At the start of the year, we had a shortlist of all the cars we were looking forward to in 2024. One of our favorites from that list seemed like it would skip out on the year entirely. Fortunately, that turns out to not be the case, as the the Aston Martin Valhalla is finally here.
Billed as “the driver’s supercar,” the vehicle looks every bit the part, taking on race-inspired lines that looks like they’ll feel perfectly at home doings laps with other precision machines. Compared to Aston Martin’s own Valkyrie hypercar, though, this one gets softer lines that feel much more suited for taking out on the road with its somewhat friendlier, less-aggressive vibe. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still an aerodynamic monster compared to the –sporty Vantage or the casual roadster, but it doesn’t looks all that strange seeing one on the road (at least, we don’t think so).
The Aston Martin Valhalla combines a flat-plane crank 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine with three electric motors, two out front and one in the rear . The engine, based on a Mercedes AMG unit, features new camshafts, new exhaust manifolds, and a pair of roller-bearing twin-scroll turbochargers, all of which help it put out a beefy 836 horsepower. Combined with the three electric motors, the car delivers a whopping 1,064 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, which is enough power to propel the 3,650-pound vehicle from standstill to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds and take it to top speeds of up to 217 mph. That engine is hooked up to a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, which routes power to the rear wheels, while integrating the motors and the electronic rear differential.
The motors, by the way, draw power from a liquid-cooled 6kWh battery, which is designed to recharge quickly under deceleration, ensuring there’s always enough juice in tow to let it deploy its charge as needed. For the most part, the car uses the motors for instant-on torque and torque vectoring across the front axle, although they’re also put to work when reversing and driving in slow-moving traffic to improve fuel efficiency. With that said, it does offer an EV mode that lets you drive the vehicle up to nine miles at speeds of up to 80 mph.
The Aston Martin Valhalla has a sculpted body shape that, combined with various active aero features, allow it to produce 1,300 pounds of downforce at 150 mph, making this one aerodynamic beast. It’s built around a carbon fiber monocoque with aluminum subframes front and rear, with an F1-style pushrod suspension out front for improving airflow within the wheel arch. Out back, it gets a multi-link suspension with Bilstein dampers that offers varying degrees of rebound, depending on the car’s current driving mode.
According to the outfit, the car always starts off in EV mode, with the two front motors getting the vehicle off the gates. After that, the other driving modes can kick into play, whether it be Sport (full hybrid mode), Sport+, or Race (deploys the rear active wing and puts everything in their most aggressive settings). Other features include three levels of stability control, Brembo carbon-ceramic disc brakes controlled via brake-by-wire system, forged aluminum wheels (magnesium wheels are an option), Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires, dihedral doors that swing upwards, a flat-bottomed steering wheel, a center touchscreen on the dash, and a digital gauge cluster that changes layout depending on driving mode.
Only 999 examples of the Aston Martin Valhalla will be made, with pricing expected to sit around $800,0000.
