New owner - My Aston story, sand raced lemon? + picture.
Discussion
now all we need is some more pictures 
It’s taken a while to get some photos together since the last request from Grant. almost 4 years ago, but it has allowed me to make some small changes to my Aston. I like saying that, “my Aston” 
Some will like them, some won’t, in my eyes the carbon makes her look more fresh and dare I say, aggressive in appearance, which I like. I still prefer the look of this generation Vantage in comparison to the new. I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t get that emotional connection with it, and for me that’s part of the joy of Aston ownership. But it’s horses for courses and that’s a good thing.
Back to my little tweaks.... carbon it’s so addictive, once you start you can’t stop.
It started with the wing mirrors, followed by the splitter. Both really easy to change. Then came the rear diffuser quickly followed by rear light trims and a six bar black grill. At this point I genuinely thought that would be it, just some small subtle changes to make my Aston a bit different. However, the changes were on the outside so I couldn’t really experience them whilst driving, so the interior needed a tweak. I started with the door tread plates, mine were scratched and were a funny anodized black colour with a purple hue in certain light, the carbon replacements are a nice visual treat when opening the door. These were followed by the door top sills, replacing the leather ones for carbon again, both were straight forward to replace like for like with details online on how to do it.
Then came a tricky piece which took months to get right. The replacement Carbon waterfall. This piece was a total pain in the ****! In the end I had two, as both came with the start key button hole 2mm too big in diameter so that the start bezel didn’t cover the hole, in the end the only solution was to get a jeweller to make a silver washer to hide the oversized hole. Aston Works couldn’t understand it, pictures went back and forth, suggestions, various brackets, part numbers were confirmed with vin numbers etc. but nothing fixed the obvious, the hole was made too big. someone must have accidentally drilled a whole batch of carbon waterfalls with a hole too big.
Then there was a break, and some Aston YouTube watching. One video caught my eye and I instantly knew I couldn’t live without it. After changing the red rear lights to clear, I was now tempted by Divinatech’s sequential indicators and LED upgrade. I sent mine off and they were returned within the week. They’re so cool, subtle too and work a treat. Plus the red is more red, orange more orange and I love the effect. If you’re not familiar, here’s a link https://www.divinatech.com/
The only real thing that bugged me about the Vantage from the very start were the 20 spoke wheels. I tried to convince myself they were OK but they never really felt right. Mainly due to not filling the arches. One design which did take my fancy were from Brixton Forged, https://brixtonforged.com/silver-aston-martin-vant...
but at roughly 8k they were never going to be a reality. I then discovered Redpants.lol on YouTube and his link to BC Forged, https://www.bcforged-na.com/project/redpants-aston...
a wheel manufacture more in my price range. I came very close to purchasing a set, but our hottub packed up after 19 years of use and to my surprise my wife insisted we get another, so the wheels took a backseat, again. As consolation I got a carbon rear camtail spoiler instead from Hong Kong. I was in two minds about it, but I really like it, again it was easy to attach. There’s one more left on eBay I believe, then they’re all gone, however I Redpants has a more aggressive version for sale on his website.
The carbon side strakes were a Christmas present from my wife, she knows me so well, these were a knuckle grazing pain in the ass to fit. I then didn’t like the look of the clear/orange side indicators and found a smoked set as a direct replacement from an Audi TT. The retaining clips needed a small trim from a Dremel, it turns out an Audi panel must be thinner than an Aston panel but apart from that the indicators are identical.
With all the black carbon accents I felt the roof needed to be black too, but I was scared to paint it, so I got it wrapped. Now that I know what it looks like I’ll get it painted in high gloss black in the new year. I also got the area between the rear lights done too, and again I’ll get this painted. While the guys were wrapping the roof, they also wrapped the chrome window trim, again updating the look of the car.
Then came the biggest investment to date, the GT4 carbon side sills. I wanted something a bit different from the V12 and N400 sills etc. I know I said “why put love handles on Venus” in my initial post, however my tastes have evolved and when I came across a pair of carbon sills online, I knew they had to be mine. Because they were race items they needed a lot of fettling, but it was well worth it, I think they look fabulous with their exposed lower carbon sections and were well worth the investment. Lightning Silver is apparently one of the three trickiest Aston colours to match. The guys who painted the sills had something like 10 different spray samples before the exact one was matched.
Oh, I nearly forgot. I really liked the celebratory Aston Union Jack wings but couldn’t find a pair, I thought it couldn’t be that hard to get a some made. Well you can’t, in theory they’re copyrighted. However, if you want your existing badges “restored”, then you can ask for whatever you want. The badge restorer was very busy, I got a slot time after 6 months, sent them off when my time came and got a beautiful pair of union jack badges sent back. I may “restore” a black pair now that I look at the car. I don’t like the carbon wings.
|https://thumbsnap.com/CF6zXS22[/url]
Finally, the time came to replace the Bridgestone tyres. Everyone said they were awful and recommended Michelins. I thought if I was replacing the tyres I had to get the new rims I’d promised myself. I had always fancied going up in size, from 19 to 20” but the ride quality with lower profile tyres was always a worry. With much research Michelin SP4s were the tyre of choice and I felt it was worth the gamble to opt for 20s. As mentioned earlier I had thought of aftermarket but decided to stick with Astons own design, but which? One stuck out, and they graced the Virage and DB9.
[url]
A beautiful set in a dark frosty black chrome along with Carbon centre caps now finish the car. I can confirm, the ride is so much better than before, only drawback is that more crud gets thrown up from the slightly wider front wheels so I’ve had to reattached the front mudguards. This has sorted the issue.
Four years into Aston ownership, I can confirm that it’s been an amazing experience, the enjoyment hasn’t waned one iota. I still have a sneak peek in the garage before bed, I still look back after parking it and walking away, and I still pinch myself that I own this beauty.
And I love the reaction from others, only yesterday after parking, a guy in a 911 walked over and just said.... “nice car”. Two words is all it took to show appreciation.
So, what’s next? A carbon grill and slam panel maybe, and I can of course dream of a supercharger, after all it improves the fuel economy.
Let me know what you think, better now or before?
Some will like them, some won’t, in my eyes the carbon makes her look more fresh and dare I say, aggressive in appearance, which I like. I still prefer the look of this generation Vantage in comparison to the new. I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t get that emotional connection with it, and for me that’s part of the joy of Aston ownership. But it’s horses for courses and that’s a good thing.
Back to my little tweaks.... carbon it’s so addictive, once you start you can’t stop.
It started with the wing mirrors, followed by the splitter. Both really easy to change. Then came the rear diffuser quickly followed by rear light trims and a six bar black grill. At this point I genuinely thought that would be it, just some small subtle changes to make my Aston a bit different. However, the changes were on the outside so I couldn’t really experience them whilst driving, so the interior needed a tweak. I started with the door tread plates, mine were scratched and were a funny anodized black colour with a purple hue in certain light, the carbon replacements are a nice visual treat when opening the door. These were followed by the door top sills, replacing the leather ones for carbon again, both were straight forward to replace like for like with details online on how to do it.
Then came a tricky piece which took months to get right. The replacement Carbon waterfall. This piece was a total pain in the ****! In the end I had two, as both came with the start key button hole 2mm too big in diameter so that the start bezel didn’t cover the hole, in the end the only solution was to get a jeweller to make a silver washer to hide the oversized hole. Aston Works couldn’t understand it, pictures went back and forth, suggestions, various brackets, part numbers were confirmed with vin numbers etc. but nothing fixed the obvious, the hole was made too big. someone must have accidentally drilled a whole batch of carbon waterfalls with a hole too big.
Then there was a break, and some Aston YouTube watching. One video caught my eye and I instantly knew I couldn’t live without it. After changing the red rear lights to clear, I was now tempted by Divinatech’s sequential indicators and LED upgrade. I sent mine off and they were returned within the week. They’re so cool, subtle too and work a treat. Plus the red is more red, orange more orange and I love the effect. If you’re not familiar, here’s a link https://www.divinatech.com/
The only real thing that bugged me about the Vantage from the very start were the 20 spoke wheels. I tried to convince myself they were OK but they never really felt right. Mainly due to not filling the arches. One design which did take my fancy were from Brixton Forged, https://brixtonforged.com/silver-aston-martin-vant...
but at roughly 8k they were never going to be a reality. I then discovered Redpants.lol on YouTube and his link to BC Forged, https://www.bcforged-na.com/project/redpants-aston...
a wheel manufacture more in my price range. I came very close to purchasing a set, but our hottub packed up after 19 years of use and to my surprise my wife insisted we get another, so the wheels took a backseat, again. As consolation I got a carbon rear camtail spoiler instead from Hong Kong. I was in two minds about it, but I really like it, again it was easy to attach. There’s one more left on eBay I believe, then they’re all gone, however I Redpants has a more aggressive version for sale on his website.
The carbon side strakes were a Christmas present from my wife, she knows me so well, these were a knuckle grazing pain in the ass to fit. I then didn’t like the look of the clear/orange side indicators and found a smoked set as a direct replacement from an Audi TT. The retaining clips needed a small trim from a Dremel, it turns out an Audi panel must be thinner than an Aston panel but apart from that the indicators are identical.
With all the black carbon accents I felt the roof needed to be black too, but I was scared to paint it, so I got it wrapped. Now that I know what it looks like I’ll get it painted in high gloss black in the new year. I also got the area between the rear lights done too, and again I’ll get this painted. While the guys were wrapping the roof, they also wrapped the chrome window trim, again updating the look of the car.
Then came the biggest investment to date, the GT4 carbon side sills. I wanted something a bit different from the V12 and N400 sills etc. I know I said “why put love handles on Venus” in my initial post, however my tastes have evolved and when I came across a pair of carbon sills online, I knew they had to be mine. Because they were race items they needed a lot of fettling, but it was well worth it, I think they look fabulous with their exposed lower carbon sections and were well worth the investment. Lightning Silver is apparently one of the three trickiest Aston colours to match. The guys who painted the sills had something like 10 different spray samples before the exact one was matched.
Oh, I nearly forgot. I really liked the celebratory Aston Union Jack wings but couldn’t find a pair, I thought it couldn’t be that hard to get a some made. Well you can’t, in theory they’re copyrighted. However, if you want your existing badges “restored”, then you can ask for whatever you want. The badge restorer was very busy, I got a slot time after 6 months, sent them off when my time came and got a beautiful pair of union jack badges sent back. I may “restore” a black pair now that I look at the car. I don’t like the carbon wings.
|https://thumbsnap.com/CF6zXS22[/url]Finally, the time came to replace the Bridgestone tyres. Everyone said they were awful and recommended Michelins. I thought if I was replacing the tyres I had to get the new rims I’d promised myself. I had always fancied going up in size, from 19 to 20” but the ride quality with lower profile tyres was always a worry. With much research Michelin SP4s were the tyre of choice and I felt it was worth the gamble to opt for 20s. As mentioned earlier I had thought of aftermarket but decided to stick with Astons own design, but which? One stuck out, and they graced the Virage and DB9.
[url]
A beautiful set in a dark frosty black chrome along with Carbon centre caps now finish the car. I can confirm, the ride is so much better than before, only drawback is that more crud gets thrown up from the slightly wider front wheels so I’ve had to reattached the front mudguards. This has sorted the issue.
Four years into Aston ownership, I can confirm that it’s been an amazing experience, the enjoyment hasn’t waned one iota. I still have a sneak peek in the garage before bed, I still look back after parking it and walking away, and I still pinch myself that I own this beauty.
And I love the reaction from others, only yesterday after parking, a guy in a 911 walked over and just said.... “nice car”. Two words is all it took to show appreciation.
So, what’s next? A carbon grill and slam panel maybe, and I can of course dream of a supercharger, after all it improves the fuel economy.
Let me know what you think, better now or before?
but worth every mile to enjoy ...
I’m a month into my 4.7 2009 V8V ownership. 350 mile flight to pick it up and a 350 mile drive back !
Bought it blind of course, bought the first one I drove, fell in love with the car 14 years ago and like your missus, mine said “ an Aston Martin ? go for it !”
Left home at 4.30 am and got home at 6.45pm. As I roared into the drive SWMBO said “that’s the best thing you’ve ever bought !”
Every time I make an excuse to go into the garage to have a peek the words “God - that’s f*****g gorgeous” pop into my head. I even say them out loud some times. More often than not to be honest.
Just nipping out to the garage....
Bought it blind of course, bought the first one I drove, fell in love with the car 14 years ago and like your missus, mine said “ an Aston Martin ? go for it !”
Left home at 4.30 am and got home at 6.45pm. As I roared into the drive SWMBO said “that’s the best thing you’ve ever bought !”
Every time I make an excuse to go into the garage to have a peek the words “God - that’s f*****g gorgeous” pop into my head. I even say them out loud some times. More often than not to be honest.
Just nipping out to the garage....
Super nice reading, it somewhat reminded me what I am driving. It just has been 6 months for me, but sometimes you just think of the costs, the potential problems, the care you need to use when driving it, parking it and so that you just tend to forgot what you have. I don't know if it makes sense, but thank you.
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff