Aston Martin’s Valhalla goes open-air with new Spider

Aston Martin has given its Valhalla supercar the drop-top treatment with a Spider version.

Thanks to plenty of lightweight materials, the Spider weighs just 25kg more than its coupe sibling and can return the same 0-60mph time of under 2.5 seconds. Flat-out, the Spider will top out at 217mph – with the roof down. When the stowable fabric roof is in place, Aston says that the Spider is restricted to a top speed of 124mph.

There is the option of a carbon-fibre hard-top roof which returns that top-whack speed of 217mph.

All this performance comes courtesy of a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine linked to three electric motors for a combined output of 1,064bhp and 1,100Nm of torque.

With the roof off, passengers are protected from excessive buffeting with a clip-in wind deflector which, Aston says, will ‘manage airflow over the open cockpit’. When not needed, it can be folded into three parts and stored inside new 15-litre cubbies in the sills. The Valhalla Spider’s Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) has been returned for this drop-top and can adapt to the differing airflow levels for when the roof is in place and removed.

The whole car features active aerodynamics – just like the coupe – which manages underbody airflow to ensure maximum grip in any driving situation. Aston Martin says that the Valhalla Spider can generate up to 600kg of downforce with the roof in place, too.

There’s a new carbon fibre touring seat equipped as standard to the Spider, though the original full carbon fibre race seat from the standard Valhalla Coupe can be fitted at no extra cost if needed.

Aston Martin hasn’t released a price for the Spider yet, but it’s likely to exceed the £850,000 starting price for the regular Valhalla coupe.