RE: Aston One-77 cracks 220mph
Discussion
The underpinnings are fabulous...eye candy for the tech oriented.
Exterior? Front let down a little by the back. The arches are just too much, especially at the leading edge/door trailing edge join. The body flows from front to rear and then abruptly breaks into those cartoonish arches, spoiling the lines.
From the rear, the car is just too wide. Note especially the width of the hatch vs the width of the back as a whole; seems way out of proportion.
That said, I'd take one for the technology and performance, but not the styling. If I could have my choice of bodies to put over these mechanicals, I'd much rather have a DBS instead of this.
Exterior? Front let down a little by the back. The arches are just too much, especially at the leading edge/door trailing edge join. The body flows from front to rear and then abruptly breaks into those cartoonish arches, spoiling the lines.
From the rear, the car is just too wide. Note especially the width of the hatch vs the width of the back as a whole; seems way out of proportion.
That said, I'd take one for the technology and performance, but not the styling. If I could have my choice of bodies to put over these mechanicals, I'd much rather have a DBS instead of this.
RGILL said:
I'm surprised that people on PH (PISTONHEADS) care about the price, and then start comparing it to 5 x Lambos instead. You guys are on the wrong website. MSN cars is that way--->>
The fact this car even exists is what it's all about. A 7.3L v12, pushing 700bhp!?!?!(I think?) We should be praising Aston for going all bonkers and building this. In the current climate, with all the talk of companies downsizing from V12s/V10s to V8s, and V8s to V6s, this may well be the last Big powered V12 ever...
Totally agree, what an amazing beast. And it really looks like a beast, unlike the veyron. Can't wait to see one in the fibre.The fact this car even exists is what it's all about. A 7.3L v12, pushing 700bhp!?!?!(I think?) We should be praising Aston for going all bonkers and building this. In the current climate, with all the talk of companies downsizing from V12s/V10s to V8s, and V8s to V6s, this may well be the last Big powered V12 ever...
And it's British! What's not to like about this? It's one of the most evil looking things ever produced to my eyes, in black it's like the Devil Himself designed it!
And to that end, I'll have mine in matt black/weapons grade gunmetal grey
J
bennyboysvuk said:
I think it was this photo of the One-77's rear suspension that did it for me:
I'd have it based on that pic alone!
That said, I'm not to keen on the exterior. Aston's classic shape doesn't lend itself well to the "add plenty of vents, insanely humongous arches, and generally make it look like the military designed it as a weapon of mass-destruction" look. For extremeness, I'd take a Zonda. For beauty, I'd take an 8C or DB9. But I don't need a car that looks the b
d child of said DB9 and Zonda.jains15 said:
RGILL said:
I'm surprised that people on PH (PISTONHEADS) care about the price, and then start comparing it to 5 x Lambos instead. You guys are on the wrong website. MSN cars is that way--->>
The fact this car even exists is what it's all about. A 7.3L v12, pushing 700bhp!?!?!(I think?) We should be praising Aston for going all bonkers and building this. In the current climate, with all the talk of companies downsizing from V12s/V10s to V8s, and V8s to V6s, this may well be the last Big powered V12 ever...
Totally agree, what an amazing beast. And it really looks like a beast, unlike the veyron. Can't wait to see one in the fibre.The fact this car even exists is what it's all about. A 7.3L v12, pushing 700bhp!?!?!(I think?) We should be praising Aston for going all bonkers and building this. In the current climate, with all the talk of companies downsizing from V12s/V10s to V8s, and V8s to V6s, this may well be the last Big powered V12 ever...
And it's British! What's not to like about this? It's one of the most evil looking things ever produced to my eyes, in black it's like the Devil Himself designed it!
And to that end, I'll have mine in matt black/weapons grade gunmetal grey
J
CTT said:
GTRene said:
lovely car, in the same region as the mighty Mercedes AMG SL Black series.
I really love those cars, standing out of the 'norm"
GTRene
wise man - got to love the cars with the big arches[/quoteI really love those cars, standing out of the 'norm"
GTRene
WHAT! How can you compare a tricked up Kraut car with an Aston One-77?
coogy said:
It is properly stunning. The only "10" i've rated so far. Underneath that aggressive exterior, the chassis is a thing of beauty in itself. EVO magazine did an article on it a good few months back that showed it all in detail. It really highlighted why this car demanded the "premium" price tag. Awesome. 
Good article that by Evo magazine, it was only after reading that did I understand the price tag of the Aston One, the car has been reengineered from the ground up, and the detail is amazing.
bennyboysvuk said:
I think it was this photo of the One-77's rear suspension that did it for me:
Exactly, there is more to this car than the exterior. It is a piece of automotive art and engineering excelence along with showing what British Engineering can do when given a blank canvas to work on. Personally i'm proud to have been involved with the project and can't wait to see and especially hear it personally.
and it would do 220.007mph, very sneaky indeed 007 would be proud!Really! Anyone who doesn't 'get', like or indeed LOVE this car for its exclusivity, beauty, individuality and sheer 'Britishness' should re-examine their claim to be a petrol/pistonhead. If this machine isn't exactly the sort of thing that first piqued one's interest in all things automotive then I fear, that - cold runs the multigrade in your veins Sirs!! Goodnight!!!
I know it's a lot of money, but you cannot not like this;
Aston’s engineers worked with Multimatic to create a monocoque tub with an aluminum honeycomb core wrapped in a carbon fiber skin. According to Porritt, this technique yields a tub that’s one-and-a-half times stiffer than the Vantage at about three-quarters of the mass.
The forward portion of the chassis consists of billet machined aluminum beams that form the engine bay sides and crash structure. In order to help keep the weight of the One-77 down, many of the structural components actually serve multiple purposes. In any structure, the strength of the components is in part determined by the dimensions of said structure. For example, an I-beam has greater resistance to bending and twisting than a simple rectangular or cylindrical beam made from the same amount of material with the same cross sectional area and weight.
That’s why simple race chassis are made of tubes of steel rather than solid rods – more strength for a given mass. The same thing applies to the One-77’s carbon fiber structure. By creating hollow structural members, the strength is increased. However, the engineers have taken advantage of that internal volume for use as ducts, eliminating the need for other parts. Those aluminum beams in the front are used to send air coming through the grille straight to the front brakes.
Similarly, air is routed from the front of the car through the carbon structure that forms the upper part of the engine compartment to a pair of very short ducts on each side that feed each of the two intake plenums. That air goes through a pair of throttle bodies mounted on each plenum for a total of four. Chassis #1, as it was displayed in Geneva, weighs a total of just 2,400 pounds complete with the engine, suspension, brakes and wheels.
The motion of those wheels is handled by a classic upper and lower control arm system at each corner. Here, the One-77 resembles a race car more than a typical road car. Instead of mounting the springs and dampers vertically and tying them directly to the wishbones, Aston Martin has gone with a pushrod layout. A bellcrank transfers the forces coming through the wheels to a link that compresses the spring and damper units mounted horizontally ahead of the engine. The advantage of this layout is that it reduces unsprung mass, cutting the resistance of the wheels to vertical motion.
At the rear, there was extra room, which allows for a simpler direct acting linkage from the control arm to the spring-damper assembly. The aluminum structure at the rear of the car contains four coil springs. Porritt explained that the two smaller coils are actually part of a hydraulic anti-roll bar mechanism. A typical anti-roll bar is actually just a spring steel torsion bar that links the two wheels on that axle limiting the relative motion of the wheels, and thus body roll.
The use of the coils allows for some adjustability of the rear roll stiffness. This is part of how each One-77 will be tuned specifically to the owner’s tastes. At the inboard end of each damper is a block containing a pair of spool valves. A spool valve draws its name from its shape, with larger diameters at the ends and a narrower section in the middle. Using a spool in the flow passage for the damper’s hydraulic fluid allows the effective orifice size to be changed in that passage.
Typical dampers have orifices in the flex plates that move through the fluid inside the tube and offer limited scope for adjustment without disassembling and replacing the plates. The One-77 dampers use a simple plunger and the spools act as the orifice. When a customer takes delivery of a One-77, he or she will come to the test track and drive the car first. Then the Aston technicians will make adjustments to the spools and other bits to suit the owners tastes and driving style. The system is not adaptive or electronically controlled, but it should be effective.
Directional changes are accomplished through a conventional ZF rack and pinion steering system. It’s equipped with a Servotronic hydraulic variable assist system. Porritt told us that the hydraulic system was chosen for “purity of feel.” Electric power assist systems are making progress, but they still aren’t quite where Aston Martin wanted them for this application.
Like the McLaren Mercedes SLR, the One-77 has been configured as a front mid-engine GT with the powerplant completely behind the front axle centerline. The aluminum casting ahead of the engine provides the in-board mounting points for the spring/damper units. The cast also forms the oil reservoir for the dry sump lubrication system for the engine.
The engine itself starts off from the same block casting used for the 6.0-liter V12 in other contemporary Aston Martins. In the 7.3-liter form used for the One-77, it gets “unique cylinder heads, unique crank, rods, pistons, cams and intake system. In fact, the only straight carryover part is the timing chain.” All together, it should amount to something in the neighborhood of 750 horsepower. Development work on the new engine was done in collaboration with Cosworth, with the race engine builder using its proprietary casting processes to manufacture the V12 block since its introduction.
Like most other modern supercars, the power of the V12 gets sent to the rear axle through a six-speed semi-automatic sequential transmission with paddle shifters. This beefed up gearbox was developed specifically for the One-77. The job of dissipating kinetic energy will be handled by carbon ceramic brakes, increasingly common equipment on high end supercars. A set of six-pot calipers squeeze the front rotors, but the caliper itself has been modified to minimize heat transfer to the brake fluid.
A car with the kind of speed capability of the One-77 needs to be aerodynamically stable. To that end, Porritt explained the car will have a deployable spoiler at the rear that raises based on speed. A pair of radiators at the front of the car will also be closed off at higher speeds to maintain the aerodynamic balance. An actuator at each corner acts on the suspension to lower the car about 15-20-mm to reduce drag.
In spite of the large rear diffuser, the intention of the car is to be essentially neutral at speed with no lift or downforce. Porritt explained that when the car starts generating significant downforce, larger, heavier rims and a stiffer suspension are needed, which would have a negative impact on ride quality, something counter to what Aston Martin is trying to achieve. The One-77 is meant to be one of the fastest cars on the road while maintaining all the luxury and refinement that Aston Martin always strives fo
Aston’s engineers worked with Multimatic to create a monocoque tub with an aluminum honeycomb core wrapped in a carbon fiber skin. According to Porritt, this technique yields a tub that’s one-and-a-half times stiffer than the Vantage at about three-quarters of the mass.
The forward portion of the chassis consists of billet machined aluminum beams that form the engine bay sides and crash structure. In order to help keep the weight of the One-77 down, many of the structural components actually serve multiple purposes. In any structure, the strength of the components is in part determined by the dimensions of said structure. For example, an I-beam has greater resistance to bending and twisting than a simple rectangular or cylindrical beam made from the same amount of material with the same cross sectional area and weight.
That’s why simple race chassis are made of tubes of steel rather than solid rods – more strength for a given mass. The same thing applies to the One-77’s carbon fiber structure. By creating hollow structural members, the strength is increased. However, the engineers have taken advantage of that internal volume for use as ducts, eliminating the need for other parts. Those aluminum beams in the front are used to send air coming through the grille straight to the front brakes.
Similarly, air is routed from the front of the car through the carbon structure that forms the upper part of the engine compartment to a pair of very short ducts on each side that feed each of the two intake plenums. That air goes through a pair of throttle bodies mounted on each plenum for a total of four. Chassis #1, as it was displayed in Geneva, weighs a total of just 2,400 pounds complete with the engine, suspension, brakes and wheels.
The motion of those wheels is handled by a classic upper and lower control arm system at each corner. Here, the One-77 resembles a race car more than a typical road car. Instead of mounting the springs and dampers vertically and tying them directly to the wishbones, Aston Martin has gone with a pushrod layout. A bellcrank transfers the forces coming through the wheels to a link that compresses the spring and damper units mounted horizontally ahead of the engine. The advantage of this layout is that it reduces unsprung mass, cutting the resistance of the wheels to vertical motion.
At the rear, there was extra room, which allows for a simpler direct acting linkage from the control arm to the spring-damper assembly. The aluminum structure at the rear of the car contains four coil springs. Porritt explained that the two smaller coils are actually part of a hydraulic anti-roll bar mechanism. A typical anti-roll bar is actually just a spring steel torsion bar that links the two wheels on that axle limiting the relative motion of the wheels, and thus body roll.
The use of the coils allows for some adjustability of the rear roll stiffness. This is part of how each One-77 will be tuned specifically to the owner’s tastes. At the inboard end of each damper is a block containing a pair of spool valves. A spool valve draws its name from its shape, with larger diameters at the ends and a narrower section in the middle. Using a spool in the flow passage for the damper’s hydraulic fluid allows the effective orifice size to be changed in that passage.
Typical dampers have orifices in the flex plates that move through the fluid inside the tube and offer limited scope for adjustment without disassembling and replacing the plates. The One-77 dampers use a simple plunger and the spools act as the orifice. When a customer takes delivery of a One-77, he or she will come to the test track and drive the car first. Then the Aston technicians will make adjustments to the spools and other bits to suit the owners tastes and driving style. The system is not adaptive or electronically controlled, but it should be effective.
Directional changes are accomplished through a conventional ZF rack and pinion steering system. It’s equipped with a Servotronic hydraulic variable assist system. Porritt told us that the hydraulic system was chosen for “purity of feel.” Electric power assist systems are making progress, but they still aren’t quite where Aston Martin wanted them for this application.
Like the McLaren Mercedes SLR, the One-77 has been configured as a front mid-engine GT with the powerplant completely behind the front axle centerline. The aluminum casting ahead of the engine provides the in-board mounting points for the spring/damper units. The cast also forms the oil reservoir for the dry sump lubrication system for the engine.
The engine itself starts off from the same block casting used for the 6.0-liter V12 in other contemporary Aston Martins. In the 7.3-liter form used for the One-77, it gets “unique cylinder heads, unique crank, rods, pistons, cams and intake system. In fact, the only straight carryover part is the timing chain.” All together, it should amount to something in the neighborhood of 750 horsepower. Development work on the new engine was done in collaboration with Cosworth, with the race engine builder using its proprietary casting processes to manufacture the V12 block since its introduction.
Like most other modern supercars, the power of the V12 gets sent to the rear axle through a six-speed semi-automatic sequential transmission with paddle shifters. This beefed up gearbox was developed specifically for the One-77. The job of dissipating kinetic energy will be handled by carbon ceramic brakes, increasingly common equipment on high end supercars. A set of six-pot calipers squeeze the front rotors, but the caliper itself has been modified to minimize heat transfer to the brake fluid.
A car with the kind of speed capability of the One-77 needs to be aerodynamically stable. To that end, Porritt explained the car will have a deployable spoiler at the rear that raises based on speed. A pair of radiators at the front of the car will also be closed off at higher speeds to maintain the aerodynamic balance. An actuator at each corner acts on the suspension to lower the car about 15-20-mm to reduce drag.
In spite of the large rear diffuser, the intention of the car is to be essentially neutral at speed with no lift or downforce. Porritt explained that when the car starts generating significant downforce, larger, heavier rims and a stiffer suspension are needed, which would have a negative impact on ride quality, something counter to what Aston Martin is trying to achieve. The One-77 is meant to be one of the fastest cars on the road while maintaining all the luxury and refinement that Aston Martin always strives fo
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