Vantage GTE 2016/2017 body kit?
Discussion
I agree it's perfection (though I also love the GT8).
Prodrive will no doubt sell you bits - whether they are road legal or not is a whole other question (I have no idea, but would assume not). The aggressive aero on manyrace cars is often not permitted on road cars for pedestrian impact reasons. It's one reason so many cars "look the same" now.
Prodrive will no doubt sell you bits - whether they are road legal or not is a whole other question (I have no idea, but would assume not). The aggressive aero on manyrace cars is often not permitted on road cars for pedestrian impact reasons. It's one reason so many cars "look the same" now.
It's VERY difficult to get anything from Prodrive, but it is possible. Be prepared to pay out handsomely, though.
If you're going for the complete look, you'll need far more than meets the eye... And chances are you won't meet MOT requirements for things like exterior lighting or pedestrian safety.
If you're going for the complete look, you'll need far more than meets the eye... And chances are you won't meet MOT requirements for things like exterior lighting or pedestrian safety.
Edited by telum01 on Friday 25th May 15:06
The GT8/12 is clearly designed to give 90% of the look of the GTE but complying with the practicalities of a road car. I would imagine the front splitter and rear diffuser of the GTE being a colossal pain in the arse to live with on the road/car parks, the side skirts will be different as the GTE has side exit exhausts, then you want a new bonnet and that mah-hosive rear wing. 
Would love to see one on the road, so good luck but I think it'd be a monumentally expensive undertaking, the most cost effective route is probably delivering a slightly damaged Vantage to some one like Kahn and giving them a picture of a GTE and a blank cheque and telling them to crack on.
Would love to see one on the road, so good luck but I think it'd be a monumentally expensive undertaking, the most cost effective route is probably delivering a slightly damaged Vantage to some one like Kahn and giving them a picture of a GTE and a blank cheque and telling them to crack on.
Thought GTE bodywork was totally different at the front end and alot of other parts, as it's made to be taken apart in big sections and replaced quickly when damaged, like nose, splitter and lights all coming off. Also has to cater for airducts to brakes, revised fuel tank and nozzle etc where the window normally is. Wider track etc as well?, definitely wider wheel arches.
faa77 said:
Short of spending £1m (or whatever the GTE costs) is it possible to buy a cheaper, "stock" Vantage and obtain the GTE body kit from AM?
It is your lucky day. You can have a wide body Vantage race car, for far less than £1m.
Asking price is about £150,000 plus VAT.
There are surprisingly few GTE versions, because it was (still is for the GTE Am class) mostly a works model for the WEC Championship. They did not build new cars for each race season, as happens in F1. With possibly no customer GTE teams, then only Prodrive would use GTE parts.
The car mentioned above is the GT3 version with a V12 engine, not the V8 as in the GTE. Many GT3 cars were built for customer teams to race, so they would obtain parts, but Prodrive presumably know the teams owning the cars, so probably only supply to them.
With glassfibre skills, you could create body panels, but I expect when fitted to a road Vantage, the value of the car would plummet.
Edited by Jon39 on Friday 25th May 17:29
faa77 said:
Spoke with Prodrive. It was a bit of an odd answer, they just said they don't make the older Vantage anymore and they don't know of any for sale. Then told me AM dealerships can order GT8 parts......
Ive replied asking if they still supply GTE 2016/2017 parts (I would have thought they must, to provide a service to those who did buy the racing car).
Did you say: Ive replied asking if they still supply GTE 2016/2017 parts (I would have thought they must, to provide a service to those who did buy the racing car).
"I own a 2006 vantage and wish to convert it to GTE appearance-- do you have the body kit?"
Even if you did say that, they won't be interested in this. The hassle for them to even answer this question is more time wasted than us discussing it on the internet
They'd make no money from this endeavor and it's not what they are about.
You're not asking for a carbon fibre cup holder here, you're asking "can my road car be made to look the same as the race car" .
The answer is "yes" but the real answer is "no".
faa77 said:
I was (re)watching that video from Prodrive on utube with the blonde presenter and although its dated 2014 the Prodrive representative explicitly says the GTE cars cost customers around £550,000...........
Yes, an interesting video. Did you enjoy the presenters comment, "The engine over there with spikes" ?
I think the Prodrive mention was about the GT3 model for customers, ie. the V12 version.
Perhaps the one I pointed out above might be good value. Looks like a £400,000 saving on the original cost.
This season in WEC there is a customer team racing a GTE, but possibly that has not happened before.
Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 9th June 19:01
faa77 said:
This is probably a daft question given the difference in cost between a GTE (pre 2018, not the twin turbo) and the GT8, but when I watch youtube videos of both I can definitely tell the difference in sound (most sound you can hear is exhaust, not engine right?). The GTE seems to "crackle" more and I absolutely love this sound.
I just wondered on the off-chance if you knew what sort of different components the GTE has, to produce this different sound? Obviously they don't give a **** about the sound when designing it, it just so happens to be that way, but I wondered if you knew how different the two cars are? I know the GTE engine was a lot more advanced, I assumed this wouldn't affect the sound. Is the exhaust system much different?
I just wondered on the off-chance if you knew what sort of different components the GTE has, to produce this different sound? Obviously they don't give a **** about the sound when designing it, it just so happens to be that way, but I wondered if you knew how different the two cars are? I know the GTE engine was a lot more advanced, I assumed this wouldn't affect the sound. Is the exhaust system much different?
That video is probably one of the best for reproducing the GTE exhaust sound, but even when played on a good audio system, it does not compare to hearing the actual cars. The loudness can literally be felt when close to, and would never be permitted on any road car.
The crackle heard is the explosion sounds of excess fuel particles escaping into the exhaust, when the throttle is lifted.
Some manufactures are artificially recreating that sound now, so perhaps you need a Jaguar F type. I think to many though, after a while the novelty wears off, and it then just becomes annoyingly ridiculous.
As has already been mentioned, both the GTE (V8) and GT3 (V12), have very short exhaust systems with outlets below the doors, which can be seen in these two photographs. Very different from our Vantage road cars.
GTE
GT3
(tap / click to enlarge)
Edited by Jon39 on Sunday 15th July 10:03
Jon39 said:
Some manufactures are artificially recreating that sound now, so perhaps you need a Jaguar F type. I think to many though, after a while the novelty wears off, and it then just becomes annoyingly ridiculous.
Depends on how it is done. The SVR, for example, runs the injectors for a little while on lift-off to put fuel into the exhaust, but only when in Dynamic and Sport mode at the same time.V8LM said:
Jon39 said:
Some manufactures are artificially recreating that sound now, so perhaps you need a Jaguar F type. I think to many though, after a while the novelty wears off, and it then just becomes annoyingly ridiculous.
Depends on how it is done. The SVR, for example, runs the injectors for a little while on lift-off to put fuel into the exhaust, but only when in Dynamic and Sport mode at the same time.For a while, I regularly heard loud and very extended, 'lift-off' exhaust crackling sounds, from some distance away.
Eventually I saw the vehicle, when it drove past my home. I have no objection, although the exhaust sound might exceed noise rules, but was interested to see what car it is. An old VW Golf, with very low suspension.
I have only heard that with one road car, so do you think it might be a self made system injecting fuel into the exhaust, or are there now after market kits available to youngsters? I only say youngsters, because this probably does not have widespread interest.
Jon39 said:
For a while, I regularly heard loud and very extended, 'lift-off' exhaust crackling sounds, from some distance away.
Eventually I saw the vehicle, when it drove past my home. I have no objection, although the exhaust sound might exceed noise rules, but was interested to see what car it is. An old VW Golf, with very low suspension.
I have only heard that with one road car, so do you think it might be a self made system injecting fuel into the exhaust, or are there now after market kits available to youngsters? I only say youngsters, because this probably does not have widespread interest.
You can get them from prodrive they have panels stacked up to the roof in Banbury.
They do like to keep parts for heritage/customer Cars though they still have new parts for group a imprezas never used when I was last there.
I’ve got parts from the 2014-2016 GTE Vantage but it’s just a set of wings and side skirts and a set of wheels. They are stupidly light, a full wing you could lift with 1 finger and they all have the weights written on them I think it’s just over 1kg and the wheels are 4kg.
My fav piece is part of the #98 Aston that crashed at Le Mans in 2016 it’s the only part I have that I know raced at Le Mans
They do like to keep parts for heritage/customer Cars though they still have new parts for group a imprezas never used when I was last there.
I’ve got parts from the 2014-2016 GTE Vantage but it’s just a set of wings and side skirts and a set of wheels. They are stupidly light, a full wing you could lift with 1 finger and they all have the weights written on them I think it’s just over 1kg and the wheels are 4kg.
My fav piece is part of the #98 Aston that crashed at Le Mans in 2016 it’s the only part I have that I know raced at Le Mans
If you would move the wheelarches as high as they are on the panels of the racecars,
you will also need to lower the car accordingly.
Otherwise it would look silly, like a SUV with huge wheel-to-fender gaps.
I doubt that such a extensively lowered car would be very practical on the road afterwards...
you will also need to lower the car accordingly.
Otherwise it would look silly, like a SUV with huge wheel-to-fender gaps.
I doubt that such a extensively lowered car would be very practical on the road afterwards...
TR-Spider said:
If you would move the wheelarches as high as they are on the panels of the racecars,
you will also need to lower the car accordingly.
Otherwise it would look silly, like a SUV with huge wheel-to-fender gaps.
I doubt that such a extensively lowered car would be very practical on the road afterwards...
https://youtu.be/iqevOyb49s8you will also need to lower the car accordingly.
Otherwise it would look silly, like a SUV with huge wheel-to-fender gaps.
I doubt that such a extensively lowered car would be very practical on the road afterwards...
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