Aston Martin might not be roaring onto our cinema screens next month following the postponement of the latest James Bond film … but at least the famous British marque’s latest hypercar has successfully concluded its first road test.
The Valkyrie is now several months into dynamic testing after appearances on the auto show stand and on the racetrack, but it has finally had its first showing on the road.
It packs a monstrous 6.5-litre V12 hybrid engine, capable of 11,000rpm and 1,160bhp.
The interior has no gauge cluster, but rather a collection of screens on the race-inspired steering wheel. By the left and right corners are the screens for the camera side mirrors.
Dials and switches sit beside the wheel screen to allow for easier changes without driving interruption. The seats, formed from hollow carbon fibre straight into interior perimeter, are bucket variants, and have two seat belts for each car seat.
Because of the extremely small interior and doors (which are practically roof-only hatches), each seat is designed specifically for the owner's body shape through 3D scanning. A removable steering wheel provides slightly more space for entry and exit.
The Valkyrie is being set up by Chris Goodwin, Aston Martin’s high-performance test driver. The chosen roads for this initial test are close to Silverstone, where the Valkyrie has been calibrated on-track. In fact, Red Bull F1 drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon recently got their first taste of the Valkyrie at Silverstone.
On the road, however, the hypercar faces entirely different challenges. If the track is its comfort zone, the real challenge is to round off its rough edges and ensure refinement.
The Valkyrie needs to be able to idle comfortably in traffic and set off smoothly from the traffic lights, something the combined team of Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies engineers are working on now.
Deliveries are due in the second half of this year and it has already sold all of its initial production of 150 models with a unit price of BD1.2 million.
