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Top Gear
16 minutes ago
- Top Gear
Aston Martin Valhalla review: SIX years after it was announced... has Aston bested the SF90 and Revuelto? Reviews 2025
Yes, hot on the heels of its 2019 announcement, the Valhalla is finally here. Almost. Clearly this is still a prototype. A few more months, we're promised. What we have here, says chief engineer Andrew Kay, is '100 per cent finalised for hardware, about 85 per cent for software'. But we've driven it and the news is good. Great, actually. Aston has managed to pick a line between rivals such as the Ferrari SF90 XX and Lamborghini Revuelto to create a supercar that feels like nothing else in the class, despite having a very similar technical template. Well, like both Italians it mates an internal combustion engine with a trio of electric motors – one between engine and gearbox and one each for the front wheels. Like them it has a carbon tub and a twin clutch gearbox – Aston's first ever. Thanks to those electric motors the Valhalla is also Aston's first ever 4WD sports car. We don't count the DBX 707, amusing as it is. It develops 1,064bhp and 811lb ft. 247bhp of that comes from the e-motors, the rest (817bhp) from the AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin turbo V8. Which barely has any AMG about it these days, seeing as Aston has reworked intakes, exhaust and engine internals. And no, your eyes don't deceive you, there are two exhausts in the normal place and two more poking out the back deck. The internal routing must be mad. The latter are the quiet pipes, while bigger noises come straight out the back. We just wish those noises were better. More on that please. But first, how fast is it? What does it weigh? Back when the Valhalla was first announced (initially as the RB-003) in 2019, it was going to be powered by a 3.0-litre twin turbo V6 with Valkyrie-style KERS hybrid and weigh 1,550kg. Given it now sports a pair of extra cylinders and full plug-in capability for 8.7 miles of e-range (the first Aston ever to be able to drive on electric alone), a weight increase of 115kg to 1665kg, isn't bad. OK, that's a dry weight in lightest trim, so you'll be looking at 1,800kg, but again that's ballpark for SF90 and Revuelto. And so is performance, with Aston claiming 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds and a 217mph max. There's a lot of it, that's what. First the stuff you can see. The rear wing rises 255mm on hydraulic stanchions in Race mode and then pivots up and down at will to act as air brake or to bleed off drag. For instance the Valhalla develops 600kg of downforce at 155mph, but above that speed reangles the wing to maintain that, rather than develop more. Meanwhile under the front another active wing acts in co-operation with the rear. None of this is stuff we haven't seen before, but a lot of it is new to Aston. As Kay told me, 'we've put an awful lot of technology into the car, and the car's really a statement of intent of where Aston is going – following the direction Lawrence Stroll has set – pushing more for performance, more for technology.' Come on then, what were your first impressions? Firstly, that the car it most reminds me of visually is the AMG One. Something to do with the 90s Group C vibe maybe, less edgy and be-slatted than most modern stuff, more covered-up and fuller surfaced. Means Aston has to do clever stuff to get the heat out of the engine bay – check out the YouTube film for more geeky detail on that, as Andrew Kay gave me a full walkaround. Anyway, the carbon doors swing up to create huge apertures that cut well into the roof, making access easy. Just watch how far you have to drop to the seat – Aston claims your hip point is 25mm lower in Valhalla than any rival.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Calling all learner drivers - there are some new theory test questions on the way
Learner drivers will now be quizzed on their life-saving CPR skills when taking their theory tests. The new questions on CPR and defibrillators will be added to theory tests from early next year. "Part of being a safe and responsible driver is knowing what to do in an emergency - how to step in and make a real, life-saving difference," said Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) chief driving examiner Mark Winn. "Learning CPR and how to use a defibrillator is a very simple skill." More than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year and motorists are often first on the scene, according to the DVSA. However, fewer than one in 10 people survive. If CPR is given and a defibrillator used within three to five minutes of collapse, though, survival rates can be as high as 70%. 'Life-saving' A father whose 24-year-old daughter died in 2017 from complications following a cardiac arrest led the calls for this change. "When Claire, my daughter, had her cardiac arrest, some knowledge of CPR might have made a difference," said Professor Len Nokes, chair of Save a Life Cymru. "I don't want any other family to go through this experience. "All of us in this partnership hope that by making CPR and how to use a defibrillator part of the theory test, we will be able to significantly increase the number of people who have this life-saving awareness." In order to book a practical driving test, learner drivers must first pass their theory test with at least 43 out of 50 correct answers. They must also pass a hazard perception test.
Auto Car
2 hours ago
- Auto Car
WATCH: Aston Martin Valhalla!
Close Aston Martin Valhalla! | Prototype hypercar reviewed This is the new Aston Martin Valhalla, Aston's new supercar - or hypercar, if you think that 1064bhp pushes it from one bracket to the next. It's reviewed here still in prototype form at Aston's discreet development facility inside Silverstone. Aston Martin says that the Valhalla's hardware has been fixed, but that it's still tweaking the software, prior to the car going on sale in spring 2026. The hardware is hardcore. The Valhalla has a two-seat carbonfibre tub, with a mid-mounted 4.0-litre flat-plane crank AMG V8 turned up to 817bhp, plus three electric motors – one in the gearbox, two for the front wheels – to give a system total of 1064bhp and 811lb ft. Just 999 of the £850,000 Valhallas will be built. We'll be behind the wheel again when the production version is finished, but for now sit back and enjoy as Matt Prior brings you technical details, a look around the Valhalla's interior, and finds out what it's like to drive – and drift it– around a race track. Watch the film by clicking on the video play button above.
