Best upgrades to 14' V8 Vantage?
Discussion
I've had my V8 Vantage for 18 months and it's been a partial daily. It has the Sports Shift which has mixed reviews, especially from me.
While I have been going round and round with looking at changing it, I can't think of anything that's comparable for similar money.
So on the basis it's staying, what should I do to make it a little more exciting? So far thinking the DAE twin clutch and lightened flywheel, which is £3600. Not a cheap mod, but one that should transform the car.
Has anyone else modified their Aston? I've driven a supercharged Aston - but that was too far from the original for me.
While I have been going round and round with looking at changing it, I can't think of anything that's comparable for similar money.
So on the basis it's staying, what should I do to make it a little more exciting? So far thinking the DAE twin clutch and lightened flywheel, which is £3600. Not a cheap mod, but one that should transform the car.
Has anyone else modified their Aston? I've driven a supercharged Aston - but that was too far from the original for me.
Ive got a manual 2012 V8 Roadster and its one of the least modified cars I've ever owned.
Its got clear rear lights after the originals got water in them.
I fit secondary cat replacement pipes as it didn't sound as good as the 4.3 coupe it replaced
remote control switch for the exhaust valves
AM upgrades fan kit for the headlights
That's about it. In future when this clutch gives up I will likely have the twin plate upgrade from BR or DAE.
It already had the sports suspension (standard on Roadsters) if I was feeling real flush I might go for 2 way switchable suspension from Bamford Rose
If I was chasing more power I would go for manifolds and sports cats from DAE or BR, with ECU map etc, probably takes you to 470bhp ish
Might as well do airbox and twin throttle bodies whilst you are going down that path too, but that's another £4k to add to the bill.....
As usual with mods, it really depends on what you are going to do with the car, how long you will keep it and how deep your pockets are, you could easily do £20k with Bamford Rose
https://bamfordrose.com/road-car-upgrades/introduc...
For "more exciting" sounds then secondary cat delete pipes at £600 are the best bang for the buck and pick up 10-15bhp
The Bamford airbox mod is fairly inexpensive too, about £400 for another 10bhp and more induction roar (dont bother with filter upgrades)
On post 2012 cars the primary cat is built into the manifold and the secondary cat is after that, hence the easiest/cheapest option are straight through secondary cat pipes. Still goes through an MOT fine and no warning lights. However if you intend to go with manifolds in future, then go with manifolds + sports cats.
Its got clear rear lights after the originals got water in them.
I fit secondary cat replacement pipes as it didn't sound as good as the 4.3 coupe it replaced
remote control switch for the exhaust valves
AM upgrades fan kit for the headlights
That's about it. In future when this clutch gives up I will likely have the twin plate upgrade from BR or DAE.
It already had the sports suspension (standard on Roadsters) if I was feeling real flush I might go for 2 way switchable suspension from Bamford Rose
If I was chasing more power I would go for manifolds and sports cats from DAE or BR, with ECU map etc, probably takes you to 470bhp ish
Might as well do airbox and twin throttle bodies whilst you are going down that path too, but that's another £4k to add to the bill.....
As usual with mods, it really depends on what you are going to do with the car, how long you will keep it and how deep your pockets are, you could easily do £20k with Bamford Rose
https://bamfordrose.com/road-car-upgrades/introduc...
For "more exciting" sounds then secondary cat delete pipes at £600 are the best bang for the buck and pick up 10-15bhp
The Bamford airbox mod is fairly inexpensive too, about £400 for another 10bhp and more induction roar (dont bother with filter upgrades)
On post 2012 cars the primary cat is built into the manifold and the secondary cat is after that, hence the easiest/cheapest option are straight through secondary cat pipes. Still goes through an MOT fine and no warning lights. However if you intend to go with manifolds in future, then go with manifolds + sports cats.
Edited by bogie on Friday 17th February 17:17
Bamford Rose have a good reputation for fine tuning a twin plate clutch with Sportshift. They speak about eliminating the 'nodding dog'.
Don't think many independents want to fit twin plates to Sportshifts. Apparently main dealers will not do it.
DAE have racing experience and I think all Vantage GT4 cars have Sportshift (quicker gear changes).
The mods on my manual have been;
Twin plate clutch with lighter flywheel.
400 cell cats (think yours will have primary cats, so different exhaust mods), no increase in cabin noise at steady throttle, but thunder at full acceleration.
ECU mod ref. exhaust.
3 way exhaust valve switch.
Prodrive airbox mod.
Michelin PS4 tyres.
No cosmetic changes on mine (other than lowering the front number plate), but that is an area of personal preference.
In terms of adding to the performance then lightened flywheel and twin plate clutch makes a huge difference to the way an manual car drives but I cant say how this affects the auto.
You could look at hi-flow cats (200 cell) over the stock 600 cell units, this helps. Jury is out on whether fitting GT4 filters adds any gains over the stock filter boxes.
The only other thing would be to replace the headers and then get it mapped.
On the visual side, carbon V12 grill, carbon slam panel, carbon lip spoiler, carbon splitter, carbon mirrors and slats on the side and change the wheels to another version of Aston wheels or go all out on something like HRE or Vossen wheels.
You could take it to Aston Installations or one of their chosen network of distributors/installers like Phoenix in Basingstoke and have the full camera package, HD screen and android auto/apple car play.
You could look at hi-flow cats (200 cell) over the stock 600 cell units, this helps. Jury is out on whether fitting GT4 filters adds any gains over the stock filter boxes.
The only other thing would be to replace the headers and then get it mapped.
On the visual side, carbon V12 grill, carbon slam panel, carbon lip spoiler, carbon splitter, carbon mirrors and slats on the side and change the wheels to another version of Aston wheels or go all out on something like HRE or Vossen wheels.
You could take it to Aston Installations or one of their chosen network of distributors/installers like Phoenix in Basingstoke and have the full camera package, HD screen and android auto/apple car play.
FarmerGreg said:
I've had my V8 Vantage for 18 months and it's been a partial daily. It has the Sports Shift which has mixed reviews, especially from me.
While I have been going round and round with looking at changing it, I can't think of anything that's comparable for similar money.
So on the basis it's staying, what should I do to make it a little more exciting? So far thinking the DAE twin clutch and lightened flywheel, which is £3600. Not a cheap mod, but one that should transform the car.
Has anyone else modified their Aston? I've driven a supercharged Aston - but that was too far from the original for me.
Loads and loads of us on PH and beyond have modified our Vantages. Upgrading the Vantage is easy to do and very common. Nothing is cheap though. While I have been going round and round with looking at changing it, I can't think of anything that's comparable for similar money.
So on the basis it's staying, what should I do to make it a little more exciting? So far thinking the DAE twin clutch and lightened flywheel, which is £3600. Not a cheap mod, but one that should transform the car.
Has anyone else modified their Aston? I've driven a supercharged Aston - but that was too far from the original for me.
After you’ve seen how it is with the Michelin PS4S tyres, IMHO the best three performance mods for your car (in this order) are:
1. twin plate clutch, lightened flywheel, remapped TCM
2. Stainless no primary cat manifolds and 200cell secondaries (expensive though, can be less costly if your car is EU5 by hacking out the pre-cats but that’s a bit bodgy and non-return ish. The main indies (e.g BR) will offer the various options in conjunction with a light remap and a switch for the exhaust valve. Take any claims of zillions of hp gains with a pinch of salt, you would see about +25hp on the 4.7 by comparative dyno run, which is still useful and noticeable. About 445ish bhp. The engines are already in a high state of tune. Gains on OEM are realised by removing catalyst restriction (which an OEM cannot do) and lightly remapping to take advantage of the engines resultant freer breathing (lifting the torque plateau) to slightly increase rpm limit (giving ultimately slightly higher peak power)
3. Switchable Bilstien esp if your car isn’t already fitted with sports suspension.
Beyond that, the S valved inlet manifold will (relatively) inexpensively yield a further 7ish bhp taking you to >450bhp peak. A more costly alternative is a twin throttle manifold which will double that gain to up to roughly 460bhp peak or the neck end of 100hp/litre. That would be the practical limit without more drastic stuff.
If you want more, then it’s engine rebuilds, blueprinting, better rods and pistons (crank is high quality) polishing ports etc and higher capacity. There must be people on here who have done this. Some have fitted Superchargers, however, forced induction engines ideally require different low compression pistons, stronger (forged) rods, different cam profiles, different fuelling and improved thermal management to really work, and without appropriately upgrading engine internals as above, all things equal you would be much more likely to prematurely grenade your engine. It therefore isn’t something to consider lightly. Personally I’d need a suppository sized brave pill…
Alternatives to more power are better braking (S brakes) mass reduction, lighter seats, exhausts, wheels, batteries etc. There will be threads looking at these options.
Good cosmetic mods are glass switches, carbon bits like the slam panel and ‘S’ body carbon bits.
Given the costs, and lack of ROI, an alternative is to swap for a V8S. Compared to your ‘14 model year, with the equivalent S or SP10 you’d get either manual option or the improved ASMII 7-speed (which can be further upgraded with twin plate clutch), the carbon body bits, the valved manifold (that and a map permitting optimised ignition with high RON fuel gives a net 10hp gain even with the EU5 pre-cats, so you get 430hp) better silencer and lifted interior. Worth considering…
Edited by Calinours on Friday 17th February 22:12
Dewi 2 said:
Don't think many independents want to fit twin plates to Sportshifts. Apparently main dealers will not do it.
DAE have racing experience and I think all Vantage GT4 cars have Sportshift (quicker gear changes).
DAE have racing experience and I think all Vantage GT4 cars have Sportshift (quicker gear changes).
Main dealers wont fit them because AM stopped developing them to bring to market as the new Vantage was iminent and so could only see a dwindling market for it. They had the manual version completed just before and wont fit aftermarket parts which is understandable adding complications to warranties etc. Independents will fit twin plate and promote such an upgrade. It clearly makes sense be it manual or SS. macdeb said:
Dewi 2 said:
Don't think many independents want to fit twin plates to Sportshifts. Apparently main dealers will not do it.
DAE have racing experience and I think all Vantage GT4 cars have Sportshift (quicker gear changes).
DAE have racing experience and I think all Vantage GT4 cars have Sportshift (quicker gear changes).
Main dealers wont fit them because AM stopped developing them to bring to market as the new Vantage was iminent and so could only see a dwindling market for it. They had the manual version completed just before and wont fit aftermarket parts which is understandable adding complications to warranties etc. Independents will fit twin plate and promote such an upgrade. It clearly makes sense be it manual or SS. 
The time, effort and cost involved with validating it for public consumption would out weighed the benefit.
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