If there's still an Aston Martin left to rise out of the ashes of 2020, it will be selling two different top-range hypercars with very different hybrid engine concepts. Each will be named for something out of Norse mythology, starting with a V, so you're well within your rights to confuse the two.
The Valkyrie will be King Dingaling, and it is for the purists. We've written a lot about it. Essentially, the idea here is to start with a thunderously outrageous Cosworth V10 making in excess of 1,000 horsepower all by itself, without resorting to anything as crass as forced induction to get there. This is then augmented with additional hybrid power to fill in any tiny gaps in the power curve and plug any holes you might get when you shift gears.
The ever-so-slightly more practical choice will be the Valhalla, which is also expected to make over 1,000 horsepower, but it'll do so with a pair of turbochargers force-feeding a less-exotic V6. Sure, it'll lose a bit of the shrieking Valkyrie's sonic charm and presumably need a little more electric help at the low end as the turbos spin up, but it's still going to be hideously fast and riotously silly to drive – indeed, it's expected to make even more peak horsepower in total than the Valkyrie's 1,160 ponies.
[Read: The world's most powerful cars: 1,000-horsepower minimum]
Today, Aston released some pictures and video of this new V6, confirming that it's a 3.0-liter unit, and giving it a name: TM01, commemorating Tadek Marek, a celebrated Aston engineer of the 50s and 60s. Marek is best known for developing the straight-six engine that powered the 1956 DBR2 race car, but he also worked on the V8 that went into the DBS in 1969 – a motor that remained in use for a remarkable 31 years, finally being retired in 2000.
The TM01 is an in-house motor, and has been designed to weigh less than 200 kg (441 lb). But small doesn't have to mean flimsy in this topsy-turvy world of 2020. We've already seen Koenigsegg claiming to pull a monstrous 600 horsepower out of a 2.0-liter twin-turbo three-cylinder motor in its ludicrous Gemera four-seater, which relies primarily on electric power for its hideous 1,700-horsepower peak output.
Aston Martin won't give away peak power outputs for this V6 – it'll be used in a number of different car platforms and tuned differently to suit each application – but it appears it'll be akin to the Gemera in that the electric drive system will take pride of place. The Valhalla, unlike the Valkyrie, will be a plug-in hybrid, meaning it'll carry enough energy for a serious electric powertrain and offer some all-electric range.
Here's what else we know: it's a "hot V" style engine with the exhaust valves pointing inward rather than outward, meaning the two meaty turbos can sit right there in between the cylinder banks and take advantage of maximum hot air pressure to spin their turbines. It'll rev high. It'll run a dry sump, allowing it to sit its mass lower in the frame while delivering "exceptional lubrication performance during on-limit, high-speed cornering."
It'll also meet all emissions requirements up to Euro 7, which gives it a small degree of future-proofing and might allow it to be sold for the next 5-10 years depending on when the Euro 7 and 8 hammers drop. It's unlikely to last 31 years like that '69 V8. And, as you'll see in the video below, its two center-exit exhausts will glow a lurid red when you thrash it. Enjoy!
Source: Aston Martin
