Aston Martin Valhalla Review: The Future of Performance Is Here
The question is inevitable: “So, how was it?!”
It’s the predictable response to anyone who has recently driven Aston Martin’s Valhalla, the $1.1 million, 1,064-horsepower mid-engine masterpiece. In the hypercar landscape of the 2020s, reviewing these machines has transcended mere automotive criticism; it has become an exercise in describing the surreal. When several friends and colleagues asked the same question the day after my drive, I found myself briefly hesitating before answering, “Exactly how you’d expect it to be.” It’s a statement that only truly resonates if you’ve already experienced the state of the supercar art in the 2020s.
A Long Time in the Making
Seven years feels like a lifetime ago, perhaps stretched even further by the surreal nature of the pandemic years that blurred time itself. Yet, seven years have passed since the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, where Aston Martin first unveiled what was then known as the AM-RB 003. The original name—which has since been replaced by one from Norse mythology—was a nod to Aston’s sponsorship ties with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team. Valhalla, the glorious afterlife realm where heroic dead warriors prepare for an epic final battle, also coincidentally begins with a ‘V,’ keeping Aston’s traditional naming convention alive.
Much has changed since those early days. Aston and Red Bull parted ways after the 2020 F1 season, and more importantly, the automotive landscape itself was evolving rapidly. The original plan for the Valhalla’s hybrid powertrain—an in-house-designed turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6—was scrapped. Instead, the powertrain now draws from a hybridized Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series-derived twin-turbo V-8. While the core architecture is shared, Aston has enhanced it with larger turbos, a new intake manifold, strengthened pistons, and different camshafts, boosting the output by nearly 100 hp and 50 lb-ft. Today, this engine is exclusive to the Valhalla.
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Aston Martin Valhalla Review: The Future of Performance Is Here
The question is inevitable: “So, how was it?!”
It’s the predictable response to anyone who has recently driven Aston Martin’s Valhalla, the $1.1 million, 1,064-horsepower mid-engine masterpiece. In the hypercar landscape of the 2020s, reviewing these machines has transcended mere automotive criticism; it has become an exercise in describing the surreal. When several friends and colleagues asked the same question the day after my drive, I found myself briefly hesitating before answering, “Exactly how you’d expect it to be.” It’s a statement that only truly resonates if you’ve already experienced the state of the supercar art in the 2020s.
A Long Time in the Making
Seven years feels like a lifetime ago, perhaps stretched even further by the surreal nature of the pandemic years that blurred time itself. Yet, seven years have passed since the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, where Aston Martin first unveiled what was then known as the AM-RB 003. The original name—which has since been replaced by one from Norse mythology—was a nod to Aston’s sponsorship ties with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team. Valhalla, the glorious afterlife realm where heroic dead warriors prepare for an epic final battle, also coincidentally begins with a ‘V,’ keeping Aston’s traditional naming convention alive.
Much has changed since those early days. Aston and Red Bull parted ways after the 2020 F1 season, and more importantly, the automotive landscape itself was evolving rapidly. The original plan for the Valhalla’s hybrid powertrain—an in-house-designed turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6—was scrapped. Instead, the powertrain now draws from a hybridized Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series-derived twin-turbo V-8. While the core architecture is shared, Aston has enhanced it with larger turbos, a new intake manifold, strengthened pistons, and different camshafts, boosting the output by nearly 100 hp and 50 lb-ft. Today, this engine is exclusive to the Valhalla.
When I sat in a mockup of the car at the Pebble Beach Concours in August 2022, the projected specs had jumped to 1,012 hp and an undisclosed torque figure. Aston insisted these figures were not finalized, but even at that stage, it was clear this machine was destined to be extraordinary. My response was simple: “Please, I want to drive it, whenever it’s ready.”
The Wait Pays Off
Based on Aston Martin’s development roadmap at the time, I didn’t expect another three and a half years to pass before getting behind the wheel. However, the production version’s hardware surpasses all those early expectations.
The flat-plane-crank, dry-sump, twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 produces 817 horsepower. Combined with 248 horsepower from three electric motors—two on the front axle and a third integrated into the new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (an Aston first)—the Valhalla delivers a staggering 1,064 horsepower and 811 lb-ft of torque.
Beyond the motors, the hybrid system features a 560-cell battery pack. Aston engineers use an off-the-shelf AMG battery, the only non-Aston component in the hybrid system. This battery is cooled by immersion in dielectric oil, allowing for rapid energy cycling. As chief engineer Andrew Kay explained, “We’re able to push energy into the battery and cycle it out very quickly. This is very good for track use, in particular.”
Unlike the original concept and its even more extreme Valkyrie sibling, the production Valhalla is a plug-in hybrid, capable of EV-only driving for up to 8.7 miles with a top speed of 80 mph.
The Evolution of the Hypercar
Some purists might quibble with the term “supercar,” especially given Aston Martin’s own admission that the Valkyrie exists. Yet, the company refers to the Valhalla as its first-ever mid-engine supercar. If the Valkyrie is the Valkyrie, then the Valhalla must be the supercar.
While the Valkyrie exists, the production version is barely a street car. Its starting price of over $3 million and limited run of 285 units make the Valhalla’s $1 million-plus MSRP and production target of 999 units seem almost pedestrian in comparison.
This absurdity speaks to a broader shift in the realm of high-performance automobiles, both in terms of price and capability. Today’s automotive enthusiasts—millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha—are arguably accustomed to seeing new million-dollar cars appearing on social media almost weekly. Each one boasts performance figures once thought impossible, along with tech specs, features, options, and bespoke luxury choices that stretch longer than the Nürburgring.
For those of us who remember the automotive landscape of just a few decades ago, the sheer speed of change is almost incomprehensible. Consider the impact of the 627-hp, $800,000 McLaren F1 in the mid-1990s, or the Bugatti Veyron just 20 years ago—the car generally credited as the first million-dollar, 1,000-hp hypercar.
In 2025, the landscape has transformed again. Since I first sat in the Valhalla prototype at Pebble Beach, the automotive industry has delivered marvels like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS—a car with roughly half the horsepower but incredible racing-derived aerodynamics and hardware that demands pro-racer skills to maximize on track. Whether the GT3 RS qualifies as a suitable road car is open to debate, but its presence alone shifts the goalposts.
Step up in price, construction, and technological complexity, and the recent output is staggering. In just the last few months, MotorTrend has sampled the Ferrari F80, the 849 Testarossa, the Czinger 21C VMax, and even the “everyday” Porsche 911 Turbo S. Not to be outdone, Chevrolet has introduced a hybrid Corvette ZR1X with 1,250 hp—a car that no one could have predicted when the Valhalla was conceived, born from the genius of Aston Martin’s engineering and their former F1 partner, Adrian Newey.
Drive It and Experience It
In the face of such overwhelming capability, the proverb “comparison is the thief of joy” becomes more relevant than ever, particularly in the supercar—or rather, hypercar—domain. It also proves useful here because the odds of orchestrating a proper comparison test of the vehicles listed above are virtually zero. Ferrari’s long-standing reluctance to provide us with cars for head-to-head comparisons is a frustrating reality.
However, given the sheer performance limits of modern machines, it’s far more satisfying to evaluate something like the Valhalla on its own merits and the unique experience it provides.
Make no mistake: the overall experience in a car like this matters immensely. For a long time, it wasn’t enough for a car to be thrilling on the road and a dog on the track, or vice versa. It needed to excel in both. As Angus MacKenzie reported after his initial drive of the Valhalla, which was essentially the finished article minus some transmission tuning, this Aston Martin is a winner on all fronts.
Driving the Valhalla
For my test, I was given a 50-minute road loop to begin with. One might naturally look at the Valhalla’s Le Mans hypercar-inspired aerodynamics and low, wide stance and expect a compromised daily driver. However, that is not the case at all. The only real sacrifice is luggage space; while there are small cubbies in the door cards, there is no frunk. This space is occupied by the three high-temperature radiators, the electric motors, and a racing-style pushrod-actuated inboard suspension layout.
This suspension design was implemented in part to accommodate the F1-style driving position. You sit so low that a conventional suspension would have raised the roofline too much to maintain an unobstructed forward view. There’s no backrest angle adjustment, so you must adapt to the seating position. The seats are bolted so low into the carbon-fiber monocoque tub that there’s no motor to slide them forward or back. Instead, you pull a leather strap between your legs and push to move the seat.
You adapt to the driving position quickly—it’s surprisingly natural—and within two miles, you realize the Aston Martin-specific Bilstein DTX active damper system and overall suspension setup make for a comfortable ride. The Spanish roads we drove were far from perfect, but neither were they impossibly rough. The difference between the suspension’s Sport and Sport+ settings is subtle—a welcome trait we’ve praised on other new Astons, like the Vantage. Race mode introduces a harsher ride that might become tedious during mundane cruising, but it’s manageable even on well-maintained, fast sweeping roads when it’s time to push the car.
The square steering wheel feels mostly nice to use, but the molded-in crease on the backside—designed to provide a more positive grip than a smooth surface—might not suit everyone. The steering feel itself is intuitive, maintaining a perfect weight that is neither too light nor too heavy across different drive modes.
When I came across a long, wide-open stretch of country road with no one in sight, I brought the car to