New engines aren’t worth talking about most of the time, but this one is an exception. This is the new, turbocharged V6 engine that’ll power the Aston Martin Valhalla in 2022, and, when paired with a hybrid system, it’ll be the most powerful engine available in the Aston range.
That’s right, the new turbo, hybrid V6 in the Valhalla will be more powerful than any V8 or V12 in the Aston line-up come 2022. Exactly how much power (and torque) it’ll have Aston hasn’t said yet, but it’ll eclipse the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera’s 715bhp by a fair margin.
But this engine isn’t destined only for the Valhalla – developing a single engine for a single application, in this case, would be way too expensive – and will find itself slotted into a number of different cars in the coming years, all with various outputs to suit the model.
It’s a ‘Hot V’ engine, meaning the turbochargers (we’re expecting two, although Aston hasn’t expressed that specifically) sit in the middle of the engine’s V, which improves not just turbocharger and engine response but also fuel economy and emissions. Aston promises that this new engine has been “designed to meet all future emission requirements for Euro 7”. It’s also dry-sumped to help keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, and will weigh less than 200kg in total.
The engine has a name, too: TM01. The ‘01’ signifies it’s the first of its kind, and the ‘TM’ is a nod to Polish Aston engineer Tadek Marek, an Aston engineering genius from the 1950s and ‘60s. He was the man responsible for the straight-six in the DBR2, redesigning the road-going straight-six of the 1950s and designing the Aston’s V8 in the late 1960s.
Aston has released a video of the new V6, too, although it isn’t anything to write home about. There’s a lot of dramatic music and the engine sounds a tad muted, although it is glowing red hot, which is always fun to see, and we trust that when the engine actually makes it to a road car it’ll sound much more fruity.
Aston Martin
Valhalla
Tadek Marek