Inspired or idiotic? "Cheap" V8 Vantage
Discussion
Well done on buying the Aston. I've been close, but could never find the right car. And that includes looking at the main dealers in Cambridge and going to McGurks to look at a couple (a 300 mile round trip).
Actually, I went to see one locally esterday, only to find it had been sold that morning! Grrr! My fault, as I had dithered. Turned out that it was pristine and had less than 30,000 miles on the clock.
I had been put off by the tan interior, but in the flesh it looked quite nice and complemented the meteorite silver nicely. The salesman said that all the pictures he had taken made the interior look far redder than it actually was.
So, it's back to the drawing board. Like you I am hesitant to buy a 15mpg car when petrol costs an arm and a leg and am worried about what the government will do to get rid of petrol cars in the future. But it will probably do less than 500 miles per year.
And hey-ho, you are only here once!
Actually, I went to see one locally esterday, only to find it had been sold that morning! Grrr! My fault, as I had dithered. Turned out that it was pristine and had less than 30,000 miles on the clock.
I had been put off by the tan interior, but in the flesh it looked quite nice and complemented the meteorite silver nicely. The salesman said that all the pictures he had taken made the interior look far redder than it actually was.
So, it's back to the drawing board. Like you I am hesitant to buy a 15mpg car when petrol costs an arm and a leg and am worried about what the government will do to get rid of petrol cars in the future. But it will probably do less than 500 miles per year.
And hey-ho, you are only here once!
Many congrats!
I have a 2012 V8VS and love it.
A cheap mod is the remote control for the exhaust valves. Gives you loud mode whenever you want it but you can shut it off on the motorway (where it gets a bit droney).
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142436787864?mkevt=1&am...
I have a 2012 V8VS and love it.
A cheap mod is the remote control for the exhaust valves. Gives you loud mode whenever you want it but you can shut it off on the motorway (where it gets a bit droney).
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142436787864?mkevt=1&am...
Nigel_O said:
As I see it, there are two "problems" with the performance
1) It doesn't FEEL fast - most of the performance is right at the top end, so you have to wring its neck to get it to go quickly (which isn't a hrdship with THAT noise...) That said, it's all relative and even at 7/10 driving, it still covers ground fairly rapidly. I wouldn't see which way a well-pedalled A45AMG or Focus RS went, but that's not the point - if I wanted turbo-nutter performance, I'd have kept the Fiat and indulged in a bit of giant-killing.
I was at a VMax day 10 years ago and a convertible went down the runway at 167mph. Not too shabby!1) It doesn't FEEL fast - most of the performance is right at the top end, so you have to wring its neck to get it to go quickly (which isn't a hrdship with THAT noise...) That said, it's all relative and even at 7/10 driving, it still covers ground fairly rapidly. I wouldn't see which way a well-pedalled A45AMG or Focus RS went, but that's not the point - if I wanted turbo-nutter performance, I'd have kept the Fiat and indulged in a bit of giant-killing.
Stevenicols - if you haven’t done so already it may be worth joining the v8/v12 vantage owners group on Facebook - there’s always cars coming up for sale and most are enthusiasts. Certainly don’t discount a higher mileage, well looked after example - mine’s now on 86,000 and still runs perfectly, I’ve had both the leather interior and wheels refurbished so they look like new. It’s in for a major service at AM performance at the moment and nothing of any concern has been raised so all looking good :-)
stevenichols said:
Well done on buying the Aston. I've been close, but could never find the right car. And that includes looking at the main dealers in Cambridge and going to McGurks to look at a couple (a 300 mile round trip).
Actually, I went to see one locally esterday, only to find it had been sold that morning! Grrr! My fault, as I had dithered. Turned out that it was pristine and had less than 30,000 miles on the clock.
I had been put off by the tan interior, but in the flesh it looked quite nice and complemented the meteorite silver nicely. The salesman said that all the pictures he had taken made the interior look far redder than it actually was.
So, it's back to the drawing board. Like you I am hesitant to buy a 15mpg car when petrol costs an arm and a leg and am worried about what the government will do to get rid of petrol cars in the future. But it will probably do less than 500 miles per year.
And hey-ho, you are only here once!
Actually, I went to see one locally esterday, only to find it had been sold that morning! Grrr! My fault, as I had dithered. Turned out that it was pristine and had less than 30,000 miles on the clock.
I had been put off by the tan interior, but in the flesh it looked quite nice and complemented the meteorite silver nicely. The salesman said that all the pictures he had taken made the interior look far redder than it actually was.
So, it's back to the drawing board. Like you I am hesitant to buy a 15mpg car when petrol costs an arm and a leg and am worried about what the government will do to get rid of petrol cars in the future. But it will probably do less than 500 miles per year.
And hey-ho, you are only here once!
Nigel_O said:
I have a confession to make - my other mid-life crisis is this..... just over 170bhp and 600kg. No screen, roof or heater. Not massively fast, but extremely entertaining in the right conditions.
DSC_1386 by Nigel Ogram, on Flickr
That’s certainly the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the Vantage! Very cool too.DSC_1386 by Nigel Ogram, on FlickrHi Nigel,
Great looking car and cograt's on joining the AM fraternity! just scanning through the threads and noted Chopdogs input.
Slightly off topic to begin with (sorry!) I know that bit of road over the Rhyader Dams from the Sunday morning biking, sodding narrow and 30 miles across the moors to the next filling station in Aberystwyth! Scary! first time I did it, didn't top up in Rhyader and almost ended up with some serious pushing!
I am on my second DB9 and I'm not sure if the same is true with the Vantage, but if you want to make it, shall we say, a little bit more "Vocal" and get the pigeons out of the trees on an early Sunday morning blast. L/H side of the boot, fuse box, can't remember if it is fuse #17 or #18 (on my Volante anyway) if you pull that one out, the exhaust bi-pass valves default position is to open, cheap fix but I agree with his comments, its ok on short run and through tunnels around Birmingham however, motorway driving, the drone really gets on your t*ts. but its far better than listening to the radio, not even sure if mine still works!! LoL ...
Rear lights moisture and fogging. Both of mine (Nearside) suffered from it, also a mates Rapide. Paid for the first replacement myself, nearly 800 quid, warranty company wriggled out of paying, said it was " A bulb" and not covered when clearly it is an LED strip in the indicator, My second car, I got the supplying dealer to replace the back light cluster (Deal breaker!) before I picked it up, I believe that it is a fairly common fault though, likewise, paint issues around the door handles, screen edges and paint flake on the mirror offset brackets, sods to get off but repainting is generally about 100 quid a side certainly on the 9's.
Anyway, looks a great car, enjoy it and summer ain't that far away! However, just thought that the exhaust suggestion might save you a few quid from your £1K maintenance budget. (Bit light there I think my friend, though no pun intended!)
Regards ...
Great looking car and cograt's on joining the AM fraternity! just scanning through the threads and noted Chopdogs input.
Slightly off topic to begin with (sorry!) I know that bit of road over the Rhyader Dams from the Sunday morning biking, sodding narrow and 30 miles across the moors to the next filling station in Aberystwyth! Scary! first time I did it, didn't top up in Rhyader and almost ended up with some serious pushing!
I am on my second DB9 and I'm not sure if the same is true with the Vantage, but if you want to make it, shall we say, a little bit more "Vocal" and get the pigeons out of the trees on an early Sunday morning blast. L/H side of the boot, fuse box, can't remember if it is fuse #17 or #18 (on my Volante anyway) if you pull that one out, the exhaust bi-pass valves default position is to open, cheap fix but I agree with his comments, its ok on short run and through tunnels around Birmingham however, motorway driving, the drone really gets on your t*ts. but its far better than listening to the radio, not even sure if mine still works!! LoL ...
Rear lights moisture and fogging. Both of mine (Nearside) suffered from it, also a mates Rapide. Paid for the first replacement myself, nearly 800 quid, warranty company wriggled out of paying, said it was " A bulb" and not covered when clearly it is an LED strip in the indicator, My second car, I got the supplying dealer to replace the back light cluster (Deal breaker!) before I picked it up, I believe that it is a fairly common fault though, likewise, paint issues around the door handles, screen edges and paint flake on the mirror offset brackets, sods to get off but repainting is generally about 100 quid a side certainly on the 9's.
Anyway, looks a great car, enjoy it and summer ain't that far away! However, just thought that the exhaust suggestion might save you a few quid from your £1K maintenance budget. (Bit light there I think my friend, though no pun intended!)
Regards ...
Congratulations on the V8V. These are a joy to drive with such superb balance on the corners.
You mention 'Gas struts wouldn't hold the bonnet'.
If you're still having troubles with these, then https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts' can re-charge your existing bonnet / boot struts for a fraction of the cost of new AM ones.
I think the exhaust bypass valve fuse is F10 in the small fuse box on the right side of the boot, below the puncture slime kit. A radio control relay is a neat solution, or a fused switch is cheap and cheerful.
Re the slime kit,check the date and if past 'best by', then get a fresh one. Otherwise a puncture could be a real embarrassment.
You mention 'Gas struts wouldn't hold the bonnet'.
If you're still having troubles with these, then https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts' can re-charge your existing bonnet / boot struts for a fraction of the cost of new AM ones.
I think the exhaust bypass valve fuse is F10 in the small fuse box on the right side of the boot, below the puncture slime kit. A radio control relay is a neat solution, or a fused switch is cheap and cheerful.
Re the slime kit,check the date and if past 'best by', then get a fresh one. Otherwise a puncture could be a real embarrassment.
Congrats Nigel.
I've just done the same with a long-contemplated GranTurismo.
Similar in nature in many ways, beautiful, great noise, shonky old interior, slow, thirsty and can hit you with a big bill at any minute, but at the same time, utterly captivating.
None of us are getting any younger, petrol is never going to be as cheap as it is now(!) and the noise these things make will not feature in cars of the future.
So I can confirm you have done the right thing
Enjoy in good health
I've just done the same with a long-contemplated GranTurismo.
Similar in nature in many ways, beautiful, great noise, shonky old interior, slow, thirsty and can hit you with a big bill at any minute, but at the same time, utterly captivating.
None of us are getting any younger, petrol is never going to be as cheap as it is now(!) and the noise these things make will not feature in cars of the future.
So I can confirm you have done the right thing
Enjoy in good health
Nigel_O said:
Agreed - buying a sub 20mpg car as fuel prices hit an all-time high was probably not my smartest move. However, my worst tank is 16.3mpg and average is close to 19. It'll probably do closer to 25mpg on a long cruise.
That's very interesting. You're getting almost identical numbers to those I've had from my V12 XJ-S over the past 10 months.
It’s Fuse 22 on a 4.3 V8 Vantage and it has already ‘fallen out’….
TBH, the exhaust flaps are only closed between (IIRC) 1,500 - 4,000 rpm anyway, so I guess it’s just for low-speed trundling and cruising. I put fuse 22 back in and couldn’t really hear much difference, so when it ‘fell out’ again, I just left it….
Bonnet gas struts were one of the first things to be fixed - less than £30 a side for AM genuine replacements - this is what we mean about crazy prices - some items are normally priced and some have ‘AM tax’ added
TBH, the exhaust flaps are only closed between (IIRC) 1,500 - 4,000 rpm anyway, so I guess it’s just for low-speed trundling and cruising. I put fuse 22 back in and couldn’t really hear much difference, so when it ‘fell out’ again, I just left it….
Bonnet gas struts were one of the first things to be fixed - less than £30 a side for AM genuine replacements - this is what we mean about crazy prices - some items are normally priced and some have ‘AM tax’ added
Edited by Nigel_O on Friday 25th March 07:26
Nigel_O said:
TBH, the exhaust flaps are only closed between (IIRC) 1,500 - 4,000 rpm anyway, so I guess it’s just for low-speed trundling and cruising. I put fuse 22 back in and couldn’t really hear much difference, so when it ‘fell out’ again, I just left it….
If Fuse 22 has been out for some time already, you might find that the flaps have seized in any event. Mine had.Shnozz said:
Nigel_O said:
TBH, the exhaust flaps are only closed between (IIRC) 1,500 - 4,000 rpm anyway, so I guess it’s just for low-speed trundling and cruising. I put fuse 22 back in and couldn’t really hear much difference, so when it ‘fell out’ again, I just left it….
If Fuse 22 has been out for some time already, you might find that the flaps have seized in any event. Mine had.There's a leak from the vacuum pipes that actuate the valves, so the vacuum pump is constantly running when the fuse is inserted. Once I've fixed it, I have a remote switch that takes the place of the fuse and allows the flaps to be left open, or controlled by the ECU
one of the items on the growing to-do list....
Update
One of the points recorded by Aston Engineering was that the aircon condenser had a tiny leak. As the weather got warm last weekend, I put the aircon on. It then transpired that the leak was indeed, tiny, but it had clearly been there for ages, so there was no gas left in the system.
A lot of stuff under the skin of a V8V is parts-bin stuff from Volvo (famously the satnav), Ford and a bit of JLR. There are many parts with a Ford or Volvo (or even Mazda) part number that are absolutely identical to the Aston part, but without the 5-10 times inflation that occurs when it's given an AM part number.
So - I was convinced that Aston wouldn't have gone to the lengths to create a bespoke aircon condenser when there would be all manner of compatible stuff in the Ford stable - I was wrong....
Just shy of £400 later and I have a genuine condenser on its way, together with the OE O-rings, as the originals are presumably a bit crusty by now.
Still - at least I'll be physically cool when the sun comes out, instead of just kidding myself I'm looking cool...
One of the points recorded by Aston Engineering was that the aircon condenser had a tiny leak. As the weather got warm last weekend, I put the aircon on. It then transpired that the leak was indeed, tiny, but it had clearly been there for ages, so there was no gas left in the system.
A lot of stuff under the skin of a V8V is parts-bin stuff from Volvo (famously the satnav), Ford and a bit of JLR. There are many parts with a Ford or Volvo (or even Mazda) part number that are absolutely identical to the Aston part, but without the 5-10 times inflation that occurs when it's given an AM part number.
So - I was convinced that Aston wouldn't have gone to the lengths to create a bespoke aircon condenser when there would be all manner of compatible stuff in the Ford stable - I was wrong....
Just shy of £400 later and I have a genuine condenser on its way, together with the OE O-rings, as the originals are presumably a bit crusty by now.
Still - at least I'll be physically cool when the sun comes out, instead of just kidding myself I'm looking cool...
Another update - genuine AM aircon condenser was fitted today by the tame mechanics at the Italian specialists in Birmingham that I used to use when I had my Fiat and Alfa. Bizarrely, The Aston is exempt from the Birmingham Clean Air Zone charge - not sure this is what Birmingham City Council had in mind in their push for non-polluting cars....
The old condenser was a bit fiddly to get out, but not too bad - obviously a fair bit of thought had gone into the design, so that it lifts stright out with only a handful of bolts to undo. The fans had to come out first, which is when we spotted the "Jaguar" logo on the housing. Then, as we were removing other bits, we also spotted Volvo labels on the front crash sensors. Still, I guess it made a lot of sense to use stuff from the Ford / JLR / Volvo / Mazda stable, rather than designing bespoke stuff. Just a shame that the aircon condenser itself was an AM-specific part.....
It's nice to have cool air though - when the weather was modestly warm last weekend, I found that the heat-soak from the engine made the cabin very toasty indeed. I also found that the aerodynamics of the car means it can't be driven at much above 50mph with the windows open without awful buffetting getting into the cabin. It was worse than driving the Westfield, which doesn't even have a windscreen.....
Other than that, it's been another month of glorious noise and 16mpg, all for the same price as a new Peugeot 3008
The old condenser was a bit fiddly to get out, but not too bad - obviously a fair bit of thought had gone into the design, so that it lifts stright out with only a handful of bolts to undo. The fans had to come out first, which is when we spotted the "Jaguar" logo on the housing. Then, as we were removing other bits, we also spotted Volvo labels on the front crash sensors. Still, I guess it made a lot of sense to use stuff from the Ford / JLR / Volvo / Mazda stable, rather than designing bespoke stuff. Just a shame that the aircon condenser itself was an AM-specific part.....
It's nice to have cool air though - when the weather was modestly warm last weekend, I found that the heat-soak from the engine made the cabin very toasty indeed. I also found that the aerodynamics of the car means it can't be driven at much above 50mph with the windows open without awful buffetting getting into the cabin. It was worse than driving the Westfield, which doesn't even have a windscreen.....
Other than that, it's been another month of glorious noise and 16mpg, all for the same price as a new Peugeot 3008
There are some bits of the V8V that are a joy to behold - the design that's gone into various parts, the materials used - just lovely.
Then there are the part-bin bits, such as the Volvo sat-nav, key and various switches - they grate slightly, as the quality just isn't the same as the rest of the car.
Then there are the plain stupid bits. In both bumpers, there are small grilles that are made from recycled Pukka pie tins and given the very thinnest of coats of paint. They look awful.
Today, I decided to take them off and paint them. This task was quickly abandoned when I found that the rear bumper has to come off the get at some of the securing bolts - crazy design...
However, I also found another infuriating bit of cost-saving. In the rear bumper, there's a trim "blade" that's held on with four stainless screws - very nice. This is then spoilt by the stainless screws locating into a cheap and nasty chunk of pressed mild steel with a couple of nuts tacked on.
Having struggled to get the screws out, there was no way I was putting the rusty plates back in, so I made some replacements from aluminium. I would have used stainless, but my drill bits are cheap sacrificial jobbies and my tap & die set just wouldn't be man enough for the job. Still - two bits of home-made aluminium are going to last a lot longer than the OE Aston bits....
Then there are the part-bin bits, such as the Volvo sat-nav, key and various switches - they grate slightly, as the quality just isn't the same as the rest of the car.
Then there are the plain stupid bits. In both bumpers, there are small grilles that are made from recycled Pukka pie tins and given the very thinnest of coats of paint. They look awful.
Today, I decided to take them off and paint them. This task was quickly abandoned when I found that the rear bumper has to come off the get at some of the securing bolts - crazy design...
However, I also found another infuriating bit of cost-saving. In the rear bumper, there's a trim "blade" that's held on with four stainless screws - very nice. This is then spoilt by the stainless screws locating into a cheap and nasty chunk of pressed mild steel with a couple of nuts tacked on.
Having struggled to get the screws out, there was no way I was putting the rusty plates back in, so I made some replacements from aluminium. I would have used stainless, but my drill bits are cheap sacrificial jobbies and my tap & die set just wouldn't be man enough for the job. Still - two bits of home-made aluminium are going to last a lot longer than the OE Aston bits....
Edited by Nigel_O on Monday 17th October 18:27
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