The Valkyrie AMR Pro.
LONDON: The track version of Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar isn’t due in its production form until 2020, but the numbers already associated with it are pretty incredible. It appears Aston may even have been a little overcautious with the figures it sent out – the Valkyrie hypercar might be capable of much more.
Official figures for the AMR Pro at the moment are 1,100bhp for the 1000-kg car (which also produces the same amount of downforce).
But Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey, who’s leading the development of the car alongside Aston Martin’s creative director Marek Reichman, said on Tuesday: “The downforce we are quoting is obviously early days. The model you see now is effectively the ideas that stand behind the project given over to Marek’s team to interpret. It will, of course, change quite a lot from that.”
The only conclusion that can be drawn from that comment is the AMR Pro could be even quicker than anticipated.
Although a V12 engine was chosen to power the AMR Pro, Newey admitted a radically different powerplant might easily have been selected instead.
The Valkyrie.
“The obvious choices were a V6 – either single or twin-turbo – or a high-revving, naturally aspirated V12,” he explain. “In the end, I came to the conclusion that it should be the V12 because of what that allowed us to do in terms of structural mounting, because it’s a very well-balanced engine with good NVH characteristics. With a turbo, you need intercoolers; by the time you’ve put those on, the weight is fairly similar. Technically, the V12 was marginally superior, but it was a close call.”
The 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 is a recalibrated version of the hybrid powerplant in the Valkyrie. In the AMR Pro it features a new emissions control system, and works with a reprogrammed energy recovery technology for the advanced hybrid system.
The body is made of lightweight carbon fibre, while other weight-saving measures include the ditching of such luxuries as the de-mister, the heater and the infotainment screen.
Newey has already predicted the Valkyrie could challenge the outright Nürbugring record. And if the Valkyrie can’t, the track-going AMR Pro certainly sounds like it could.
Aston Martin will make just 175 Valkyries, of which 25 will be AMR Pros. The road version of the car is set to roll out in 2019, followed by the track car in 2020.
sc/nmo – Relaxnews
Keyword: Aston Martin's Valkyrie AMR Pro might exceed expectations