Johnny 550 is Coming!
Discussion
robgt said:
L0TT0 said:
I always remember being told many years ago of a quote from someone who 'knew' that "there is no substitution for cc's".
Sorry Tony, there is,
It's called a turbo! AM's new engine will be 4ltr twin turbo circa 500BHPI assume you already have one on order then Rob and the necessary upgrades to engine and clutch are already ordered too
Well I'm back a lot quick than normal 
I got to BR about mid day and we had a good chat about the work done on the gear box and the exhaust.
The lads were very thorough, adding extra internal oil distribution to the gearbox, flow control to the oil pump and then checking oil temps under all sorts of conditions. I'm going to post some amazing pictures of the before and after gearbox internals when I get them on email.
We headed off on the 1.5 hour drive to Millbrook. Roof up in none Sport mode (exhaust valves always closed), its like being in a Limo, very civilised, perfect for long distance autoroute runs. It's still got the ASM pause in D in this mode, massive improvement on what it was though. Not surprised or bothered as I've never used it in this mode. Stab the Sport button and its all change. The exhaust valves are open all the time, though amazingly the sound is quieter at low revs than the stock car, all hell breaks lose at ~5k rpm right up to the 7.6k rev limit. The sound is a lot less metallic than when I drove it in January with the stock exhaust. Its got a great low tone to it and barks on down changes
This was a pleasant surprise to BR and me, I was dreading it being too loud and having to throttle it with resonators. Apparently its a result of the 4.3 rear box, the maximum diameter sports cats that would fit and slightly longer pinnacle headers.
Mike then took a hold of the paddles and slowed to a crawl, flooring the throttle. Jesus this thing shifts! It just pulls all the way up the rev range swapping cogs seamlessly with no lift, pause or delay. Problem is I think the speedo is out by a long way 
You just don't realise how many leptons you hit until you look down
We swapped over and I drove the rest of the way to Millbrook, getting stuck behind every tractor, bus and learner in the Midlands
It did prove how well it behaves at slow speed and in traffic.
We got to Millbrook and signed in (Mikes on first names terms with many of the staff )
To our glee Aston were running a "driving experience" day
Mike drove me round the various courses and we caught up with a V12VS (thought it was Andy Brew for a second!) as he came to the 1 mile straight to try a vmax run. He wasn't playing As Mike did the first launch they were out the car trying not to look Mike fluffed a gear change (yes really) and we still hit 165 mph, after another run we hit 170 mph with a little more to spare, we decide not go for a 3rd go as 170mph tops the BR Vmax list and is faster than any factory car has done there 
We meandered over to the handling course passing a few more factory guys trying ever so hard not to notice or hear us
Mike showed me the lines and I had a good blast round, he went very quiet. Not sure if he was calm or scared, hopefully the former! Caught the same V12VS who promptly moved over much to the amusement of a couple of the Marshals. Soon got the measure of the handling circuit and decided to go and explore the Alpine circuit. Bad timing, it was littered with van drivers testing Movano's and yes they still carved me up and hogged the lanes
So we went round again only to discover more of the AM factory group soon sorted that, only one hung on. Ironically a Rapide S but I'm guess it was a factory driver who knew the circuit, he gave up half way round. That is a scary circuit, get it wrong on there and you will know it!
We only spent 45 mins there but it was well worth it, I suspect there will be some interesting conversations at Gaydon tomorrow (Ian I guess you now know we fixed the gearbox despite your efforts
)
Saw a nice McLaren 650C spyder out testing as well.
I drove back to BR in the style I would use the car, its ballistic, overtakes are like time travel, then it settles back to a comfortable limo, ready & waiting for the next opportunity
Drove past Gaydon at kicking out time in sport mode (just to let them know we were there )
The shot peening and polishing of the gearbox internals has really made a difference, loads less cabin noise and NVH, much much smoother changes. Frustrated by the fact the rear wheel bearings were shot after 13k miles, one of them was so bad it was either going to seize or completely collapse (AM quality control strikes again) full set of rear pads (brakes and hand brake) needed due to traction control intervention more use of track mode needed
I was pleasantly surprised with how little traction control intervention there is now, though I will be putting it in Track mode to stop this once I've "got the measure"
All in all it has exceeded my expectations of what I was aiming for and 2 weeks in the Alps is going to be EPIC!!
We got back to BR and put the smoked chrome alloys on with the oversized Michelin Pilot Super Sports, drove home with them on, they grip very well and actually feel a bit more comfortable than the stock RE050's
The only visible sign of what Johnny is are the powder coated wheels and if you look carefully the gearbox oil cooler. Not arsed about dynoing it, especially as there is still more to come with the twin throttle package that is going through electronics development (mechanical didn't cut it). Might do it then just to confirm the numbers.
I believe this is compulsory now Off to do some more "preflight checks"
Untitled by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr
image by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr
image by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr
image by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr
Better pictures over the weekend
I got to BR about mid day and we had a good chat about the work done on the gear box and the exhaust.
The lads were very thorough, adding extra internal oil distribution to the gearbox, flow control to the oil pump and then checking oil temps under all sorts of conditions. I'm going to post some amazing pictures of the before and after gearbox internals when I get them on email.
We headed off on the 1.5 hour drive to Millbrook. Roof up in none Sport mode (exhaust valves always closed), its like being in a Limo, very civilised, perfect for long distance autoroute runs. It's still got the ASM pause in D in this mode, massive improvement on what it was though. Not surprised or bothered as I've never used it in this mode. Stab the Sport button and its all change. The exhaust valves are open all the time, though amazingly the sound is quieter at low revs than the stock car, all hell breaks lose at ~5k rpm right up to the 7.6k rev limit. The sound is a lot less metallic than when I drove it in January with the stock exhaust. Its got a great low tone to it and barks on down changes
This was a pleasant surprise to BR and me, I was dreading it being too loud and having to throttle it with resonators. Apparently its a result of the 4.3 rear box, the maximum diameter sports cats that would fit and slightly longer pinnacle headers.Mike then took a hold of the paddles and slowed to a crawl, flooring the throttle. Jesus this thing shifts! It just pulls all the way up the rev range swapping cogs seamlessly with no lift, pause or delay.
Problem is I think the speedo is out by a long way You just don't realise how many leptons you hit until you look down We swapped over and I drove the rest of the way to Millbrook, getting stuck behind every tractor, bus and learner in the Midlands
It did prove how well it behaves at slow speed and in traffic.We got to Millbrook and signed in (Mikes on first names terms with many of the staff
)To our glee Aston were running a "driving experience" day
Mike drove me round the various courses and we caught up with a V12VS (thought it was Andy Brew for a second!) as he came to the 1 mile straight to try a vmax run. He wasn't playing
As Mike did the first launch they were out the car trying not to look Mike fluffed a gear change (yes really) and we still hit 165 mph, after another run we hit 170 mph with a little more to spare, we decide not go for a 3rd go as 170mph tops the BR Vmax list and is faster than any factory car has done there We meandered over to the handling course passing a few more factory guys trying ever so hard not to notice or hear us
Mike showed me the lines and I had a good blast round, he went very quiet. Not sure if he was calm or scared, hopefully the former! Caught the same V12VS who promptly moved over much to the amusement of a couple of the Marshals. Soon got the measure of the handling circuit and decided to go and explore the Alpine circuit. Bad timing, it was littered with van drivers testing Movano's and yes they still carved me up and hogged the lanes
So we went round again only to discover more of the AM factory group
soon sorted that, only one hung on. Ironically a Rapide S but I'm guess it was a factory driver who knew the circuit, he gave up half way round. That is a scary circuit, get it wrong on there and you will know it!We only spent 45 mins there but it was well worth it, I suspect there will be some interesting conversations at Gaydon tomorrow (Ian I guess you now know we fixed the gearbox despite your efforts
)Saw a nice McLaren 650C spyder out testing as well.
I drove back to BR in the style I would use the car, its ballistic, overtakes are like time travel, then it settles back to a comfortable limo, ready & waiting for the next opportunity
Drove past Gaydon at kicking out time in sport mode (just to let them know we were there
)The shot peening and polishing of the gearbox internals has really made a difference, loads less cabin noise and NVH, much much smoother changes. Frustrated by the fact the rear wheel bearings were shot after 13k miles, one of them was so bad it was either going to seize or completely collapse
(AM quality control strikes again) full set of rear pads (brakes and hand brake) needed due to traction control intervention more use of track mode needed I was pleasantly surprised with how little traction control intervention there is now, though I will be putting it in Track mode to stop this once I've "got the measure"
All in all it has exceeded my expectations of what I was aiming for and 2 weeks in the Alps is going to be EPIC!!
We got back to BR and put the smoked chrome alloys on with the oversized Michelin Pilot Super Sports, drove home with them on, they grip very well and actually feel a bit more comfortable than the stock RE050's
The only visible sign of what Johnny is are the powder coated wheels and if you look carefully the gearbox oil cooler. Not arsed about dynoing it, especially as there is still more to come with the twin throttle package that is going through electronics development (mechanical didn't cut it). Might do it then just to confirm the numbers.
I believe this is compulsory now
Off to do some more "preflight checks" Untitled by mikey k V8VR, on Flickrimage by mikey k V8VR, on Flickrimage by mikey k V8VR, on Flickrimage by mikey k V8VR, on FlickrBetter pictures over the weekend
Edited by mikey k on Thursday 3rd July 07:39
George29 said:
robgt said:
Oh Dear V12 Woollie , you are about to be put in your place. Bamford Rose's latest creation is about to eclipse any thing currently available in V12 trim. Mikey's little bomb shell will prove that point . BR are producing V12 trouncing v8 engine cars that will prove you so very wrong!
A highly modified car beating performance of standard car... amazing! Do the same to a V12V then compare...
mikey k said:
EPIC! (Sorry cockers I'm nicking it!)
You need your own word me old china. Only one person does the nicking around here 
Glad you have it back and that it is everything you want. Do you still get that ringing sound from behind you or has that gone now with all that extra power
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