The Valkyrie promises to be one of the most extreme cars Aston Martin has ever built, but the track-only AMR Pro version will take it to the next level. Developed in collaboration with Red Bull Racing, Aston Martin claims the Valkyrie AMR Pro will be capable of setting lap times faster than Formula One and LMP cars. It could even beat the all-time Nurburgring lap record set by the Porsche 919 . This has already set an extremely high precedent, but a new report by
Autocarsuggests the final production car will further exceed these expectations when it arrives in 2020.
Earlier this year, Aston Martin claimed the Valkyrie AMR Pro will have a combined output of over 1,100 hp, weigh 2,204 pounds, and generate more than its own weight in downforce, but the production car could surpass these figures. “The downforce we are quoting is obviously early days,” Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey, who has led the car’s development alongside Aston creative director Marek Reichman, said. “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.”
Yes, that means the Valkyrie AMR Pro could be even faster and more extreme than we were initially led to believe. Like the Valkyrie road car, Aston Martin’s track monster will be powered by a naturally-aspirated 6.5-liter V12 and Energy Recovery System, but Newey revealed the Valkyrie was nearly fitted with a completely different engine. “I spent a lot of time looking at different power units,” he said. “The obvious choices were a V6 – either single or twin-turbo – or a high-revving, naturally aspirated V12.”
“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.”
Only 25 examples of the Valkyrie AMR Pro are being built, with customer deliveries starting in 2020. We can’t wait to see how this incredible car evolves between now and then.
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