Aston Martin revealed the insides of its first mass-produced mid-engine supercar, ValhallaAustralia for the first time.
It does come with a caveat though. The car is still a work in progress, with more changes and additions likely to come before customer deliveries begin in 2024, in both left and right-hand drive.
Technically, it’s the next version of the Valhalla concept that we saw in Australia almost a year ago. That car (or pre-production dummy) had its front hinged dihedral doors tightly closed to hide the fact that the interior was still unfinished.
Affectionately nicknamed Son of Valkyrie after its Cosworth V12 brother, the Valhalla is another car designed based on Aston Martin’s Formula 1 program.
The double-sided doors open upwards and forwards making for a comfortable drop into the carbon fiber bucket seats thanks to the perfectly contoured Alcantara cushions, complete with highlights to match the Blue paint color. Verdant.
In fact, almost everything inside the carbon fiber Valhalla is wrapped in the same stitched upholstery fabric – that’s the dashboard, steering wheel, door cards and center console.
There’s also a really subtle set of metal fixed pedals, as well as a beautifully contoured steering wheel – it looks as though it could have been a racing yoke at first, before anyone thought otherwise. and add the top and bottom as something else. useful compromise.
Incidentally, the footrest has been raised for a low hip-to-heel sitting position like an LMP or F1 car.
In front of the driver is a wide screen, while Aston Martin’s new infotainment system will have a central touchscreen (not yet available for this version) that will also integrate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
A floating carbon bridge will likely house the circular drive mode selector as well as the start button. Further to the rear appears to be a small gear selector with rear storage compartments.
It’s not just the interior that made its debut in Valhalla. Over the past year, we’ve seen significant changes to the plug-in hybrid powertrain, which now uses three electric motors (up from two); two for the front axle and the other at the rear.
A hybrid system is present to complement the rear-mounted 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 by delivering an additional 177 hp. Aston Martin says it is the most advanced, responsive and most efficient V8 engine ever fitted to one of its cars.
With a flat crankshaft for maximum responsiveness and up to 7200 rpm, the engine produces more than 588 hp and is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission for the first time. present on an Aston Martin, with electronic reversing.
The combined system output power is 744kW of power and 1012Nm of torque. That is enough to bring the Valhalla from its original position to 100km/h in 2.5 seconds and its top speed has been increased from 330km/h to 350km/h. The track aspiration includes a 6:30 sub-round of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The Valhalla can also run in pure EV mode, but only for a maximum distance of 15km with a top speed of just 130km/h. It is also capable of directing 100% of the battery power to the rear wheel.
Despite its considerable length and width (these measurements have not been officially released), the Valhalla maintains a dry weight target of under 1550kg.
Instead of large wings and a spoiler for downforce, the car has a relatively clean surface thanks to active aerodynamics and carefully controlled underbody airflow through the tunnels. large at the rear and sculpted grooves along the side.
Out the rear, you’ll also find a beautiful lightweight exhaust, mounted above with active flaps to adjust the exhaust notes levels.
