V8 Vantage: Sports exhaust vs Standard - visible difference?
Discussion
Hello all.
If all goes to plan I should be viewing a car at the weekend which has in its spec listing a sports exhaust.
I take that to mean the Aston Martin sports exhaust, which I'm led to believe should come with 'smoked' tail pipe finishers. From what I can see from the images, they look like the standard tail pipes. It's possible of course that the original owner chose to retain the original finishers rather than fitting the ones that come with the sports exhaust.
Is there an obvious visual difference between the two silencers that would allow me to determine if the car has one or the other?
I know there should be a difference in sound, but I'm just not familiar enough with what is 'normal'. I drove a car a few years ago that apparently had the sports exhaust and I hadn't a clue until I was told.
Thank you in advance.
If all goes to plan I should be viewing a car at the weekend which has in its spec listing a sports exhaust.
I take that to mean the Aston Martin sports exhaust, which I'm led to believe should come with 'smoked' tail pipe finishers. From what I can see from the images, they look like the standard tail pipes. It's possible of course that the original owner chose to retain the original finishers rather than fitting the ones that come with the sports exhaust.
Is there an obvious visual difference between the two silencers that would allow me to determine if the car has one or the other?
I know there should be a difference in sound, but I'm just not familiar enough with what is 'normal'. I drove a car a few years ago that apparently had the sports exhaust and I hadn't a clue until I was told.
Thank you in advance.
Sports exhaust isn’t necessarily a bonus - standard exhaust with the flaps and replacing the cars with 200 cell gives you the full orchestra imho.
Tail pipes are just embellishments - main way to check is to see if there are vacuum pipes attached to the exhaust. If so, it’s standard.
If it were me I’d replace the sports with standard, sell the sports one and use the dosh for 200 cell cats.
That’s just my opinion of course, but bear in mind AM spent many hrs tuning the OE exhaust note.
Tail pipes are just embellishments - main way to check is to see if there are vacuum pipes attached to the exhaust. If so, it’s standard.
If it were me I’d replace the sports with standard, sell the sports one and use the dosh for 200 cell cats.
That’s just my opinion of course, but bear in mind AM spent many hrs tuning the OE exhaust note.
Sports exhaust could mean a number of things...some people describe a 3 way remote switch on the exhaust valves as a "sports" exhaust
Im not sure there are visible differences you could see on the factory rear silencer without taking the undertray off and looking at a part number.
If its aftermarket it should be easily recognisable and unlikely to have functioning exhaust valves to control the sound, there are aftermarket exhaust that do this but they are very expensive.
Ask the buyer what it has on it it? e.g. new rear silencer, cats, x-pipe, headers ? an exhaust valve switch for manual control?
Im not sure there are visible differences you could see on the factory rear silencer without taking the undertray off and looking at a part number.
If its aftermarket it should be easily recognisable and unlikely to have functioning exhaust valves to control the sound, there are aftermarket exhaust that do this but they are very expensive.
Ask the buyer what it has on it it? e.g. new rear silencer, cats, x-pipe, headers ? an exhaust valve switch for manual control?
Thank you both.
As you say, an aftermarket silencer should be obvious provided it can be seen. I was mainly interested if there were any visual differences in the standard Aston Martin silencer and their optional 'Sports' variant as both have valves.
The car is being sold by a dealer, so the salesperson may just go with what is on their spec sheet rather than have explicit knowledge of what is actually fitted to the car.
I like to be as informed as I can be about these things so I can draw my own conclusions rather than just relying on what I'm told, but pictures of the silencers aren't very forthcoming when I've searched for them - mostly just aftermarket products.
As you say, an aftermarket silencer should be obvious provided it can be seen. I was mainly interested if there were any visual differences in the standard Aston Martin silencer and their optional 'Sports' variant as both have valves.
The car is being sold by a dealer, so the salesperson may just go with what is on their spec sheet rather than have explicit knowledge of what is actually fitted to the car.
I like to be as informed as I can be about these things so I can draw my own conclusions rather than just relying on what I'm told, but pictures of the silencers aren't very forthcoming when I've searched for them - mostly just aftermarket products.
I don't recall AM ever offering an OEM sports exhaust option on the V8V, either as a spec option or a dealer fit add on. The only sports exhaust on a V8 vantage I can think of would be aftermarket, the likes of QS or Capristo etc....
From memory some people have fitted V12 vantage exhausts and V12 Vantage S exhausts. The V12VS exhaust is most definately a more sporty version and considerably louder than the normal V12 one. That's about the only OEM option I could think of.
My take - its likely just the normal V8 exhaust and the dealer admin team have called it a sports exhaust to make it sound more enticing. It is a sports exhaust anyway really - as said above with the valves etc... so not really wrong as such to call it so.
When you say dealer, is it an AM main dealer or an Indi?
From memory some people have fitted V12 vantage exhausts and V12 Vantage S exhausts. The V12VS exhaust is most definately a more sporty version and considerably louder than the normal V12 one. That's about the only OEM option I could think of.
My take - its likely just the normal V8 exhaust and the dealer admin team have called it a sports exhaust to make it sound more enticing. It is a sports exhaust anyway really - as said above with the valves etc... so not really wrong as such to call it so.
When you say dealer, is it an AM main dealer or an Indi?
Which model and model year, is the car that you are interested in ?
I have owned a Vantage for 10 years and have followed this forum for quite a while, but have never before heard of Aston Martin offering an optional sports exhaust on their normal car range. Their standard exhaust systems are renowned for making wonderful sporty sounds.
There have been variations of silencer with different models, and differences with manifolds and catalytic converters over the years.
The limited edition Vantage GT8 was available with an optional exhaust system, made of titanium I think. Quite a noisy car.
Many owners change catalysts and manifolds, to increase the sound and sometimes power is increased too.
After market silencers, together with manifold and cat. changes, can result in a car that is too noisy, so the standard silencer is usually retained. If you are talking about the VH Vantage, the V8S silencer, is considered by many to be the best of all.
AdamV12V said:
I don't recall AM ever offering an OEM sports exhaust option on the V8V, either as a spec option or a dealer fit add on. The only sports exhaust on a V8 vantage I can think of would be aftermarket, the likes of QS or Capristo etc....
...
When you say dealer, is it an AM main dealer or an Indi?
It is an independent dealer. I think the confusion here is the use of 'sports exhaust' when in reality it's just the silencer that differs. When reading Aston Martin 'sports exhaust' I think it to mean this:...
When you say dealer, is it an AM main dealer or an Indi?
https://www2.astonmartin.com/en/accessories/v8-van...
That part of the Aston Martin website isn't working properly at the moment, so it's a bit hit and miss as to whether that link will load.
From the above website, the Aston Martin part numbers for the various V8 model years are as follows:
- 07-08MY 6G33-35-10541
- 11-12MY AD23-5230-AE
- 12MY onwards BG33-5230-AB
Dewi 2 said:
Which model and model year, is the car that you are interested in ?
...
If you are talking about the VH Vantage, the V8S silencer, is considered by many to be the best of all.
Not sure about the AD version but think that is also a 'sports/loader' vesion. I might be wrong but the AD version was used on the N420 and have seen that number as from a V12 manual. I changed my 2010 std silencer for the BG V8S version and it sounds so much better valves open or closed, I also fitted a 3 way switch. You should be able to see the part number on the plate welded onto box, easily visable, on the old style bumper version at least. The V8S box can also be identified by the two pipes on each side (not the final exit pipes) as both are curved. With the standard box one of the side pipes is straight. I don't know if you can see from the rear though. Best option is to look at the part number plate.
You can, if you know what you are looking for, see the welding of the actual box on the 'sports' version is slightly different.
PS. Sports just means louder
You can, if you know what you are looking for, see the welding of the actual box on the 'sports' version is slightly different.
PS. Sports just means louder
Edited by Intrepid65 on Friday 14th May 00:35
Edited by Intrepid65 on Friday 14th May 00:38
Intrepid65 said:
Not sure about the AD version but think that is also a 'sports/loader' vesion. I might be wrong but the AD version was used on the N420 and have seen that number as from a V12 manual. I changed my 2010 std silencer for the BG V8S version and it sounds so much better valves open or closed, I also fitted a 3 way switch. You should be able to see the part number on the plate welded onto box, easily visable, on the old style bumper version at least. The V8S box can also be identified by the two pipes on each side (not the final exit pipes) as both are curved. With the standard box one of the side pipes is straight. I don't know if you can see from the rear though. Best option is to look at the part number plate.
You can, if you know what you are looking for, see the welding of the actual box on the 'sports' version is slightly different.
PS. Sports just means louder
I second what Intrepid is saying, those are the mufflers available for the V8 on Scuderia:You can, if you know what you are looking for, see the welding of the actual box on the 'sports' version is slightly different.
PS. Sports just means louder
The second is listed as the V8 S one and the third the normal one.
As for differences: I have an N420 (with the smoked tail pipes) and I can tell you my valves are opening at 3100 RPM instead of 4000 (I think) for the normal one so this might not be a visible difference but keep that in mind when test driving it; I assume a non-N420 car but with the Sport Exhaust will behave similarly? Also, I have been spending some time under the car for a valve problem I had a couple years ago and I remember you can sort of easily see the part number in the middle of the actual silencer, as Intrepid is saying. Try to take a look under the car or take a picture.
Edited by EVR on Friday 14th May 08:48
EVR said:
As for differences: I have an N420 (with the smoked tail pipes) and I can tell you my valves are opening at 3100 RPM instead of 4000 (I think) for the normal one so this might not be a visible difference but keep that in mind when test driving it;
I think it depends if you are in "Normal" or "Sport" mode - the valves on my non-"S" V8V open earlier if I am in "Sport". I also believe on the later V8V's the "S" version had a different, louder silencer box, but still with the valves. Obviously when the valves open is controlled by the engine ECU - I don't know if the 430 bhp "S" version opens at different rpm to the 420 bhp non-"S"My car (2007 V8V) had a sports exhaust, backbox only, fitted by the first owner. AM factory parts, with smoked tailpipe finishers all fitted by Aston Martin Wilmslow. All detailed with part numbers on the receipt.
No idea if it's louder than standard as I've only ever had this Vantage.
I can dig out all the pat numbers if you need them.
No idea if it's louder than standard as I've only ever had this Vantage.
I can dig out all the pat numbers if you need them.
Edited by LPH on Friday 21st May 00:35
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