My upgrade plans - any advice welcomed

[v8woollie]

So after reading as much as I can and speaking to various people I have deciced that I would like to do the following to my 4.3 V8V over the next few months:

1. Geometry set-up at TDI
2. BR exhaust system retaining OEM back box
3. Sports Pack upgrade

It is on the third element that I am seeking more knowledge. I see Mikey K mentioned the Nitron upgrade to provide Sports Pack handling at a lower cost. Given that the AM factory Sports Pack is £4,400 ex VAT, is the Nitron upgrade just part of the process (the AM upgrade includes wheels of course) or is the factory upgrade springs, dampers and wheels only.

I saw these on the Nitron website:

Aston Martin V8 Vantage - NTR R1+

Has anyone had the Nitron fitted and if so which ones? Are they reasonably priced?

[v8woollie]

Thanks for the information. What do you mean by checking the aftermarket cost of the Sport Pack upgrade? I got the price from AM Works.

Do Nitron do the fitment and geometry set-up or do I get the fitting done and then take the car back to TDI or CG for the geometry afterwards.

I am not intending to do any track days so ultimately I am seeking the best handling and peformance for road use. As I mentoned in another thread I am booked in at TDI for the geometry and will see how positive the impact of that is before doing any more on the handling side. I will be at BR this Friday and will discuss the exhaust replacement. I am assuming that this alone will release some much needed lower end torque (the graphs for the 4.3 seem to show a positive increase from 2000 RPM upwards) plus some additional BHP.

This does all get complex when there is also the Prodrive package at less cost where they claim big BHP and torque increases, and of course they have a history with Aston Martin Racing, but I sense that to see all that increase means using Shell petrol to match with the ECU re-mapping.

[v8woollie]

Thank you for your input and I would definitely like a run out in Jessica. I expect there may be a long queue

Thank you for the kind offer.

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

I would (predictably) echo what Ben says. Having switchable suspension is brilliant, I really missed it out on the Porsche yesterday, the ability to flick between a harder setting for smooth roads / interesting corners to softer for crap road surfaces or a motorway blast is a truly amazing thing. I have no idea how I managed without it beforehand!!

I doubt the switchable set costs much more than the Sports Pack. SP is also a steering rack (same as DBS), at least on the DB9 - don't know about Vantage?

A BR suspension and exhaust car would be a formidible weapon.

The Sports Pack is apparently only springs, dampers and wheels. It doesn't mention the rack, although the price I was quoted was preceded by 'estimated cost' so I guess they allow some leeway for difficult to remove parts as opposed to other replacement parts.

I think a good long chat with Mike at BR is on the cards for Friday

[v8woollie]

mikey k said:

Woollie - just make sure that price is ALL IN On the Nitrons I's say they are far better than the Sport Pack dampers I fiddle with mine on the S2000 until I found a setting that worked for A-B blast, Euro Hoons and trackdays and left them there! The beauty is if you want it rock hard for a track day you can then turng it back down to comfor mode for a crusie home

On the tuning the consensus is there is little to be done on the ECU as it has knock control for the higher RON fuel, many ECU tuners simply take out the manufacturers safety magin for lower RON fuels to claim gains. Which you lose and risk the engine as soon as you put lower RON fuel in.

The best gains seem to be "breathing" mods (cats, header & intake) Talk to BR on Friday

Pomme - the Vantage Sport Pack suspension is not switchable so it wasn't an AM kit on a Vantage. Who's dampers are BR using?

Edit - just checked the BR thread - I think they are Nitron

Edited by mikey k on Monday 23 April 13:30

Thanks again. I will have a good chat with BR and let them guide me once I tell them what I am trying to achieve. Hopefully it will be within my budget, although the beauty is that I can do things a bit at a time over a period of time.

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

I thought they were Bilstein... We'll ask on Friday!

From further talks with BR I believe that they use Bilstein developed to their own specification and then add on their own in-house electronics.

In the course of my discussion with BR I have learned that what lead to development of their own kit was the remarks by many PistonHead forum members that the sports pack was too stiff when sedate driving was required. What lead to developing their own electronic kit was nobody on the market including Nitron offered an electronic solution.

[v8woollie]

Speedraser said:

I don't think the Sports Pack is too stiff...

Us older guys have brittle bones

[v8woollie]

My standard V8V is stiff enough for my poor bones around our local roads as they are very uneven and shake your teeth loose. Can't imagine what an S ro V12V would be like on them.