Aston Martin advice from Bamford Rose independent specialist

[Chopdogs]

I just spoke with Bamford Rose.

For the coast down, all electrical load must be off - air con, lights, radio.

Get to 70mph and, in top gear, coast down to 30mph without changing gear (but in D if SportShift).

Should be minimum steering input (ie no corners whilst coasting).

The assistance is very much appreciated!

Just have to find a long straight road with no other cars on it...........

[m.barnes]

I have noticed two different intake plenums (? - not sure if thats what they are. the silver or black large sections with 4.7l V8 written on them)

My car has a silver one, some 4.7l have a black one. What is the difference and is it an upgrade option / newer technology? thought I read about it on your website but cannot see it now.

[bogie]

m.barnes said:

I have noticed two different intake plenums (? - not sure if thats what they are. the silver or black large sections with 4.7l V8 written on them)

My car has a silver one, some 4.7l have a black one. What is the difference and is it an upgrade option / newer technology? thought I read about it on your website but cannot see it now.

On the 4.3 a black plenum would indicate a power pack upgrade.Not sure on the 4.7

https://www2.astonmartin.com/en/accessories/v8-van...

[V8V Pete]

Silver = standard 4.7, 420bhp
Black = Vantage S, N430 etc. with 430bhp

Can be upgraded individually I think but would you notice the difference without doing the exhaust as well where the gains are greater?

[m.barnes]

Thanks Pete.

I remember seeing a dual intake manifold from Bamford too, but no dont think sourcing and fitting the black one to my 4.7 will be on the list of possible changes!

[cypriot]

Having looked a lot at the work BR has done, it seems like most of the focus on their website and here on the forums is around the 4.3 upgrades. As I have a modern 430bhp 4.7l engine, I can't seem to find definitive reviews/user experiences on how the BR upgrades would improve the experience. For example I know that the 4.3 had a really heavy clutch and flywheel, so the BR upgrade has a huge impact. BUT, later 4.7s have different clutches and indeed lighter flywheels from the factory, so what is the impact of the BR clutch and flywheel on the later cars? Is it really that drastic? The same with the manifolds and catalysts. on the 4.3, you are looking at a 50bhp gain. Is the same gain available to the 4.7 cars already at 430? So would one be looking at a 480bhp vantage? If anyone has any experience on this, it would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

[V8V Pete]

cypriot said:

Having looked a lot at the work BR has done, it seems like most of the focus on their website and here on the forums is around the 4.3 upgrades. As I have a modern 430bhp 4.7l engine, I can't seem to find definitive reviews/user experiences on how the BR upgrades would improve the experience. For example I know that the 4.3 had a really heavy clutch and flywheel, so the BR upgrade has a huge impact. BUT, later 4.7s have different clutches and indeed lighter flywheels from the factory, so what is the impact of the BR clutch and flywheel on the later cars? Is it really that drastic? The same with the manifolds and catalysts. on the 4.3, you are looking at a 50bhp gain. Is the same gain available to the 4.7 cars already at 430? So would one be looking at a 480bhp vantage? If anyone has any experience on this, it would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

I have a 2014MY manual Vantage S (with Lightweight seats ). It has BR manifolds, cats, clutch/flywheel, gear linkage, Fast Road Geo and V12V wheels with V12V size Michelin PS4S tyres. I have not had it on a rolling road so have no actual figures but the power increase is very noticeable. The improved responsiveness/drivability of all the other mods is even more noticeable. You could not prize my BR mods away from my rotting corpse.

I'm in the Midlands and am very happy to demo my car to you if you're ever in the area.

[steveway]

V8V Pete said:

I have a 2014MY manual Vantage S (with Lightweight seats ). It has BR manifolds, cats, clutch/flywheel, gear linkage, Fast Road Geo and V12V wheels with V12V size Michelin PS4S tyres. I have not had it on a rolling road so have no actual figures but the power increase is very noticeable. The improved responsiveness/drivability of all the other mods is even more noticeable. You could not prize my BR mods away from my rotting corpse.

I'm in the Midlands and am very happy to demo my car to you if you're ever in the area.

Pete, not even for a V12V with the same mods, plus capristo back box?lol

[V8V Pete]

steveway said:

Pete, not even for a V12V with the same mods, plus capristo back box?lol

It's a question I still ask myself occasionally Steve but last time I drove one the extra weight up front helped me decide that I didn't want to change. I think the V12 is fantastic but when I'm on road the thing I think least often is "I need more power".

[cypriot]

V8V Pete said:

I have a 2014MY manual Vantage S (with Lightweight seats ). It has BR manifolds, cats, clutch/flywheel, gear linkage, Fast Road Geo and V12V wheels with V12V size Michelin PS4S tyres. I have not had it on a rolling road so have no actual figures but the power increase is very noticeable. The improved responsiveness/drivability of all the other mods is even more noticeable. You could not prize my BR mods away from my rotting corpse.

I'm in the Midlands and am very happy to demo my car to you if you're ever in the area.

Thank you very much for your reply and your very kind offer! I would love to take you up on that, but I unfortunately live in the big smoke... which means driving roads are also few and far between!!

Firstly, your car sounds awesome with the mods! I also the the LW seats... so so much better than the regular ones! It is good to hear the upgrades do have a significant impact even on more modern vantages. If you were to suggest a first upgrade, which would you recommend for having the biggest impact on responsiveness? the clutch/flywheel or the manifolds first? Also, what have you have done to the gear linkage? this sounds interesting...

[V8V Pete]

cypriot said:

Thank you very much for your reply and your very kind offer! I would love to take you up on that, but I unfortunately live in the big smoke... which means driving roads are also few and far between!!

Firstly, your car sounds awesome with the mods! I also the the LW seats... so so much better than the regular ones! It is good to hear the upgrades do have a significant impact even on more modern vantages. If you were to suggest a first upgrade, which would you recommend for having the biggest impact on responsiveness? the clutch/flywheel or the manifolds first? Also, what have you have done to the gear linkage? this sounds interesting...

Difficult on what to do first as I had them done all at once. However, there is a financial benefit in getting clutch/flywheel and manifolds/cats done at the same time as part of the exhaust has to come off to do the clutch so shared labour charge.

The gear linkage mod is a mod BR do to make the shift slightly shorter/slicker. Not night & day transformation but subtle improvement.

A solution to experiencing the mods would be to get yourself to BR when mine is in for its MOT/service in late October. We could get Adrian to take you out in it which is an "interesting experience"

[vernierMike]

^^ this!

I have 2009 4.7 with the above exhaust mods with a standard rear box, with an AMR clutch previously fitted and the short throw shift mod too. does at the same time as the exhaust at BR. I can confirm there is a significant increase in the power you feel, responsiveness and excitement! It also sounds better in both quiet and LOUD modes. The switchable exhaust is a bit of fun, and in tunnels is truly epic on 'childish loud' to the redline, even in a coupe. Friends in a other cars in said tunnel commented 'truly awesome'

The gear shift mod is, I think, shortening of one of the connector rods at the gearbox end, fiddly but clearly with practice ok when the exhaust is off.

In terms of priority, in my view the whole exhaust thing (manifolds, cats, airbus, chip) will make the biggest difference, but most of us seem to have the clutch done to complement the other mods.

[cypriot]

thank you for the insight gents... very interesting! I will have to make sure that my diary is clear towards the end of October then and make the trip up to BR! Might as well get the fast road geo done whilst I am up there so at least something has been done that trip...

[m.barnes]

I was at Bamford last week having a post purchase inspection on my 4.7 and asked whether it would be worth staging the exhaust modifications.

The answer was it would be better to save up and do the lot in one go, most of the benefits come from the manifold not the cats and thats the most expensive time consuming bit so to have that done, then cats later isnt worth it, and to get cats done and a remap then manifolds later also isnt worth it.

If you plan to do the lot (cannot remember them really even mentioning the backbox) then do it in one go.

Was really good to talk through a few bits and hear their views on "upgrades" vs OE parts.

[cypriot]

interesting! I fully agree about the cats or do the whole manifolds thing... my query was between the clutch/flywheel or the manifolds as to which one to do first and which has the biggest impact on responsiveness and drivability! I should really speak to BR, but they are quite difficult to get a hold of!

[lestrat]

Mike, thinking about V8 Vantage 4.3 performance, I was wondering which would be the disadvantages of an airbox with openings identical to those in the Power Pack airbox, but which were continuously open instead of opening at 5000rpm (therefore not requiring the vacuum line nipple in the intake manifold).

I assume maybe a low-end torque loss, and noisier induction?

[m.barnes]

At £3.5k ish I think for the clutch I would only consider doing that when it needed doing. They road tested mine for clutch slip and said it was showing very early signs (15k miles) on a manual and that it could last another 10k depending on how it was driven.

I would be reluctant personally to spend that much money on something that is a wear and tear item that hasnt yet worn or torn.

[V8V Pete]

m.barnes said:

At £3.5k ish I think for the clutch I would only consider doing that when it needed doing. They road tested mine for clutch slip and said it was showing very early signs (15k miles) on a manual and that it could last another 10k depending on how it was driven.

I would be reluctant personally to spend that much money on something that is a wear and tear item that hasnt yet worn or torn.

On the other hand I did mine before it needed doing because the OEM clutch was pretty poor and I wanted my car to be as good as possible for as much of the time that I own it as possible. You can see it both ways.

[Mr.Tremlini]

V8V Pete said:

m.barnes said:

At £3.5k ish I think for the clutch I would only consider doing that when it needed doing. They road tested mine for clutch slip and said it was showing very early signs (15k miles) on a manual and that it could last another 10k depending on how it was driven.

I would be reluctant personally to spend that much money on something that is a wear and tear item that hasnt yet worn or torn.

On the other hand I did mine before it needed doing because the OEM clutch was pretty poor and I wanted my car to be as good as possible for as much of the time that I own it as possible. You can see it both ways.

I went to BR with the intention of just manifolds, cats and airbox, as this is the biggest bang for your buck as mentioned above, so certainly the #1 pick. I had experienced a bit of clutch slip a couple of times while reversing, and had it evaluated, and much like m.barnes above I was diagnosed with a similar wear scenario. I had a track day a few days later, then taking the car back to Switzerland where if the clutch went the price would be more than the BR twin plate that lasts twice as long, so I opted to switch to that and the lightweight flywheel while there. Seemed prudent.
I have no idea what the cost of just the lightweight flywheel would be while retaining the original single plate clutch if it was in good shape? Certainly the twin plate is the more costly item of the two, but then it might become one of those, "well if you do that you might as well do this for a, b, and c reasons:"

[faa77]

Have spoken with Mike a couple of times regarding a custom project I am doing. Cannot praise Mike enough (particularly his patience with my novice experience!). His knowledge (particularly regarding the Vantage) really is impressive.

@cypriot, they have a Youtube channel which I think answers a lot of your questions