Aston Martin is producing its own in-house designed V6 engine, which it will deploy in a new range of mid-engine sportscars, that are expected from 2022, beginning with the Aston Martin Valhalla. The Engine is codenamed TM01, dedicated to Tadek Marek, who was an illustrious Aston Martin engineer working during the 1950s and 1960s.
The brand-new engine has undergone a series of extensive testing on the dyno, This is Aston Martins first in-house designed engine since 1968. The 3.0-litre turbocharged V6, full powertrain will be electrified, In parallel to the tests Aston Martin is developing a new range of hybrid systems, it is expected that the complete unit will become the most powerful in the Aston Martin range when on sale. Final power and torque figures for each application of this powertrain will be confirmed at the time of launch.
Aston Martin Valkyrie was the brand’s first mid-engined hypercar, the product development of the Valkyrie offered many key learnings, which now have been directly applied to this project. The decision to develop the engine with a ‘hot V’ structure with the configuration allowing for this compact engine to weigh less than 200kg.
Aston Martin say higher engine speeds, in combination with the benefits of electrification, will offer the performance characteristics of a mid-engine sportscar on an extreme level. The new engines will sit directly behind the driver’s cabin, they will be equipped with a dry sump system, this should guarantee the lowest possible centre of gravity. The system is expected to deliver exceptional lubrication performance during on-limit cornering. The engine has been designed to meet all future emission requirements for Euro 7.
Joerg Ross, Powertrain Chief Engineer said: “This project has been a great challenge from the start. Putting a team together to deliver what is going to be the future power of Aston Martin has been an honour. From the very beginning, we have had the freedom to explore and innovate in a way that we have not been able to do so in a very long time. Most importantly, we wanted to create something that is befitting of the TM01 nameplate and create something that would have impressed our predecessor and pioneering engineer, Tadek Marek”.
Tadek Marek was a Polish automobile engineer from Krakow, he was best known for his work on Aston Martin engines. He studied engineering at the Berlin Technical University before working at FIAT in Poland. Apart from a being an exceptional engineer ,Tadek was also a racing driver, in 1928 he suffered a serious racing accident, but got back behind the wheel and raced in the 1937 Monte Carlo Rally, up until 1940. Later in 1940 he moved to Great Britain where he joined the Polish Army, as an engineer he worked on the Centurion tank engine development and post war he worked for the UN in Germany. Tadek returned to the UK later joining Aston Martin in 1954.
At Aston Martin, his most notable work, was on three engines, developing the alloy straight six-cylinder engine of the DBR2 racing car (1956), he redesigned the company's venerable straight six-cylinder Lagonda (1957), and finally developing the Aston Martin V8 engine (1968).
The Lagonda engine received a new cast iron block with top seating liners, used in the DB MK3 which that debuted in 1957. After modifications, the DBR2 engine was used in the DB4 (1958), DB5 (1963), DB6 (1965) and DBS (1967). The V8 first appeared in the DBS V8 in 1969, going on to power Aston Martins for part of five decades, it was finally retired in 2000. Marek and his wife moved to Italy in 1968, where he died in 1982.
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