Aston Martin’s First Mid-Engine Supercar Costs Half As Much As McLaren’s W1
The upcoming Valhalla rivals Ferrari's F80 and McLaren's W1 while undercutting them significantly in price
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by Brad Anderson
Aston Martin’s Valhalla delivers 1,065 hp from a hybrid V8 and three electric motors.
It marks the brand’s first series-production mid-engine car and first plug-in hybrid.
Only 999 Valhalla units will be made, and most are already spoken for worldwide.
Aston Martin has entered the final validation testing phase of its all-new mid-engined Valhalla supercar, revealing that production will start this quarter. Not only can we now see the Valhalla in the real world for the first time, but the company says this will be a legitimate rival to the Ferrari F80 and McLaren W1, despite costing significantly less than both.
The new Aston Martin has endured an incredibly long gestation period, first being previewed as a concept at the start of 2019. During this time, it’s undergone a comprehensive redesign, and hybrid supercars like the Lamborghini Revuelto and Ferrari SF90 have hit the market. Now, final testing is being led by three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner on the road and at the IDIADA proving ground in Spain.
Read: Aston Martin Valhalla Battles Italians With 1,064 HP PHEV V8
The British company has showcased three different pre-production Valhalla models. One is painted in a bright shade of Podium Green with Lime Green accents, while another has a Verdant Jade finish with Gold elements. Final track testing focuses on setting up the steering, active aerodynamics, and braking performance.
A New Era of Firsts
The Valhalla brings a lineup of firsts for Aston Martin: its first series-production mid-engine supercar, first plug-in hybrid, and first with a usable EV-only range. It also debuts a bespoke 4.0-liter twin-turbo flat-plane crank V8, the most powerful road-going V8 the brand has built. Paired with a new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission housing an integrated e-motor and electronic rear differential, the setup is completed by twin front electric motors that enable torque vectoring and all-wheel drive.
According to company boss Adrian Hallmark, the Valhalla sits somewhere between “a regular supercar and a hypercar,” and that’s definitely true when it comes to power. With a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 and three electric motors, it delivers 1,065 hp and 811 lb-ft (1,099 Nm) of torque, more than the Revuelto and SF90, but down on the W1’s 1,258 hp and the F80’s 1,184 hp.
Priced to Surprise
“The product portfolio [at Aston Martin] is the best we’ve had,” Hallmark told Top Gear. “We’ve got a pure sports car, a great grand tourer, a benchmark V12 product, and probably the most technically advanced hypercar on the road in the form of Valkyrie. And soon to be the most affordable supercar with a mid-engine compared to an F80 or W1. I guess if we’d known that they were coming at those prices seven years ago, [the Valhalla] wouldn’t be £850,000 [$1.1 million] today. But watch this space – it should be good for residual values.”
More: McLaren’s W1 Is Their Fastest And Most Powerful Roadcar Ever
For context, the 1,258 hp McLaren W1 starts at nearly twice the price of the Valhalla, at $2.1 million before taxes, while Ferrari’s 1,184hp plug-in hybrid F80 comes in at almost three times the cost, starting at $3.9 million. Both models are already sold out.
Production will be capped at 999 units, and Aston says around two-thirds have already been allocated. The clock is ticking, but after all these years, the Valhalla is finally looking like it might be worth the wait.
