1160BHP FOR THE ASTON MARTIN VALKYRIE HYPERCAR
That headline is not a joke, the Aston Martin Valkyrie receives 1 160bhp and gets its most powerful hypercar closer to production.
It's been a while now since Aston Martin first teased us with their delicious, hybrid hypercar blueprint – three years, to be precise – and finally, the news that prototypes are being built has been confirmed.
That's not all that has been revealed though. The full, insane performance specifications of the Valkyrie's hybrid powertrain is out too, and it'll drop your jaw. Which is to be expected, I guess, when partnering with the Red Bull Racing (RBR) F1 team to create a road-legal, F1-styled, futuristic hypercar.
Back in 2016, RBR's Adrian Newey said, "Road cars have far less legislation to restrict the design than Formula One does at the moment," suggesting, almost sarcastically, that designing a road car is easier. A year-and-a-half later, we first caught a sneak-peek of the design of what they named the Aston Martin Valkyrie, and then another year-and-a-half before the high-revving, 1,000+ horsepower V12 monster of an engine was confirmed.
Now, just a few short months later, Aston Martin tells us they've started building operational prototypes of the hybrid car with an eye on track-testing in the near future. Oh, and that it's pushing out 1 160bhp.
So, how have they achieved this? Well, firstly, there's the rather substantial Cosworth-built 6.5-litre, naturally aspirated, V12 engine, pushing out 1,000 bhp (745.7 kW) at 10,500 rpm and peak torque of 545.7 lb-ft (740 Nm) at 7,000 rpm. And, secondly, there's the electric system by Rimac that adds an extra 160 bhp (119 kW) and 206.5 pound-feet (280 Nm). This culminates in a system output of 1,160 bhp (865 kW) at 10,500 rpm and 663.8 pound-feet (900 Nm) at 6,000 rpm.
Power for the batteries is derived in part from a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) and the electric boost motor is from Integral Powertrain.
The technical design combines Aston Martin's mechanical experience with that of Red Bull Racing's Advanced Technologies department, which is apparent in the F1 racing-inspired build of the Valkyrie – for instance, the powertrain, chassis, and bodywork are engineered to integrate together as one piece for strength and efficiency.
The engine and gearbox casing act as stressed members of the Valkyrie's chassis, the latter to which the rear suspension is mounted and which also supports a large portion of the rear subframe of the car too. The hybrid-systems battery pack acts as a central hub for the car's power electronics.
Aston Martin hasn't said anything more than the new Valkyrie prototypes will be used for testing purposes for now, so there's no timeframe just yet for the finished hypercar.
Check out the video below for more.