5 Things You Need to Know About the Aston Martin Valkyrie
If you thought the last hypercar onslaught was wild, that being the simultaneous arrival of the LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1, get ready to have your mind blown.
Both Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG have Formula 1-inspired, barely road-legal hypercars in the works, and Aston recently released more intel on its offering, the Valkyrie. There is a lot of new information on the Adrian Newey-designed hypercar, so we’ve broken things down into five easily digestible facts. Here’s what you need to know about the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
It Will Create Insane Amounts of Downforce
The Valkyrie’s aerodynamics are the work of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team’s technical director Adrian Newey. Newey is a bit of a legend in the F1 world, having designed numerous championship-winning F1 cars. In order to keep the exterior styling tidy, Newey designed the Valkyrie to have underbody downforce. Two huge Venturi Tunnels run up either side of the car and channel air to the huge rear diffuser — a system that Aston says generates extraordinary levels of downforce and negates the need for an ugly wing and other tack-on aero pieces. Downforce without the drawbacks, if you will.
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The Cabin Looks Like One from a Le Mans Prototype Racecar
Unlike many Aston Martins, the Valkyrie’s cabin isn’t designed for comfort. The seats are bolted directly to the carbon fiber tub and passengers will sit with a Formula 1-like “feet-up” position. The motorsports inspiration continues with standard four-point harnesses (six-point harnesses are available) and a detachable steering wheel for easier ingress and egress. A single OLED screen in the F1-style steering wheel relays all important vehicle information to the driver.
The Aston Martin Badge is a Thinner Than a Strand of Human Hair
Aston Martin found its typical metal wing badge was too heavy for the lightweight Valkyrie, so they put some engineers on the job. The result is a chemical-etched aluminum badge that is just 70 microns thick — 30 percent thinner than a strand of human hair. Nicknamed the “Lacewing” by Aston, the badge is 99.4 percent lighter than the automaker’s regular badge.
It Will Have More Than 1,000 Horsepower
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Aston Martin has already confirmed the Valkyrie will be powered by a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine developed by Cosworth, which will be paired with “some sort of electric powertrain to produce over 1,000 horsepower.” A bespoke seven-speed paddle shift transmission developed by supplier Ricardo will also be present. With gobs of downforce and over 1,000 horsepower on tap, Aston Martin is expecting the Valkyrie to be about as fast as a current day LMP1 racecar. A further 25 track-only models are also planned, which will have more power and downforce and thus be even faster.
It’s Already Sold Out
All 150 examples of the Valkyrie that are going to be built have already been spoken for. That production figure includes prototypes for the car as well, so as far as actual customer cars go, there will actually be less than 150. It’s not clear how much buyers paid to put a Valkyrie in their garage, but rumors say they forked over as much as £3-million or about $3.8-million USD. Aston Martin doesn’t want those buyers selling their reservation spot, either, saying their order will be canceled and they will be barred from buying a special edition Aston ever again if they do so.
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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They put screens/monitors in the lower corners of the windshield. That looks ridiculous. They should make it a heads-up display in the same location
6. Plans to make a wagon version are not in the works. 7. The owner(s) will get special pants with a gusset in the crotch so they don't rip their good pants when they drive it.