2028 Aston Martin Valhalla Spider First Look: Top Off, 217-MPH Top Speed, No Problem

Got a touch over a million bucks burning a hole in your pocket and want to buy an Aston Martin Valhalla? Here’s the bad news: The majority of the 999 Valhallas Aston Martin plans to build are already sold. Now here’s the (sort of) good news: If you hurry, you can get your name down for the new open-top Valhalla Spider. The “sort of” bit? Aston Martin expects just one in four Valhallas will be Spiders, and they’re going to cost about 40 percent more than the coupe when the first of them arrives in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2027.

We like the Aston Martin Valhalla coupe. It’s one of those cars whose raw driver appeal transcends the track test numbers, a car that may not be the quickest, the lightest, or the most brutally powerful hypercar in the business, but it’s one of the first you’d chose for a scintillating drive on a real-world road. It’s ultra-high tech, the Valhalla, but it feels remarkably analog from behind the wheel, and such is the coherence of the chassis and powertrain that you can quickly find balance and pace in it. “This is one of the great ones,” we wrote after testing longtime MotorTrend reader Ryan Warner’s eye-popping Lime Essence–colored Valhalla coupe a few months ago.

We should expect no less from the Valhalla Spider. It’s mechanically identical to the coupe. That means the same hybrid powertrain anchored by the 816-hp flat-plane-crank version of AMG’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 with three electric motors—one driving each front wheel and a third embedded in the new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission—boosting the total system output to 1,064 hp and 811 lb-ft of torque and delivering a 2.3-second 0–60-mph acceleration time and 217-mph top speed. (And yes, it will achieve Vmax with the roof off, making it the fastest open-top Aston in history.) The suspension, braking, and steering hardware are all the same, too, along with the 20-inch front and 21-inch rear forged alloy wheels shod with a bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tire developed specifically for the Valhalla.

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Going Roofless Takes Serious Engineering

What’s different is the top half of the Spider’s carbon-fiber structure, which is made from hand-laid carbon fiber and bonded to the molded carbon lower tub. (The same process is used to make the coupe.) “The molded carbon tub gives us a great place to start from,” Valhalla platform chief engineer Andrew Kay said. “It means we don’t have to add huge amounts of mass into the rockers or into the central tunnel because the structure is fundamentally stiff enough.”

At first glance, the Spider looks like a Valhalla coupe with a removable targa roof. But look closer, and you’ll see the doors are different, lacking the window frames and roof cutouts of the coupe. And because there are no roof cutouts, the cant rails of the carbon-fiber targa roof that will be standard on all U.S.-spec Spiders arc slightly higher to improve entry and egress to the snug, carbon-fiber-lined cabin with the roof attached. Aston Martin engineers have also improved the kinematics of the dihedral-opening doors, making them lighter and easier to open and close.

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Roof Comes Off, Aero Doesn’t

Beyond that, removing the carbon-fiber hard top dramatically changes the airflow over the top of the car, and that’s critically important because the large intake snorkel just behind the cockpit must send air into the engine, turbochargers, and intercoolers. “The minute you take the panel away, the air tends to wander off unsupervised, which means the snorkel stops working,” Kay said. That’s why when the roof is removed, a foldable three-piece wind deflector must be fitted to the windshield header rail to direct air over the open cockpit and then down toward the snorkel, the height of which has been increased by 1.4 inches over that of the coupe to make sure the Valhalla Spider’s systems get all the air they need. “The car doesn't work unless you feed that snorkel,” Kay said. “That was probably the biggest challenge we faced.”

The change in airflow with the roof off also affects the aerodynamic balance of the Valhalla Spider. “You lose some airflow over the back of the car,” Kay said. The same active aero system used on the Valhalla coupe helps the Spider achieve the same 1,322 pounds of downforce from 149 to 217 mph with the roof on. And when the car detects the roof has been removed, it ensures it retains a 40/60 front-to-rear aero balance despite lower overall downforce levels.

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“The aerodynamic balance shifts slightly forward with the roof off, so we counteract that,” Valhalla Spider vehicle engineering manager Mike Carter said. Without the active aero system, the increased front downforce would make the Valhalla Spider feel like a different car at speed with the roof off. “We try to maintain a natural feeling through the speed range, so the car doesn't suddenly change its character.”

When the Valhalla Spider senses its hard top has been removed, it also automatically adjusts the stability control operating parameters to account for the reduced levels of downforce at speed. As there’s nowhere to store the hard top in the car, you’ll have to leave it behind in the garage if you want a day of open-top motoring. But a cloth soft top can be stored in the new stowage space built into the Valhalla Spider’s sills; it also accommodates the foldable wind deflector, so you can swap them out if there’s a change in the weather. Fitting the cloth soft top limits the Valhalla Spider’s top speed to a mere 124 mph, though Aston Martin points out this is class leading. Besides, if you need to fit the soft top, chances are you’re not going to be chasing 217 mph.

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The Valhalla Spider also comes equipped with a new carbon-fiber Touring Seat. Its lower sides and wider cushion make it easier to get into and out of the car, especially with the roof on, but snake-hipped enthusiast drivers can order their Spiders with the more supportive seat from the Valhalla coupe at no extra cost.

More Sky, Same 217-MPH Ambition

From behind the Spider’s trapezoidal steering wheel, you see the front fenders bulging over wheels located just ahead of your feet, with the view of the road ahead starting right at the base of the windshield. The windshield header rail is quite low, and the windshield bulges forward. In the coupe, that gives you the feeling you’re piloting a Le Mans racer. In the Spider, with the roof off, that means more sky over your head than in most other convertible hypercars. And it will still take you all the way to 217 mph.