Yahoo Autos Aston Martin Valkyrie's 150 Buyers Can Add an AMR Track Performance Package
The online car configurator has become one of the gearhead's favorite toys, both for real purchases and for indulging in the sort of money-no-object fantasies where you see what checking every box would actually cost. Despite these crisply rendered images, some of which were the result of being given the chance to specify our own Valkyrie, Aston Martin is not going to offer a web-based configurator for its forthcoming megacar. Rather, it has in mind something more exclusive and almost certainly more expensive.
Every one of the 150 buyers who have managed to get their name down for what looks set to be the fastest road-legal production car in the world, a co-development of Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing under the creative leadership of RBR's Adrian Newey, will get the chance for a personal specification session with Aston's designers at the company's Gaydon HQ in the U.K. During that session, if so inclined, they will be able to add a significant premium to the $3.2 million price of the base car.
While we have already told you lots about the forthcoming Valkyrie, what you see here are the first images that show it in what we are promised is its near final form. These are computer renderings created using the same CAD system that is being used to style the finished car. According to Aston's design director, Miles Nurberger, the first validation prototype hasn't been constructed yet. The Cosworth-developed naturally aspirated V-12 is being tested in the chassis of an old LMP race car, and chief test driver Chris Goodwin is making extensive use of Red Bull Racing's state-of-the-art Formula 1 simulators to work on the Valkyrie's base setup.
AMR Track Package Will Markedly Improve Lap Times
The new news is Aston Martin's confirmation that the Valkyrie will be sold with the option of what's described as an AMR Track Performance package. Adrian Newey hinted at this when we interviewed him at the 2018 Geneva auto show, and now we learn that the pack is going to be much more than just an modest dynamic upgrade. In fact, it is a kit of parts that will enable owners to transform the street legal Valkyrie into something with close to the circuit performance of the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro that will ultimately follow.
The package includes a separate front clamshell incorporating a far more aggressive aerodynamic setup; different suspension components, including springs and sway bars (with a 50-mm drop in ride height); lighter titanium braking components; and carbon "aero discs" that sit inside the Valkyrie's wheels to reduce drag. Swapping settings is going to involve skilled technicians and take several hours, and Aston admits that the Valkyrie will no longer be street legal once transformed. But it will produce up to an 8 percent improvement in lap time compared to the street-spec version.
The official images also show that the Valkyrie has evolved a considerable way from the AM-RB 001 concept, which introduced the idea back in 2016 with what seem to be production-spec headlights and far more elaborate aerodynamic surfacing. The car is still defined almost as much by its gaps as its physical substance, with the narrowness of the passenger made obvious by the single prototype-racer-style wiper that parks centrally on the windshield.
Occupants will have to sit with their knees raised high, and access through the tiny flap-style top-hinged doors looks extremely tight. (Aston allowed us to get a closer look at the digital model through a virtual-reality headset; it made the car's lowness and compact dimensions more obvious, as well as inducing slight nausea.) The seats are padded carbon shells, with the dashboard incorporating no fewer than four display screens: the two outboard are for the car's virtual mirror system, with important driving information relayed by a digital instrument pack incorporated into the center of the irregularly shaped steering wheel, which also houses almost all of the Valkyrie's modest tally of switchgear.
We don't have any more technical information beyond that we have already brought you. Which, in summary, is that the Valkyrie will use a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter engine that produces 1000 horsepower at a dizzy 10,500 rpm. It will work in conjunction with a hybrid system that will add an as yet unknown amount of electrical assistance. The car's aerodynamics are promised to create huge amounts of downforce-"unbelievable quantities," according to Nurberger, although he refused to discuss an exact figure.
Yet, despite its towering performance, the Valkyrie is going to be far from just a stripped-back hellion. Buyers will be offered a huge choice of colors, trims, and materials. Aston's design team has created several themed specifications designed to give owners a jumping-off point when it comes to ordering their own cars, but the anticipation is that no two Valkyries will be the same and that most will be ordered with a significant quantity of parts from Aston's in-house bespoke Q division.
Buyers sharing Newey's enthusiasm for weight-saving minimalism will be able to forgo lacquer on the engine's carbon-fiber airbox, saving just under three ounces. A titanium Aston Martin badge will also be offered, or an even lighter mesh design that will sit under the top coat of the chosen paint finish. Three ultra-lightweight paint options will also be offered-blue, gray, and green-with each claimed to add just 1.5 pounds to the weight of the car's naked carbon-fiber shell. It will also be possible to specify exposed tinted-carbon bodywork, as well as a variety of different materials and surfaces including a milled carbon described as Mokume. The steering wheel can also be chosen with titanium switchgear.
Alternatively, those looking for more extravagance will be able to select 24-karat-gold detailing and some considerably plusher materials for the spartan cabin than various shades of gray carbon.
How We'd Spec It? Glad You Asked
When given the chance to create our own Valkyrie in company with Aston's senior color and trim designer, Thomas Leget, we went for a relatively restrained specification with a blue tinted-carbon roof and a similarly discreet paint finish. Aston creative director Marek Reichmann, who seemed disappointed by our conservative choice, suggested the jazzier blended dark-to-light paint finish. The Track Pack changes most exterior body panels and therefore allows a full color makeover, so we went for an abundance of what is known as Maximum Orange to help persuade slower-moving circuit traffic out of our way. It was only later, when we looked at the rendered images Aston sent us, that we realized that we had created almost an inverse version of the Gulf GTC livery that the McLaren F1 wore in 1996.
How much extra did our bespoke optioning commit us to spending? We don't know: the design team said they would have to consult with various departments to reach a figure, an exercise that would be rendered academic by our inability to afford the initial $3.2 million- or even to secure an order slot. We suspect that those who have been able to get a place on the list will have no problems swallowing the extra cost of a full options workout.
('You Might Also Like',)
