Aston Martin Valkyrie is going to be pure science fiction

[SoRrY.]

The Aston Martin Valkyrie already looks insane enough on paper, using a mid-mounted 6.5-liter V12 paired with a KERS-style hybrid powertrain, but the Aston Martin hypercar is not running out of crazy anytime soon -- the car itself is still taking shape. Aston Martin is applying some final tweaks to the exterior design, and this week they've shared some more borderline-unbelievable details about the project.
For instance, the Aston Martin badge itself was actually deemed too heavy for the car, but Aston Martin felt that a sticker would be too cheap. The solution: A chemical-etched aluminum badge just 70 microns thick -- 30 percent thinner than a human hair -- and 99.4 percent lighter than the winged badge that Aston uses on its production cars. That's pretty close to it not existing in this time-space continuum at all.
Another example of the lengths to which Aston Martin and Red Bull F1 engineers went to try to save weight is the center high mounted stop light (CHMSL), which is mounted on the very tip of the small shark fin that tapers off the roof of the car. The LED light itself is just 5.5 millimeters wide and 9.5 millimeters tall, effectively existing within the already-thin shark fin. And of course, traditional door mirrors were deemed to be too much of an aerodynamic drag and have been replaced by rear-facing cameras mounted in the flanks, with the images fed to two screens mounted in the car's A-pillars. The lack of mirrors also allows for a less interrupted peripheral field of vision, which is one of the aspects of race cars that Aston Martin engineers have tried to achieve in the Valkyrie, along with the placement of all switchgear on the steering wheel, as in an F1 car. All of the car's vital signs are displayed on a screen integrated into the steering, which itself is designed to be detachable in order to aid driver ingress and egress (and it will also make the drivers feel like they're driving a street-legal F1 car, which is arguably the Valkyrie's aim).

“It’s been a tremendous challenge to make the interior packaging work," Aston Martin creative director of interiors Matt Hill said. "We’ve embraced Red Bull Racing’s Formula 1 ethos and approached (it) from a different angle than conventional road car design. In this instance, we’ve started from a position where you think something is impossible and work at it until you find a way to make it work. We’ve been fighting for millimeters everywhere, but the battle has been worth it, as it’s been fantastic seeing customers try the interior buck for size. They love the ritual of getting in and how it feels to be sat behind the wheel. They’re also genuinely surprised at how the car just seems to swallow them. You really do have to sit in it to believe there is genuine space for two large adults."
Minimalism is definitely the theme of this hypercar, which is expected to be lighter than the porker known as the Mazda MX-5 Miata while delivering around 1,100 hp. Aston Martin is still keeping many details of the car under wraps, but it's safe to say that the production version may be even more futuristic than the concept car itself.

"I would say we’re around 95 percent of the way there with the exterior design," Aston Martin creative director of exterior design Miles Nurnberger said. "Much of what you see is actually the structure of the car, so this had to be signed off (on) relatively early in the project. The remaining areas of non-structural bodywork are still subject to evolution and change as Adrian (Newey) continues to explore ways of finding more downforce. The new outlets in the body are a case in point. Ordinarily, the last thing we’d want to do to one of our surfaces is cut a hole in it, but these vents work the front wings so much harder that they’ve found a significant gain in front downforce. The fact that they are so effective gives them their own functional beauty, but we’ve finessed them without impacting on their functionality. That they also serve as windows through which to view the fabulous wing section front wishbones is a welcome bonus!"
But the design of the Valkyrie, as with F1 cars, is dictated largely by aerodynamics, with the generation of downforce being one of the engineering priorities. These goals have dictated much of the car's bodywork, with the lower tub contours following the space between the venturi tunnels that run along the sides of the cockpit floor. This lends the Valkyrie the appearance of sitting high off the ground, though in reality the seating position is effectively on the floor of the tub itself. These tunnels are responsible for much of the car's downforce, drawing air to the rear diffuser while keeping the top of the car largely free from other aerodynamic devices aimed at generating downforce.

There are still many things we've yet to learn about the car -- the debut of the production version is still a year away -- and Aston Martin will be tweaking its interior and exterior until then.
The company still plans to make just 175 Valkyries, with 25 of them to be built solely for track use; the first examples are scheduled to be delivered in 2019. We wouldn't be surprised if Aston Martin finds ways to shave a few more pounds from the car before then, and prospective owners are probably looking at ways to shave a few more pounds themselves to avoid being a "burden" to the car's curb weight.