Compared to the original RB-001 concept, the Aston Martin Valkyrie's most noticeable change are the headlamps. They are designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, but the company also claims that it is around 30 to 40 per cent lighter than any other light in its line-up. If that's not all, the centre brake light on the Valkyrie is pretty incredible. Aston says it has developed the world's smallest centre high-mounted stop lamp (CHMSL), an LED unit which is barley 0.2 inch wide and 0.4 inch tall, integrated into a central spine at the rear of the cockpit. Apart from being extremely aerodynamic, it is also extremely light. Well, don't be surprised because this is hardly the most complex components on this hyper car.
The Valkyrie replaces conventional mirrors with cameras to provide rear view
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is road legal and thanks to the new laws in the UK, the hyper car can now use a camera system to replace the conventional Outside Rear View Mirrors (ORVMs). So, what you now gets are two extremely light camera mounted in place of the ORVM unis and feed the OLED screens inside the cabin. Also missing a inside rear view mirror (IRVM) on the Valkyrie. The cell design and the roof-mounted air intake runs down on where the rear window would be placed, and effectively replaces the need for a rear view mirror.
The standard AM badge was just too heavy for the Valkyrie
Aston Martin has been so obsessed on the weight savings that the standard company badge was just too heavy, while the stick just didn't seem to keep up with the company standards. Instead, the British automaker chose to get a laser-etched badge instead made of aluminium that's just 70 microns thick. For perspective, the average human hair is 100 microns thick. The weight saving you ask? A whole 99.4 per cent over the standard Aston Martin badge.
The padding is stuck directly to the sculpted tub on the Valkyrie
The Valkyrie's cabin won't match up to the leather induced interiors of standard Aston Martin offerings. But this is a different beast altogether and the cabin is nothing less than a race car. It's carbon fibre everywhere to keep the weight low and structural rigidity high. The seats are bolted directly to the floor and passengers sit reclined with their feet slightly raised, which is like in Formula 1 and Le Mans prototype race cars. If you are a tall driver, padding is stuck directly to the sculpted tub.
That's a lot of technology for a car that will make only a handful happy and extremely lucky as well. Aston is betting a lot on its newest creation and say that what we see is 95 per cent of the actual design that will make it to production. The production spec model's unveil is slated for 2018 and that's when we expect the actual power figures from the V12 with KERS technology to be revealed then. For what will be a $3 million worth hyper car, we can't wait to know more about the Valkyrie.
