Road Wheel Option £18,500

[Jon39]

When £18,500 is charged for optional wheels, people might think a car manufacturer must be making good profits.

That is £18,500 on top of the standard road wheels, which are not given to the customer.

How much do you think used Valhalla prices might be, when the cars appear on sale?

[The V12 Way]

One here for sale, £1.1m

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202608145...

[RL17]

Pretty cheap relatively.

You'd easily pay £2k or so for an wheels upgrade on a £50k car - which is relatively twice as dear. Probably not much margin on the wheels as not making that many.

Its more shocking where all the weight comes from!

[Jon39]

Harry has published a video, after having a Valhalla for a week.
I have not seen all of the video yet, but have learnt the following.

- Various 'aerodynamic' slots, permit rain water and road dirt to be sprayed in various directions.
- No access underneath the front bonnet area.
- No access to see the engine.
- Two flaps can be opened after holding buttons for 10 seconds. Fuel filler and PHEV charging point.
- Luggage space. Well, the owner cannot open the back bodywork, or the front body work, but there is a tiny storage compartment in the door. Perfectly adequate for a day out road trip, because two sandwiches should fit perfectly. For any overnight stays, that compartment might also accommodate a toothbrush. A Valhalla owner could send luggage ahead in a V8 Vantage.

- From what Harry has described, having a V8 Vantage on hand to carry luggage could be useful, if anyone asked to see the Valhalla engine. "Sorry only a mechanic can access the Valhalla engine, but lift the Vantage bonnet and there is the same engine."

A great car, but apparently with practical limitations. I suppose an F1 car does not have any luggage space, but that absent feature might be unique for a road car.

[Familymad]

Could this end up being the XJ220. Will
come good in 25years on the used market. Until then it confuses and polarises?

[Davil]

Familymad said:

Could this end up being the XJ220. Will
come good in 25years on the used market. Until then it confuses and polarises?

Haha. Don’t worry Jon is always filling his half empty glass. I suspect metaphorically and physically most times. ;-P
Harry loved it. Reviews have been quite remarkable with Harris saying it may be the best car he has driven.
Apparently sales have been good.

[RL17]

I thought the engine was the dry dumped version M178

Used on some Mercedes GT cars but not on C63 or Vantage

[yeti]

Jon39 said:

A great car, but apparently with practical limitations. I suppose an F1 car does not have any luggage space, but that absent feature might be unique for a road car.

I remember looking in the 'boot' of a One-77. Not a jot of space, seemed very silly.

Couldn't see the engine in my Tuscan or Boxster, a really silly thing to do with an enthusiast product.

[GrahamPM]

I’ve watched Harry’s video, and throughly enjoyed it. There are some inaccuracies though - for instance, the wheels fitted to that car are the standard not the lightweight magnesium option wheels. Bear in mind that Porsche charge c£13K for their mass produced RS lightweight wheel, the £20K for low production Aston version is understandable.
This is an option I didn’t tick on mine BTW!
In the rain, the aerodynamics are such that the spray off the front wheels is ‘ducted’ through the channels in the lower sections of the doors and down the side of the car. It doesn’t spray out on to the windscreen
You don’t have to press and hold the fuel flap release button - you press once, and by the time you’ve extricated yourself out of the car, it’s ready to lift up. The electric charge flap releases immediately.
Yes, the doors are bloody heavy to push up from closed when you’re inside - there’s a technique for sure, something my wife really struggles with.
The door buttons take a bit of thought - it’s the back button and the door pops open.
It is a pain not having luggage space - and as described, we went for a weekend away in the Cotswolds recently, and my pal who came with us to the Broadway Car Show drove my Vantage with all our luggage in it!
Overall, I love it, yes it maybe a Trophy car and we all can question its practicality but life’s all about choice and ‘horses for courses’.
It’s fantastic that Aston are able to make such an amazing piece of engineering
Graham

[V8 Minotaur]

Great to have an owner's perspective on it Graham - thank you.
And yes indeed, a triumph of British engineering to be celebrated!