When you hear the word ‘Hypercar’ probably you may think about either of the ones (LaFerrari / 918 Spyder / P1). But hereafter only one car will (actually Should) come to your mind when you hear the word; VALKYRIE.
Almost a year ago Aston Martin revealed a few things about this car. Nicknamed as ‘Adrian Newey’s Road’ car, it’s a project associated with Red Bull Advanced Technologies and AF Racing. The team had worked intensively to develop the aerodynamics, body styling, and cockpit packaging.
Now Aston Martin has updated its insane V12 hypercar design with some new interior details and some body modification to make it even more aerodynamically efficient (A lot of downforces) and apparently, the company isn’t even finished making changes.The car has always seemed nearly impossible and some of the new additions make it even more unbelievable.
The Aston Martin valkyrie’s teardrop-shaped cockpit’s upper body and lower tub contours follow an envelope of space between the huge full-length venturi tunnels that run either side of the cockpit floor. Drawing huge quantities of air beneath the car to feed the rear diffuser, these tunnels generate the hypercar’s extraordinary levels of downforce, while keeping the upper body surfaces free from additional aerodynamic devices that would spoil the purity of the styling. According to Aston Martin, the design shown here is 95 percent complete.
The seats are mounted directly to the tub in order to maximize interior space, with occupants adopting a reclined ‘feet-up’ position (Like Formula One and Le Mans Prototype race cars). A four-point harness comes as standard, while an optional six-point harness will be offered for those who love to do more track driving.
The Aston Martin Design team were keen to keep distractions away from the driver in order to provide the complete focus on the road. Switchgear is located on the steering wheel, with all the vital signs shown on a single OLED display screen. The steering wheel is also detachable, both to aid ingress and egress, and to serve as an additional security device.
Most of the changes have been spotted in the rear. The single exhaust exit of the concept has been replaced by a twin-exit design while the trailing edge of the Venture tunnels now takes on a more curved appearance. This curved theme is carried over to the rear wing which is now just a single arch. Also fitted to the car at both ends are the production lights which are LED units (Just 5.5mm wide and 9.5mm high).
Another critical update to the styling of the Valkyrie is the headlights, which Aston claims are around 30 to 40 percent lighter than any other light in its lineup. The look the lights add is interesting, but then again, nothing on this car looks traditional or normal—and nothing should.
Notably missing are door mirrors which are replaced with a camera system that feeds a live image to what I’m assuming are the two monitors located on the left and right of the windshield inside. Images of the dashboard make the screens look a little obstructing, but it’s difficult to tell just from pictures. Even the rear-view mirror – due to the Formula One style driver and passenger seating, the cell design of bodywork and the roof-mounted air intake that runs down where the rear window would normally be. So there’s also no rear window.
The same approach has been taken with the Aston Martin wings badge. With the regular badge considered too heavy, a simple sticker not befitting for a car of the ‘hypercar’s’ quality and cutting-edge nature, the design team came up with a chemical etched aluminum badge just 70 microns thick. that’s 30 per cent thinner than a human hair, and a remarkable 99.4 per cent lighter than the regular enamel wings badge. The badge (nicknamed the ‘lacewing’) is then attached to the painted body and covered with a perfectly smooth coat of lacquer.
Courtesy: Aston Martin, Jalopnik & designboom
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