Half a decade after it was first revealed as the AM-RB 003 concept—and three years after it underwent a major redesign—Aston Martin has finally revealed the Valhalla.
A mid-engined supercar slotting into the Aston range below the flagship Valkyrie, but well above the rest of the British sports car maker’s lineup, the Valhalla is also Aston’s first plug-in hybrid.
The car is powered by an AMG-derived 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine and a hybrid system comprising a 6.0 kWh high-voltage battery pack and three motors. Total power output is 1,063 hp, with 247 of that provided by the three motors; two drive the front axle and act as a reserve gear, while a third lives in the car’s new eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission.
The Valhalla has an electric-only drive mode, but Aston Martin says that is only good for 8.7 miles of range. The focus here is clearly on adding performance rather than eking out electric range, as the motors feature torque vectoring across the front axle, supplement the engine with torque-fill between gear changes and offer regenerative braking when slowing down.
Aston says the car can sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.5 seconds, and it has an electronically limited top speed of 217 mph.
Downforce is also a key factor here. The huge rear wing and a deployable front wing combine with a large under-floor diffuser to create up to 1,320 pounds of downforce when driven in Race mode. Aston says that figure could be even higher, but it has chosen to present a downforce stat that is achievable across a broad range of speed—in this case, from 149 to 217 mph.
The mid-engined two-seater features a carbon monocoque construction with carbon fiber body panels, plus dihedral doors that open upwards in true supercar fashion.
Inside, the stripped-back cabin features a pair of one-piece carbon seats and an F1-inspired carbon steering wheel. The seating position is also said to resemble that of a Formula One car, with the driver’s feet raised in line with their hips. The transmission tunnel is made from recycled forged carbon, and atop the dashboard sit a pair of digital displays.
Prices start at around US$1 million, and Aston says production is limited to 999 examples. This puts the Valhalla into an interesting sector of the supercar market, since other limited-run, mid-engined hybrids like the Ferrari F80 and McLaren W1 cost significantly more money while producing similar amounts of power.
Head the other way, and the Valhalla is more powerful (and arguably more exotically designed) than the Ferrari SF90 and Lamborghini Revuelto, but those are both less expensive.
