After one of the closest guarded secrets in our recent history here are the full details of the brand-new Aston Martin Valkyrie V12 engine, developed to meet a simple, yet extraordinary brief: to create the ultimate expression of the internal combustion engine.
- New naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre 65° V12 produces 1000bhp
- Maximum 11,100rpm
- Developed in conjunction with Aston Martin to create the most powerful naturally aspirated road engine
- The engine is a fully-stressed element of the chassis, yet weighs just 206kg
- Hits all targets for emissions compliance and durability
When we received the brief personally from Adrian Newey, we knew the specification would be demanding, but when we started talking about specifics of power, weight, emissions compliance and durability combined with conflicting targets, we knew this would be a challenge like no other. The result has been a partnership with Aston Martin and Red Bull that’s delivered an internal combustion engine way beyond anything previously seen in a road car.
We knew from our experience at the pinnacle of motorsport that the only answer was a normally aspirated engine. Turbocharging offers significant benefits – especially in road cars, but for the greatest driver’s car of the modern era it had to be the uncompromising purity of natural aspiration.
Our clean sheet 65° V12 engine, codenamed RA, displaces 6.5-litres, setting exceptional new standards for maximum rpm, with a certified peak power output of 1000bhp (or 153.8 bhp-per-litre) at 10,500rpm, before continuing on to a maximum 11,100rpm. This is a world first for a naturally-aspirated, emissions-compliant road car. Peak torque is 740Nm at 7,000rpm. These peak outputs are purely delivered by the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), yet the engine’s performance figures will be further boosted by a battery hybrid system.
Our experience at the pinnacle of motorsport is also evidenced in the weight of the engine, which also set new standards. The engine is a structural part of the car connecting the front wheels to the back yet weighs only 206kg – less than our last F1 engine comparatively scaled up to 6.5 litres. This is made more impressive still by the level of technology in the combustion system, which meant keeping weight down was a huge challenge. Especially as we actively avoided the use of extreme materiel alloys, which are so new that material properties over time are unproven.
Aside from the major castings – block, cylinder heads, sump and structural cam covers – the majority of the engine’s internal components are machined from solid material. These include Titanium conrods and F1-spec pistons. Not only does this allow the use of materials with ideal properties, but the ultra-fine machining process means greater consistency and components optimised for minimum mass and maximum strength.
Our focus on continuous optimisation is evident in the billet machined crankshaft. Starting life as a solid steel bar 170mm diameter and 775mm long, it is first roughed out, then heat treated, finish machined, heat treated again, gear ground, final ground and super finished. Over the 6-month process, 80% of the original bar has been machined away, but the end product is a crankshaft that’s 50% lighter than that used in the Aston Martin One-77’s V12.
Evoking the spine-tingling, ultra-high-revving F1 engines of the 1990s, but benefitting from two decades of progress in design, material and manufacturing expertise, the Valkyrie’s 1000bhp V12, developed in conjunction with Aston Martin and Red Bull is set to become the ultimate hypercar engine in the ultimate hypercar.
