Advice for newbie - lowering springs & tyres for 4.3L V8

[yeti]

Jedi4727 said:

For the wheels, I bought the 10 spoke ones, which I understand are known as the "spider" ones. I don't think there the ones on the sport pack, but rather those on the N420 model.

Those are the sports pack wheels if they are the N420 ones. N420 wheels = Sports Pack wheels.

Jedi4727 said:

Spacers : post fitting and with the original OEM springs, do I need to reset the geometry ?

Technically yes - it's quite a change for the car. Best to have them fitted with the springs if you go for those, then you only have to do geo once. It is is around £100 each time. Someone on here will help with the settings.

Jedi4727 said:

H&R progressive springs : what type of budget are we speaking about ? Funnily enough, I would have imagined you'd have lowered front by 20mmm and rear by 15mm for a more aggressive look
?

I think i paid about £700 fitted for my H&Rs - at the time, before my Bamford Rose switchable suspension ( a lot more money), they were the best upgrade I had done. For a DB9, 20mm lower at the front was too low, it caught on speed humps and there was the possibility of rubbing, especially with spacers. I had the front raised and it drove far better. So for a DB9, 15mm front and 20mm rear worked. The springs take the car down 20mm all round as standard, if there are no speed humps where you live it'll be fine. If you're dealing with RSC already, Staurt will advise.

Jedi4727 said:

Will recheck the vantage collection. Where did you get your DBS bonnet from ?

A scrapyard! AML had replaced it for a guy who was not happy with the original finish on a brand new car. Paid 1000, complete fluke! Then 1600 to paint the whole front, ouch...

Jedi4727 said:

Paint : is the Onyx Black at stake....or is it the age of the paint ?

You know how women wear black dresses to make themselved look smaller? Same thing Black is very discreet and Onyx is a lovely colour. Back cars just look a little smaller I guess due to light absorbtion!

Jedi4727 said:

Tyres : Do you think changing the dimensions of the tyres will make any difference ? Is there any web site which could help me in knowing which size will work ?

Stick with standard sized tyres, they make no difference to the look of the car. The Bridgestones are fine, but some are moving to Michelins now on the V12 cars... I have DBS Pirellis and will probably change to Michelin next time.

We'll see if Burntout turns up soon, he knows more abbout Vantages than I do. And his car looks GOOD

[Jedi4727]

Thanks Lunablack for pointing me in the right direction

[yeti]

George H said:

yeti said:

Stance

That just makes me think of knobheads in old Volkswagens thinking they're cool by running stupid amounts of camber and stretched tyres

I'd go for the Bamford Rose thing first too btw, having an early, completely standard looking V8V that could keep up with a V12V is the best of both worlds imo

Problem with 'stance' is that it is the word that describes best the way the car sits on the road with some suspension / hub modifications. To be honest 'modifying' is a word that has the wrong connotations as well, but what else can you use

I'd do the springs and geometry before BR stuff - so you stand a chance of enjoying the thing 4.3 will be OK on stadard brakes for now.

OP - BR can do all this stuff for you in one hit... might be the best and most cost effective way!

[Lunablack]

Jedi4727 said:

Thanks Lunablack for pointing me in the right direction

You're welcome..... It's what the forum should be about.........NOW get some photos up, so we can see where you're at up to now

[897sma]

Lunablack said:

You're welcome..... It's what the forum should be about.........NOW get some photos up, so we can see where you're at up to now

Or videos Luna

Lunablack said:

Have a look at this and cheer yourself up

http://m.wimp.com/stopnightmare/

[Lunablack]

Mate.... The sun's shining, I've just had lunch, now going out to polish the vantage... no cheering up needed around here

[Jedi4727]

Thanks for your enthusiasm and tips !
How can I post some pictures if I don't have an url adress ? Is is possible to just copy paste the pictures in a post ?

[yeti]

Jedi4727 said:

Thanks for your enthusiasm and tips !
How can I post some pictures if I don't have an url adress ? Is is possible to just copy paste the pictures in a post ?

When you reply, under the smiley icons are the words 'upload an image'. Click on that and it will pull them off your desktop, memory stick, whatever. Pistonheads has it's own agreement with thumbsnap so they're automatically hosted on there for you. Let's see these V12V sills

[yeti]

AdamV12V said:

Hi Jedi

Im sure I remember a posting where somebody from the AM factory said (in relation an enquiry with a V12V) that 20" DBS wheels would not fit on the Vantage due to the lack of clearance when turning the front wheels. Im sure it was stated that 19" was the largest wheels that could safely fit without danger of rubbing whilst cornering.

It was Rick at DMS and he had no evidence - just though they might not. I and a few thers ghav now done it on a DB9 and Burntout and others have done it on Vantages. No issues. BUT stick with 19"s anyway, especially if you have Sports Pack wheels!

[mikey k]

yeti said:

Not allowed the 'show' without the 'go'

Stance and driveability first for looks. Then Bamford Rose for the go. Then bodykit for the show.

That is the way of things, that is the way of the force.

OP as a Jedi listen to Yoda (sorry Yeti)
Forget the 20" alloys they will ruin the handling
Lower it by all means just don't "stance" it as that will also ruin the handling

On the V8S the only external cosmetics are the alloys & bumpers all the panels are the same material
There are a fair few mechanical tweaks that make it ALOT (sorry Yeti - again ) better. Many have carried over as options on the MY12 Vantage.

You need to decide whether it is about the looks or the performance

[Jedi4727]

Will definitively post some pictures of my car, as soon as I back home. Doing it from the ipad doesn't sem too work ....

[mikey k]

BTW as yeti says make sure you do the geo if you mess with the suspension or weight distribution
Where abouts in France are you? I'm in anf around France for the next 2.5 weeks!

[Jedi4727]

Hi Mikey K,

Thansk ! At this stage, I must admit it more about the looks than the performance. Radars are all over the place now in France and going beyond 150km/h is getting risky for one's driver license....

Do let me post some pictures as soon as I can and I'm sure you'll understand why I want to improve its looks.

I'm in Paris. Central. More that happy to buy you a couple of beers if you do stop by

By the way, if anyone knows how to patch photos from an ipad onto the forum...that would definitively help. Yeti, the modus operandi doesn't work for me on the ipad

[George H]

Jedi4727 said:

By the way, if anyone knows how to patch photos from an ipad onto the forum...that would definitively help. Yeti, the modus operandi doesn't work for me on the ipad

Download the Photobucket app

[Jedi4727]

Hi,
Thanks Georges
Pictures of the car are on http:/photobucket.com/albums/u387/jedi4727
Looking forward to reading your comments and leads to improve the car !
Cheers

[Jedi4727]

For those who will no doubt notice the carbon tail gate has not yet been fitted....I just layed it on the trunk for the picture.
Wheels spacers have not yet arrived, with the carbon side vent blades. All this will be fitted once I'm delivered and once I've ordered the lowering springs

[George H]

Jedi4727 said:

Hi,
Thanks Georges
Pictures of the car are on http:/photobucket.com/albums/u387/jedi4727
Looking forward to reading your comments and leads to improve the car !
Cheers

You can also click on the little I at the bottom RH corner when you click on an image, then click on the IMG code line and you can paste it straight into a post on here and it will put the pic inside it

[Jedi4727]

[Jedi4727]

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/jedi4727/...

[Jedi4727]