Aston Martin’s secrets

The UK likes to play a special role and not just since Brexit. The British Isles pride themselves on doing things a little differently from Continental Europeans. This attitude was also reflected in Aston Martin Valhalla. It appears to be a sister model to the mega bolide One from collaboration partner Mercedes-AMG. But Corenn Lange vehemently disagrees: “We just took over the engine block and crankshaft from AMG,” explains Aston Martin manager.

As if that weren’t enough, Lange adds: “We want to beat the Mercedes-AMG One by five seconds at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.” One thing has long been daring: AMG bolide set a new record for production cars with a time of 6:35.183 minutes on the legendary racetrack roller coaster in Germany. The announcement is also bold because development of Aston Martin’s new hyper sports car with plug-in hybrid drive is not yet complete. The combination of an internal combustion engine and two electric motors provides the Valhalla with more than 1,000 hp (735 kW) of fuel, enabling the 1.5-tonne all-wheel drive vehicle to accelerate to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and push it further 350 to the top speed of km/h. For comparison: The AMG One has 1063 hp (782 kW), completes the standard sprint in 2.9 seconds, and the thrust ends at 352 km/h.

Mercedes technology alone is not enough

The two-turbocharged four-liter V8, which in principle is also available from Mercedes, delivers a generous 800 hp, albeit with less power. Aston engineers take advantage with air cooling and advanced thermals instead of water cooling – this also requires the hood at the rear. Since the bottom of the flat outer shell is very narrow, the power transmission is handled by the world’s smallest 8-speed automatic transmission.

Aston Martin also relies on a different supplier than Mercedes for the battery. Battery packs are located on the front and rear axles for optimum weight distribution. There is one electric motor per axle, which together must contribute 212 hp (156 kW). In all-electric mode, the hyper-athlete can travel approximately 15 kilometers and reach speeds of up to 130 km/h. But that’s not the point of electrification: Valhalla should only use electricity when maneuvering and parking. E-machines should be much more helpful with sprinting and energy recovery.

Formula 1 technology in the production car

There is a lot of Formula 1 technology, especially in the chassis and aerodynamics. Having just pulled four-time world champions Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher out of the cockpit with the Haas team for next season, Nico Hulkenberg helped set up Valhalla to be as agile as an F1 car. “Every shape has a function,” says Lange, explaining the concept. The retractable sills are reminiscent of the side boxes of Formula 1 racers. The driver is almost lying down and the pedals are positioned in the seat slightly higher than the driver’s hips. The first time we tried the seat, we immediately felt comfortable in the Aston Martin flounder; Entry is also easy thanks to the wing doors. Surprising: With all the optimizations for crazy driving performance, there are even two screens in the cockpit.

The first Aston Martin Valhalla will be delivered in 2024. The price of the hyper athlete starts at 833,000 euros, a quarter of Aston Martin’s flagship Valkyrie. Among other things, the windshield wiper system, which is said to be cheaper than the Valkyrie’s wipers costing around 17,000 euros, drives the price down. However, only two-thirds of the Valhalla contingent were sold.