THE FASTEST NATURALLY ASPIRATED CAR IN 2024

The fastest land speed achieved by a production vehicle was set by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. It managed to average 304.7 MPH across two runs. However, Bugatti's title is aided by the four big turbochargers that helped push air into the massive 8.0-liter W-16 engine during the run.

Our focus today lies on a car that is fully independent of forced induction. It is the fastest naturally aspirated car in the world as of 2024, both in a straight line and around a track.

The Aston Martin's Valkyrie has taken the world by storm. When considering regulations, it is the fastest naturally aspirated object that can still wear a number plate. Its tear-shaped silhouette coupled with the exposed active suspension and carbon monocoque is the closest thing to a Formula 1 car we have today. The 1,124 combined horsepower coupled with 2,000 pounds of maximum downforce assures that the Valkyrie also performs similarly to a F1 car, just not quite as extreme.

Valkyries V-12 Engine Is An Engineering Phenomenon

Unlike the Mercedes-AMG One, the Valkyrie does not use any turbo trickery. Its power mainly comes from the specially made naturally aspirated Cosworth V-12 engine. Because there is no forced air induction, the sound signature of the Valkyrie will remind you of a Formula 1 season from the 80s. The hypercar was impeccably thought out by one of the world's greatest motorsport designers in history, Adrian Newey. But despite his efforts, the engine is by far the greatest revelation within the Valkyrie chassis.

Engine Stats That Will Blow Your Mind Away

The engine is a 6.5-liter V-12 that can rev all the way up to 11,000 rpm. Having its peak combined power of 1,124 horsepower at 10,500 rpm allows the Valkyrie to look, feel and handle exactly like a racing hypercar should. To add to this, the Aston Martin engineers made the powerhouse an active component of the chassis. This shows the distance Aston Martin went to when creating the Valkyrie. The engine, however, only weighs in at 440 pounds, which is ridiculously light for any engine, and particularly so for a 1,000-horsepower 6.5-liter V-12. It's worth pointing out, however, that an electric motor with 155 horsepower helps bump up the power output to a combined 1,124 HP.

Performance Specifications

Cosworth Had To Stick Close To Home

An engine with a displacement of this proportion that speeds up to over 11,000 rpm seems almost surreal. The Cosworth engineers knew that the engine was going to be subject to immense pressures and stress, so they decided to stick to the materials they knew best; steel and aluminum alloys. The extra stress also comes from the twisting forces that the chassis experiences. The engine is the only link that joins the rear and front of the car together. It has undoubtedly set the tone for future natural aspirated engines to come.

The Valkyrie Is The Fastest Naturally Aspirated Car The World Has Ever Seen

The Valkyrie's engine is undoubtedly a showstopper, but the chassis of the car does not let Aston Martin's hypercar down one bit. The whole structure of the car is constructed from carbon fiber, allowing it to be stiff and lightweight. The weight of 2,700 pounds allows the Valkyrie to achieve a formidable 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. With this in mind, the Valkyrie utilizes active aerodynamic elements, which allow the hypercar to be fast both in a straight line and in the corners.

Straight Line Speed Is One Of Valkyrie's Strongest Characteristics

Two things are paramount to a racing car; speed and cornering. For a vehicle to corner faster, it must sacrifice some of its top speed, mainly through the addition of aerodynamic aids creating downforce to help keep the car glued to the tarmac as it performs high speed cornering. This does not mean that the Valkyrie is slow in a straight line though. The hypercar manages to accelerate from 0-60 MPH in just 2.5 seconds and reach a claimed top speed of 250 MPH, a mind-bending number when you realize that the Valkyrie's insane downforce limits this considerably.

The Valkyrie's Simplicity And Exclusivity Appeals To All

As one might guess from the nature of the Valkyrie, it does not offer a lot of commodities once you climb inside the cabin. To cut down the vehicle's weight, everything you are used to in a normal car has either been removed or drastically changed. The steering wheel resembles an open-seater racing vehicle rather than a road car, with all the crucial information displayed beneath your eyes.

There are more screens in the cockpit, but they are used to displaying information such as tire temperature and lap times rather than radio and climate controls. They double down as mirrors because the Valkyrie uses small cameras instead of conventional mirrors. Yes, you guessed it, it is more aerodynamically efficient to have small cameras.

Aston Martin Went Back To Basics With The Transmission

Most supercars will now roll out of the factory with dual-clutch transmissions. This allows for lightning quick up shifts, as the next gear is already engaged and ready to receive the power. The Valkyrie, however, does not make use of a dual-clutch, but rather a single-clutch design that resembles a manual transmission. You might guess that it is slower this way, and you would be right. But to ensure the reliability of the car, Aston Martin equipped the Valkyrie with a single clutch as it can take more power than the faster yet weaker dual-clutch.

With Outstanding Performance Comes Very Limited Numbers

The technology and staff used to create the Valkyrie means that Aston Martin could only craft a limited number of examples. Despite its $3,000,000 price tag, it can be said that this is a fair price to pay for the feel and exclusivity that the Valkyrie offers. 150 Valkyries will be built and rolled out, compared to the 25 AMR Pro models. Before you go off and even think about buying one, all the slots have been filled way before production started, and there do not seem to be any up for sale. Tough luck.

The Valkyrie Is So Close, Yet So Far From Being On Par With A Formula 1 Car

If a normal person was to test the Valkyrie to its absolute limits, they would more than likely be overwhelmed by every aspect of its performance. That being said, even this marvel is far from being as fast as a Formula 1 car. There are so many differences that limit the Valkyrie, such as the extra weight that limits the car in the breaking and cornering phases. Then comes the fact that Formula 1 cars have way more downforce along with wider and stickier tires, allowing them to be even more radical in cornering and breaking.

The AMR Version Brings A Whole New Side To The Valkyrie

The Valkyrie contains all the mentioned technology in a road-legal package, which is quite absurd. As cool as it might be, it is weighed down heavily by motoring regulations. Aston Martin found a clever way around this, however, and that was to build an even faster, track-focused car. The Valkyrie AMR Pro, which capitalizes heavily on the fact that it has way fewer regulations to comply with.

While the powertrain remains the same impressive V-12 Cosworth, the AMR Pro is lighter than the standard model, all while producing double the downforce. This, along with track-focused slick tires, make the AMR Pro a true racing car.

2024-05-04T04:05:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd