Aston Martin advice from Bamford Rose independent specialist
Discussion
I am happy to hear of your continued interest in the North American market.
The Classic Design crew and I are off to SEMA at October"s end, to return November 7.
By the way we have an exceptional source for Vantage carbon fiber aero parts for you to consider. View the chin splitter and Kamm tail on the Kip Ewing, Inc. site on my car. They have been in place for the past 2.5 years.
My personal Vantage project needs a Bamford Rose name. Let me reserve "Susie Q".
The Classic Design crew and I are off to SEMA at October"s end, to return November 7.
By the way we have an exceptional source for Vantage carbon fiber aero parts for you to consider. View the chin splitter and Kamm tail on the Kip Ewing, Inc. site on my car. They have been in place for the past 2.5 years.
My personal Vantage project needs a Bamford Rose name. Let me reserve "Susie Q".
flinder said:
I am happy to hear of your continued interest in the North American market.
The Classic Design crew and I are off to SEMA at October"s end, to return November 7.
By the way we have an exceptional source for Vantage carbon fiber aero parts for you to consider. View the chin splitter and Kamm tail on the Kip Ewing, Inc. site on my car. They have been in place for the past 2.5 years.
My personal Vantage project needs a Bamford Rose name. Let me reserve "Susie Q".
Enjoy the show, no doubt I will call in and see you and the classic guys next year The Classic Design crew and I are off to SEMA at October"s end, to return November 7.
By the way we have an exceptional source for Vantage carbon fiber aero parts for you to consider. View the chin splitter and Kamm tail on the Kip Ewing, Inc. site on my car. They have been in place for the past 2.5 years.
My personal Vantage project needs a Bamford Rose name. Let me reserve "Susie Q".
Susie Q is yours, just have to wait with bated breath like Brumma for our arrival to bring her into life
yeti said:
Mike, any progress on a date when the DB9 manifolds etc might be ready for installation?
I'm hoping to pop down to the the CTR day on 29th October, not driving but just a visit if the weather is nice.
Look forward to seeing you next weekend at Goodwood - I can tell you the developments of V12 upgrade program in person.I'm hoping to pop down to the the CTR day on 29th October, not driving but just a visit if the weather is nice.
On that note I have some general info about the special Goodwood day staged by Nicholas Mee and Co on 29th October.
'Jessica' will be making a guest appearance updated with Bamford Rose brake and suspension upgrade packages.
The brakes have been designed exclusively in-conjunction with an expert OEM supplier to exceed braking force and performance of both Vantage S and CCM packages. And whilst having a fixed rate damper at present, the final kit will be electronic adaptive giving the best of both track and comfort damping when each mode of operation is required.
There are still some places left if there are any owners who wish to participate.
The day offers great value for money as owners can experience glorious Goodwood in small groups and enjoy ample track time to learn the track and their car to full potential.
The day is limited to 25 cars
Groups will be made up of 5 cars and rotate each group as the day progresses
There is the opportunity for each driver who participates to sit in with Nicholas Mee and Co. professional drivers in their Aston Martin GT4 race cars for 'hot laps' and tuition.
The day comes with full hospitality of breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.
All offered at a bargain price of £495 - those interested should contact Nicholas Mee and Co. directly for more information on 02087418822 and ask for Neal Garrard.
'Jessica' will be on display throught the day for those interested to experience what 'Powered By Bamford Rose' means.... attendance without a car is free.
Edited by BamfordMike on Sunday 23 October 15:34
BamfordMike said:
Look forward to seeing you next weekend at Goodwood - I can tell you the developments of V12 upgrade program in person.
Just popped into see Neal - confirmed I will be there, maybe driving on track, maybe not! Little thing called noise regs might stop me... I will have to leave at 1pm sharp so will seek you out early Mike
I am the proud owner of the white Vantage prepared by Mike (Rose Bamford).
This Vantage is my second and I know a little this car. I wanted to test another preparation and I contacted Mike. After several exchanges of emails, I decided to give him my car. Mike told me he wanted to put the parts itself (catalyst, exhaust manifolds, filters changes and air boxes).
During the installation of parts, I stayed with Mike and his mechanic who explained in detail the operations and their passion for Aston Martin.
The car was tested before the operation with a computer taking ODB2 validated to work before / after. The same operation was carried out once all the pieces were mounted on the car.
For information, Mike and his mechanic are arrived at 11 am and left around 2 am the next day.
Now my personal road tests.
The difference is really huge in driving pleasure. The engine is angry, climbs towers like never before. The sound of the exhaust is demonic.
In another post, I mentioned I my "stopwatch" in recovery of 80-120 km / h. Before, I was putting between 4.2 to 4.3 sec and 3.9 to 4.0 sec now. So I can "see" the gain and it's good to have numbers that I master.
Soon, the car goes back to Mike for a new development ;O)
PS: sorry for my englisch...
This Vantage is my second and I know a little this car. I wanted to test another preparation and I contacted Mike. After several exchanges of emails, I decided to give him my car. Mike told me he wanted to put the parts itself (catalyst, exhaust manifolds, filters changes and air boxes).
During the installation of parts, I stayed with Mike and his mechanic who explained in detail the operations and their passion for Aston Martin.
The car was tested before the operation with a computer taking ODB2 validated to work before / after. The same operation was carried out once all the pieces were mounted on the car.
For information, Mike and his mechanic are arrived at 11 am and left around 2 am the next day.
Now my personal road tests.
The difference is really huge in driving pleasure. The engine is angry, climbs towers like never before. The sound of the exhaust is demonic.
In another post, I mentioned I my "stopwatch" in recovery of 80-120 km / h. Before, I was putting between 4.2 to 4.3 sec and 3.9 to 4.0 sec now. So I can "see" the gain and it's good to have numbers that I master.
Soon, the car goes back to Mike for a new development ;O)
PS: sorry for my englisch...
JohnG1 said:
You manage English better than most on here manage Schweizerdeutsch...
Nice looking job.
Mike - what's the weight difference between your kit and the AML OEM kit you rip out? The AML manifold looks very heavy versus yours...
Hi John.Nice looking job.
Mike - what's the weight difference between your kit and the AML OEM kit you rip out? The AML manifold looks very heavy versus yours...
The Bamford Rose exhaust manifolds and cats are minus approx. 11 kilos and if a Quicksilver silencer is taken the package is approx. 19 / 20 kilos less than OE system.
The weight loss mixed with a 30 Nm torque increase at 5000 rpm makes for a valuable real world acceleration gain, this was an important brief when designing the kit, as top end power gains which some drivers don't always access was only one aspect of what the package had to deliver to improve acceleration.
How is the repair going? when is the car returned to you?
yeti said:
I will have to leave at 1pm sharp so will seek you out early Mike
Great to meet you on Saturday Lewis. After seeing your beast in the flesh I totally understand the reason why you have taken her on a journey of modification to get the bespoke car you desire which the factory didn’t and still don’t today (in the way you want it) make.
From the couple of places I watched you around Goodwood, your braking points were much later than standard ‘9’s and nowhere near as much body roll either, statically her stance is much ‘meaner’ than a standard car too and the DBS bonnet gives a sporty appearance, yet overall the car still maintains understated values important to any Aston Martin.
The variable adjustment bypass valves will make certain your next day at Goodwood can be ‘full fat’.
A day in the future I look forward to….
BamfordMike said:
special Goodwood track day staged by Nicholas Mee and Co on 29th October.
As already discussed in the main forum, the 29th October trackday organised by Nicholas Mee at historic Goodwood was a great day out. Fantastic weather and fantastic cars, from a pre-war Lagonda to Nicholas Mee’s 2011 UK GT4 championship winning V8 Vantage race car. The event could not have been organised better, an open pit-lane with approx. 30 cars going out on the track in groups of 5, a welcome breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea in the Jackie Stewart hospitality suite provided a comfortable break from experiencing the best cars in the world around one of the best tracks in the world. If all that wasn’t enough the Goodwood staff were on hand for anybody who wanted to improve their lines in the tuition car and Nicholas Mee provided hot laps in the passenger seat of their GT4 race car throughout the day to anybody brave enough…!
Here are some pics of Nicholas Mee 2011 UK GT4 championship winning car. The engine was prepared by Bamford Rose in 2010 and has conducted 2010 24hour Britcar, an entire 2011 UK GT4 championship and achieved first in class second place overall at 2011 24 hour Britcar – Yes… all on the original blueprinted engine Bamford Rose completed last year.
Big Thanks to Neal Garrard and the Nicholas Mee team for staging such a well organised and enjoyable day, Bamford Rose will be attending many more in the future.
BamfordMike said:
'Jessica' will be making a guest appearance updated with Bamford Rose brake and suspension upgrade packages.
Jessica rolled out of Bamford Rose workshop recently with brake and suspension system modifications to complete the package of engine, clutch and flywheel, exhaust system, interior and exterior improvements. The brief for brake and suspension system design was simple, but the same brief for any other system Bamford Rose improve from original factory design – which is to comprehensively ‘Vanquish’ the best of what the factory is capable of. This meant that the benchmark for project Jessica has always been to beat V12 Vantage dynamics, this yardstick also means we surpass Vantage S keeping Bamford Rose engineering achievements ahead of the best of what the factory can offer.
In the case of project Jessica the engine already ‘Vanquishes’ V12V by beating V12V 0-60mph / 0-100mph and having a greater power to weight ratio. The result of this pushed the standard OEM brakes and suspension past what they were capable of meaning… another improvement was necessary....
OEM Vantage ‘S’ front brakes utilise 380mm discs and 6 pot callipers. Vantage ‘S’ has 27.5Cm2 Piston area, 110Cm2 pad area and uses Jurid 673 GG friction pad material giving a torque output ratio of 4268. The Bamford Rose equipment uses similar but higher spec 380mm discs and 6 pot callipers with 28.7Cm2 piston area, 110Cm2 pad area and utilises Pagid RS9-2 friction material giving torque output ratio of 4455. The rear Bamford Rose set-up also beats the OEM kit on paper in a similar manner meaning that total braking force ensures the Bamford Rose kit exceeds the OEM parts on paper. Both the Bamford Rose front and rear discs are of two piece disc and bell construction.
Vantage suspension has always been a little squidgy, turns to jelly when hot and even on the road suffers under-steer. Sports pack suspension is better but not quite taught enough for track or spirited country road driving, but, when made stiffer from sports pack, the comfort level for ‘non spirited' use becomes objectionable – the classic scenario of a compromise that can only be solved with a wire coming out of the top of the damper – Hence the Bamford Rose suspension solution could only be electronic switchable comfort / track mode driver select damping.
Electronic damping which improves on the suspension the factory release is always going to be a tall order for aftermarket to deliver, but like Bamford Rose has for the case of the engine, Bamford Rose also contains original design and development staff from original dynamics design and development from the facotry.
The development path was a well trodden one, and well defined. We took the full race spec Koni adjustable damper to define comfort and stiff damping rates with corresponding spring settings. These settings were then built into a comfort and track fixed rate damper which took a common spring. Both these suspension settings were then tested around Millbrook, back-to-back, to ensure compliance in dry, wet, track and road or comfort use. After a few tweaks the switchable damper was born with comfort and sport setting and a fixed spring which lowers the car by around 15mm. See some pics below showing the development path.
The suspension and brake package then had the icing on the cake applied, which was a set of Pirelli PZero Trofeo tyres. The car was finally tested with this production intent kit around Millbrook to 'belt and braces' ensure compliance. A few corners around the inner handling circuit (the one which 5th gear use to record power lap times) tested for under-steer exactly where the original Vantage suffers badly from under-steer, and the handling circuit, hill route and high speed bowl circuits confirmed how in the real world the brakes ‘Vanquish’ OEM parts - never a hint of fade and pedal to the metal was always accompanied with a crushed rib cage on the seat belt, whislt feather the pedal returned linear modulation and normal braking.
The Goodwood track day was the ultimate sign-off test where session after session test pilots from journalists to drivers eager to sample Jessica, the best road Vantage in the world, put the car through punishing laps. Never ever under-steer, over-steer, never any brake fade. Just engine performance beyond belief, grip beyond belief, braking performance beyond belief and comments of 911 Turbo beater, which for me is the ultimate accolade – beating the factory is easy, Bamford Rose does that all season long in racing endeavours, beating the rival (Porsche) who the factory could never beat brings a smile to the face and an itching feeling for the next trackday to fully enjoy the package..
And here is Jessica in the full;
This is Bamford Rose comprehensive V8 Vantage upgrade kit, fully designed and developed....
Engine: 526 Nm @ 5000 rpm / 475 BHP @ 7500 rpm
Powerflap induction system / K+N air filters
GT4 Racing specification ported and blueprinted cylinder head
4.7L displacement with machined from billet crankshaft, steel con rods and forged pistons
Light weight flywheel
Twin plate clutch
Bamford Rose 4-1 tuned exhaust manifold and Sports catalsyst
Braking:
380mm 2 piece front discs
6 pot calipers
330mm 2 piece rear disc
4 pot calipers
Pagid RS9-2 pads front and rear
Suspension:
Front and rear electronic switchable dampers
Lowering springs
Tires:
Pirelli PZero Trofeo
245/35/19 front
265/35/19 rear
Exterior:
GT4 Racing carbon fibre front lip
Carbon fibre body coloured rear valance
GT4 Racing carbon fibre rear difuser
Interior:
Sarah Maynard heater and radio dials
Indicator stalk shrouds
Machine from billet gear lever with Bamford Rose quickshift kit
This is Bamford Rose comprehensive V8 Vantage upgrade kit, fully designed and developed....
Engine: 526 Nm @ 5000 rpm / 475 BHP @ 7500 rpm
Powerflap induction system / K+N air filters
GT4 Racing specification ported and blueprinted cylinder head
4.7L displacement with machined from billet crankshaft, steel con rods and forged pistons
Light weight flywheel
Twin plate clutch
Bamford Rose 4-1 tuned exhaust manifold and Sports catalsyst
Braking:
380mm 2 piece front discs
6 pot calipers
330mm 2 piece rear disc
4 pot calipers
Pagid RS9-2 pads front and rear
Suspension:
Front and rear electronic switchable dampers
Lowering springs
Tires:
Pirelli PZero Trofeo
245/35/19 front
265/35/19 rear
Exterior:
GT4 Racing carbon fibre front lip
Carbon fibre body coloured rear valance
GT4 Racing carbon fibre rear difuser
Interior:
Sarah Maynard heater and radio dials
Indicator stalk shrouds
Machine from billet gear lever with Bamford Rose quickshift kit
As the first person on the day to ride in Jessica at Goodwood (oo-er) I can confirm her to be rocket-ship fast and just so very confidence inspiring - I wish I had been driving!! So much grip, so much braking power, flat through the corners, so much pull from the engine and the ability to put the power down so early when coming out of corners, just a terrific place to be, and yet docile enough to plod around the paddock.
One thing missing - a passenger grab-handle to combat the centrifugal forces - or I suppose centripetal forces if we're being clever...
One thing missing - a passenger grab-handle to combat the centrifugal forces - or I suppose centripetal forces if we're being clever...
BamfordMike said:
Hi John.
The Bamford Rose exhaust manifolds and cats are minus approx. 11 kilos and if a Quicksilver silencer is taken the package is approx. 19 / 20 kilos less than OE system.
The weight loss mixed with a 30 Nm torque increase at 5000 rpm makes for a valuable real world acceleration gain, this was an important brief when designing the kit, as top end power gains which some drivers don't always access was only one aspect of what the package had to deliver to improve acceleration.
How is the repair going? when is the car returned to you?
I am going to stay silent on this subject. If I just say that the car was due back today and I have a bus ticket for the journey home I think that will do for now.The Bamford Rose exhaust manifolds and cats are minus approx. 11 kilos and if a Quicksilver silencer is taken the package is approx. 19 / 20 kilos less than OE system.
The weight loss mixed with a 30 Nm torque increase at 5000 rpm makes for a valuable real world acceleration gain, this was an important brief when designing the kit, as top end power gains which some drivers don't always access was only one aspect of what the package had to deliver to improve acceleration.
How is the repair going? when is the car returned to you?
I am hoping that the right people can pull this one around.
Else it's McLaren for me next time.
JohnG1 said:
I am going to stay silent on this subject. If I just say that the car was due back today and I have a bus ticket for the journey home I think that will do for now.
I am hoping that the right people can pull this one around.
Else it's McLaren for me next time.
That does not sound positive, John. Hope it is all rectified to your satisfaction sooner than later, and without further pain. Would hate to lose you to the Dark Side.I am hoping that the right people can pull this one around.
Else it's McLaren for me next time.
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff