largely eliminating the polar rocking motion that would otherwise result. Secondary imbalance is avoided because an inline six cylinder crankshaft has six crank throws arranged in three planes offset at 120°. The result is that differences in piston speed at any given point in rotation are effectively canceled."
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