Saturday 18th February 2017

Aston Martin AM-RB 001 tech partners revealed

Cosworth, Ricardo, Alcon, Multimatic and more join Newey-led Aston Martin project to build world's fastest car

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To paraphrase the old gag if everyone thought the Aston Martin and Red Bull collaboration on the Adrian Newey designed AM-RB 001 was a bit of a joke then nobody is laughing now.

Last we checked in with the project we had confirmation of the way it'll look and an assertion from Newey it would be as fast as an LMP1 car in its circuit configuration. 25 of these track spec cars will be built, in addition to a 'maximum' of 150 in road spec, this number up slightly on original estimates of around 100 but said to include all prototypes and development cars. There's no further word on price but at last count we were anticipating it to be getting on for £3m. The 2018 delivery schedule seems to have slipped slightly, Aston Martin now saying customer cars will arrive in 2019 instead.

There are still no firm performance numbers yet, beyond saying there will be one horsepower for every kilo of weight - described as a 1:1 power to weight ratio. A four-figure power output is therefore a safe bet. At the heart of that will be a bespoke Cosworth built naturally-aspirated, high revving V12 engine displacing 6.5 litres. This, we can probably all agree, is a good starting point and indicates whatever else contributes to the propulsion there will be a noisy, charismatic internal combustion motor at the centre of the action.

While sparing on the details Aston Martin has confirmed a "hybrid battery system" from Croatian firm Rimac using expertise gained in its 1,000hp-plus electric supercar project.

Meanwhile Ricardo's engineering clout in the supercar world is well established, having supplied the gearbox for the Bugatti Veyron and developed and built the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 at the heart of McLaren's product range. In this instance it's working on the AM-RB 001's gearbox, a seven-speed unit designed to "deploy intelligent engineering solutions to achieve Newey's uncompromising goals". Details beyond that are scant. Guess what though - it will be paddle operated.

Multimatic - a key partner in the Ford GT project - will supply the AM-RB 001's carbon tub while Alcon and Surface Transforms will be in charge of braking technology. Bosch will meanwhile manage ECUs and other control systems. Quite the dream team in other words.

"Much like Formula One, designing, engineering and building a car like the AM-RB 001 is a massive team effort," affirms Newey. "To achieve great things you need to surround yourself with the best people. Experience, creativity, energy, diligence and perfectionism are absolute must-have qualities in every area of the project. Having great technical partners such as those working with us is both reassuring and motivating. Together we aim to produce an innovative piece of engineering art."

Certainly Geneva will provide rich pickings for the moneyed hypercar buyer with a few million to burn - if that's you and you were too slow to catch a Huayra Roadster it may be worth showing your face at the Aston Martin stand. Saying that if you are reading this and thinking "I fancy one of those..." you may already be too late. More when we have it.

[Sources: Autocar]

[WCZ]

£3m is pretty expensive for a new car, if this doesn't meet the expected performance (i'm sure it will) then it'll be very embarrassing for them

[WCZ]

cidered77 said:

if they deliver on their promises, this would be an absolutely monumental increase in pace for any car deemed "fastest road car in the world".

Current holy trinity on their standard tyres would be comfortably be beaten on most circuits by a moderate club racer on slicks (Radical SR4/PR6, Sports 2000, etc) - and I doubt much faster than a 30k racer if there were on slicks. If we take that laptime to be about a 2:08 on silverstone GP - then LMP1 pace means closer to 1:40.

That is just a different universe to anything made as a road car before. Even the dubious "road" cars like Radical SR8 would be 20 seconds up the road. Some bankers in for a bit of a shock. And doubtless neck and heart issues...!

Would need to be on race slicks, which I guess is what "circuit configuration" means..

Why can't someone just make an LMP1 car road legal? or am I missing something obvious here.

There are several road legal Porsche 962 cars...