New Aston Martin Vantage owner (2008)
Discussion
Just thought I'd pop in & say hi 
Picked up my 2008 4.7 speedshift vantage last week. It's got 100k miles but it did 75k of those in it's first 6 years, and in the last 2.5 years only did 900 miles. From what I can see in the history it lived a good life over those 75k with yearly services at AM dealers and owned by a Dr so hoping money was no object on keeping it tip top... haha.
I wasn't massively planning on buying so soon, I'd been watching vantages, R8's & 997.2's in the main & tracking their prices up to £50k, then this popped up on trade classics auctions and I watched it. Next thing I'm bidding on it, the next thing I've got the highest bid & it's mine. So a very impromptu & unplanned purchase. It is & was the cheapest in the country at the time. I know the mileage will affect future re sale but mechanically it seems great & also external wears those 100k extremely well. I'd at least hope it holds value or suffers minimal depreciation to justify the vantage running costs. Link to the car here for some really good pictures: https://www.tradeclassics.com/auctions/aston-marti...
I've just dropped it at AM performance in macclesfield for a service, wheel refurb & general look over so really hoping nothing major comes back as I didn't have a pre purchase inspection ( I know I Know). The guys there at AM seem great and are very accommodating, knowledgeable & friendly. So far it's a basic service + anti freeze and couple others bits ~ £850, window regulator at £500 (Jesus!) and £450 wheel refurb. I'd budgetted ~£2.5k per year on servicing and other bits, my 996 cost me ~£2k so I'm aware they cost more to run & maintain well.
In terms of driving, it's such a great sports car feeling with that letterbox windscreen & long view out the bonnet. The noise is decent, although I do think some exhaust mods could really help it sing (Fuse 22 hasn't been removed yet I don't think). The speed is another level to my old car and realistically as fast as I'd want for the road, you can't use much of 2nd gear let alone the rest. The car is stiff but rides very well other than some fairly severe tramlining. The seat's are like torture, not sure if it's me, but I as yet can't find a setting that doesn't put my lower back in agony. I'm dealing with it for now but if I can't find the right spot I'm in trouble re future ownership...
Now, the gearbox. My old car had an old school automatic which was useful for stop start etc and fairly decent when going for a spirited drive with the flappy paddles. This clearly isn't very good at stop start, in fact the low speed maneuvering scares me to death, in reverse it's nothing nothing nothing then boom your at what feels like 10mph hurtling towards a wall. It's going to take some getting use to and likely factoring in to decisions around where to take it & park it, annoyingly. But, once giving it some, I really like the gearbox & the aggressive shifts in sport mode where it gives those snapping your head back moves...it adds a good sense of occasion in my opinion. The speed of the shifts is absolutely fine too, I'm very familiar with the latest DCT's & auto's which this clearly isn't but it's acceptable for this car.
Big quesiton I have at the moment is wheel refurb colour. Head says standard silver, heart says shadow chrome.
Picked up my 2008 4.7 speedshift vantage last week. It's got 100k miles but it did 75k of those in it's first 6 years, and in the last 2.5 years only did 900 miles. From what I can see in the history it lived a good life over those 75k with yearly services at AM dealers and owned by a Dr so hoping money was no object on keeping it tip top... haha.
I wasn't massively planning on buying so soon, I'd been watching vantages, R8's & 997.2's in the main & tracking their prices up to £50k, then this popped up on trade classics auctions and I watched it. Next thing I'm bidding on it, the next thing I've got the highest bid & it's mine. So a very impromptu & unplanned purchase. It is & was the cheapest in the country at the time. I know the mileage will affect future re sale but mechanically it seems great & also external wears those 100k extremely well. I'd at least hope it holds value or suffers minimal depreciation to justify the vantage running costs. Link to the car here for some really good pictures: https://www.tradeclassics.com/auctions/aston-marti...
I've just dropped it at AM performance in macclesfield for a service, wheel refurb & general look over so really hoping nothing major comes back as I didn't have a pre purchase inspection ( I know I Know). The guys there at AM seem great and are very accommodating, knowledgeable & friendly. So far it's a basic service + anti freeze and couple others bits ~ £850, window regulator at £500 (Jesus!) and £450 wheel refurb. I'd budgetted ~£2.5k per year on servicing and other bits, my 996 cost me ~£2k so I'm aware they cost more to run & maintain well.
In terms of driving, it's such a great sports car feeling with that letterbox windscreen & long view out the bonnet. The noise is decent, although I do think some exhaust mods could really help it sing (Fuse 22 hasn't been removed yet I don't think). The speed is another level to my old car and realistically as fast as I'd want for the road, you can't use much of 2nd gear let alone the rest. The car is stiff but rides very well other than some fairly severe tramlining. The seat's are like torture, not sure if it's me, but I as yet can't find a setting that doesn't put my lower back in agony. I'm dealing with it for now but if I can't find the right spot I'm in trouble re future ownership...
Now, the gearbox. My old car had an old school automatic which was useful for stop start etc and fairly decent when going for a spirited drive with the flappy paddles. This clearly isn't very good at stop start, in fact the low speed maneuvering scares me to death, in reverse it's nothing nothing nothing then boom your at what feels like 10mph hurtling towards a wall. It's going to take some getting use to and likely factoring in to decisions around where to take it & park it, annoyingly. But, once giving it some, I really like the gearbox & the aggressive shifts in sport mode where it gives those snapping your head back moves...it adds a good sense of occasion in my opinion. The speed of the shifts is absolutely fine too, I'm very familiar with the latest DCT's & auto's which this clearly isn't but it's acceptable for this car.
Big quesiton I have at the moment is wheel refurb colour. Head says standard silver, heart says shadow chrome.
Welcome. Great cars.
Removing fuse 22 does not seem to make much difference with the early 4.7 cars.
You are in luck though regarding some more exhaust sound, because your car will only be fitted with one pair of cats (each containing two honeycomb 'bricks'). Think they are 900 cell and 400 cell.
By removing the 900 cells and remapping the ECU, you should then have what you want.
Much more grunt during acceleration, but little changed in the cabin when cruising.
If you want to be quiet eg. for early morning starts, a 3-way switch can be fitted to keep the exhaust valves closed at all engine revs.
Edited by Dewi 2 on Friday 14th April 18:30
lewisf182 said:
Interesting, thanks for the insight.
Im sure I read that those ‘cells’ are then sellable for decent money too?
Some extra noise and grunt would defo not go a miss, but maybe I have it for a while first then upgrade.
Im sure I read that those ‘cells’ are then sellable for decent money too?
Some extra noise and grunt would defo not go a miss, but maybe I have it for a while first then upgrade.
Yes, certainly right to get to know your car first.
The technique that I outlined involves removing the cats, cutting out the 900 cell matrix, then replacing the original cats.
Probably nothing remaining to sell, but the advantage is no new cats to purchase and everything still looks original.
Only possible on up to about 2010 4.7 cars.
Removing exhaust restrictions increases power, but it might be say 10 bhp, so not really noticeable anyway.
The Sportshift quirks you describe, can be improved considerably, but quite pricey because it usually first involves fitting a twin plate clutch. The gearboxes in the Manual and Sportshift are identical, but the Sportshift gearchanging is assisted somehow by a computer.
You might improve smoothness by doing 'Clutch Learns'. I don't know how, but it is probably explained in your handbook.
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