Aston Martin & Red Bull Racing to build Valkyrie hypercar, due in 2019
- Thread starter CodeRedR51
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- £2-3 million
- Production run of 99-150
- Name beginning with "V"
- Prototype testing beginning late 2017
- Deliveries late 2019
- Normally aspirated V12
- Weight below 1,000kg
- 25 track-only models of LMP1 speed (according to the Periscope broadcast)
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- 8,239
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No reverse gear? Electric motor to back it up....
You can look through it
You can look through it
- 4,487
- YorkshireLand
- SVTlover
That. Looks hideous.
- 9,089
- Scotland
Function over form.
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
- 4,487
- YorkshireLand
- SVTlover
I know that but most manufacturers can at least make it look nice. That front end is awful.
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
The DBR1-2 says hi.
A Porsche 919 weighs 900kg. A Porsche 918 weighs 1,700kg.
But how is that relevant? The racing car doesn't need a luxury interior, and isn't subject to the same rules and regulations as road cars.
- 1,690
- Connecticut
- GroupB
Pedestrian impact regs
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
Luxury interior? Have you seen the inside of the P1 or of a 911 GT3 RS? Just because the badge says Aston doesn't require it be luxurious on the inside. Also, I think you'll find the weight of the DBR1-2 at a nice and lean 900kg.
Remove the racing fuel tank, the roll cage and the rear wing and trade those for road car accessories and it should have no trouble meeting the 1,000kg weight.
- 582
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- TheEvstar
It's not as good looking as I was hoping it would be. But, knowing Adrian Newey, it's not style for style's sake. I bet in the performance department, it'll knock the LaFerrari, P1 and 918 off their perch! probably...
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Probably worth noting that LMP cars have to conform to minimum weight limits and road cars don't. I don't see any reason why they can't get the weight of a car like this down to a ton - after all, when they're charging £3million for it they're not too limited on what resources they can use. Quarter of a century ago a McLaren F1 was only a hundred kilos more than that with a naturally-aspirated V12...
- 12,122
- Liverpool
- CARBOYXJR
I wasn't too far off.
Tremendously ugly. Looks like a mish-mash of an Allard J2X-C and a McLaren P1. I don't get the need for completely performance-driven hypercars that sacrifice everything beneficial to a road car (be it comfort, usability or aesthetics) for the sake of shaving tenths off laps when they'll never be used for competition. I get that it's nice to have an 'ultimate' statement of automotive technology, but the awkward bridge between all-out racing car and vanity item supercar seems like a bit of an oddity to me. Perhaps I'm missing something.
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- 4,992
- Nowhere special
- SweetLilPoppet
- SweetLilPoppet
It's very pretty to me. It has simple lines, a refreshing change from lamborghini's questionable recent efforts.
- 9,089
- Scotland
- 11,824
- Marin County
Anyone notice the underbody? Or rather, the lack of underbody? I don't think I've seen anything like that....in anything. This car must have a some insane ground effects going on. 
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- GTP_Stotty
Luxury interior? Have you seen the inside of the P1 or of a 911 GT3 RS? Just because the badge says Aston doesn't require it be luxurious on the inside. Also, I think you'll find the weight of the DBR1-2 at a nice and lean 900kg.
A GT3RS is the same inside as a stock 991, and a P1 is pretty much identical to a 650s/12c. Neither are exactly stripped.
Have you ever seen inside a race car?
This car will require sound deadening, a heating & air conditioning system, a radio, sat nav, electric windows, door locks, central locking, leather interior/dash/steering wheel, carpets, much heavier seats (likely electric), a much more complex (and heavier) exhaust system, likely power brakes (not sure if LMP's have servos), ABS system, ESP system, a cooling system able to operate across a much broader temperature range. Even things like door seals and glass will add significant weight over the LMP. And that's without the specific regulatory requirements needed to make it road legal in all countries they want to sell it in.
Their web site is quoting 1:1 BHP:KG. So it's going to need some sort of hybrid system to make 1,000bhp... and we can see form the P1/LaF/918 that this adds a significant amount of weight.
Plus it will likely need an active suspension system if it's going to work on road and on track... to deliver the aero claims on track it will need to be too low and stiff to ever be usable on a road.
There's barely a car on the road in any class that weighs under 1,000kg for a reason.
1,000kg? £100 says it doesn't weigh less than 1,250kg with fluids (if it ever gets built - see below).
See above on the practical challenges.
£3M x 100 units is only £300M of revenue. That's nothing in car development terms, and it's not like Aston are rolling in money - they made a £72M loss in the 2014 tax year... though they might benefit from the fall in Sterling post Brexit.
They will lose money on every one they make.
Personally, I don't think this car will ever be made. I just don't think Aston have the cash to make it.
Publicity stunt IMO.
GTP_Ingram
Premium
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- GTP_Ingram
- NowtDaft
I might as well say it... I think it looks incredible. Engineering porn at its best. I also like the way that despite the madness of it, the front end is still clearly Aston Martin-esque.
I don't see some (or many) of those things preventing it from hitting the rumoured weight. LMP1 cars already have an air-con system of sorts. Perhaps the AM-RB 001 may use something more robust for the road, but it's unlikely to add significant weight to the systems already used. Carpets and sound deadening will probably be kept to a bare minimum, while given the amount of tech which can be packed into a big tablet PC (a 12.9-inch iPad weighs 700-ish grams), the infotainment system doesn't need to be particularly hefty.
Seats? They're apparently laid out in an F1-style position - my guess is that for the money Aston Martin is asking for these, they'll be tailor-made to each customer, which will vastly reduce the amount of padding. Again, this is just speculation on my part, but I'd assume they'll be fixed in place, relying instead on an adjustable steering column/pedal box (much like the LaFerrari).
Looking at the exit point of the exhuast on the concept, there doesn't appear to be much of an exhaust system to speak of. Granted, some decent door seals may add a little mass, as might some electrical systems, but not in any significant quantity to make a 1000kg limit impossible.
As for the money question.. Bear in mind that the car also has Red Bull's name on it, I wouldn't be surprised if they have invested a quid or two. You may be right about the loss-making aspect, but if so, I doubt it'll be a financial disaster for them.
I don't see some (or many) of those things preventing it from hitting the rumoured weight. LMP1 cars already have an air-con system of sorts. Perhaps the AM-RB 001 may use something more robust for the road, but it's unlikely to add significant weight to the systems already used. Carpets and sound deadening will probably be kept to a bare minimum, while given the amount of tech which can be packed into a big tablet PC (a 12.9-inch iPad weighs 700-ish grams), the infotainment system doesn't need to be particularly hefty.
Seats? They're apparently laid out in an F1-style position - my guess is that for the money Aston Martin is asking for these, they'll be tailor-made to each customer, which will vastly reduce the amount of padding. Again, this is just speculation on my part, but I'd assume they'll be fixed in place, relying instead on an adjustable steering column/pedal box (much like the LaFerrari).
Looking at the exit point of the exhuast on the concept, there doesn't appear to be much of an exhaust system to speak of. Granted, some decent door seals may add a little mass, as might some electrical systems, but not in any significant quantity to make a 1000kg limit impossible.
As for the money question.. Bear in mind that the car also has Red Bull's name on it, I wouldn't be surprised if they have invested a quid or two. You may be right about the loss-making aspect, but if so, I doubt it'll be a financial disaster for them.
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- GTP_Stotty
It's an Aston. They make luxury GTs. It will not be an LMP car with indicators... that doesn't fit their equity.
Even if all the above were true, if it's going to have a 1:1 power to weight, it will need a hybrid system. And no way it will ever weigh 1,000kg with batteries and motors.
If they make it (and I don't think they ever will), it will weigh at least 1,250kg.
- 13,279
- GTPlanet
- Street-King-07
- Quattro Saltire
It's certainly striking. I can see smidgens of DP100 in the roofline and the bulk of the silhouette but this was clearly designed around aero function.
I wonder what the track version will be like.
I wonder what the track version will be like.
DP100 looked much better, I'm willing to bet this never gets made like the Jag CX75.
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- MP-Omnis
My understanding of the Evo video was that Aston were only supplying the stoppy-go bits. Engine, brakes, etc. The rest is being done by Red Bull. That means some crazy Austrian carbon fiber shop wizardry. @Stotty, if the cost is being shared by these firms, perhaps they could stand to make them. That or just raise the price. I'm sure they could find 100 billionaires to buy these.
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