Super charged Vantage
Discussion
A big thank-you to all at Topcats Racing and GMR Geyser for arranging a demo day today where I got to drive one of their demo cars. All I can say is 'BLOODY HELL' what a difference but I would recommend not taking your own car to a similar event as it made mine feel seriously under powered on the drive home.
I'll third that. A nice event with nice people.
No questions seemed off bounds. I had a long chat with Graham (the developer) over various issues raised elsewhere on PistonHeads - good straight-talking chap I'd say.
Several satisfied owners there. 2 cars to try.
The test drives were fabulous in a way I really hadn't expected and given the strange weather with downpours and standing water, showed the standard V8 chassis seems up to the job - yes you can get the tail to wag in the rain much more than a standard car with heavy provocation, but in a nice predictable way. The increase in low down torque is very satisfying and made for a very relaxing car if you are in that mood. And of course substantial performance right to redline if you want it. No supercharger whine, a very neat and beautifully manufactured installation.
I hadn't expected the improved exhaust note (free flow cats and extra air being pumped through I'm told account for that).
I've been the improved exhaust/induction/remap route with other normally aspirated cars which can change sounds, improve "pull" at the top end, be intellectually fun and make better headline bhp figures, but in the end this almost always gains you only extra top-end, which on the road is rarely useful. The most fun I've had tuning has been on forced induction cars where gains can be substantial (a few ex-XKR owners like me there yesterday - smaller supercharger pulleys anyone?). So I thought I'd grown out of putting money into tuning NA cars. Oh dear, I might be wrong about that - my 4.3 felt very pedestrian on the way home (and having left my phone in the blue test car, I got a good long run to TopCats twice...oops).
The way I'd describe it is everything I love about my Vantage amplified.
If only the kit were cheaper... £18k seems a lot for the thrill (If you want a factory V8 supercharged motor, a tidy 4.2XKR can be had alongside your V8 Vantage for that amount or significantly less and will return most of that value on re-sale - which I doubt the supercharger kit will). This will need a significant feat of man-maths - but boy am I trying to make those sums work.
No questions seemed off bounds. I had a long chat with Graham (the developer) over various issues raised elsewhere on PistonHeads - good straight-talking chap I'd say.
Several satisfied owners there. 2 cars to try.
The test drives were fabulous in a way I really hadn't expected and given the strange weather with downpours and standing water, showed the standard V8 chassis seems up to the job - yes you can get the tail to wag in the rain much more than a standard car with heavy provocation, but in a nice predictable way. The increase in low down torque is very satisfying and made for a very relaxing car if you are in that mood. And of course substantial performance right to redline if you want it. No supercharger whine, a very neat and beautifully manufactured installation.
I hadn't expected the improved exhaust note (free flow cats and extra air being pumped through I'm told account for that).
I've been the improved exhaust/induction/remap route with other normally aspirated cars which can change sounds, improve "pull" at the top end, be intellectually fun and make better headline bhp figures, but in the end this almost always gains you only extra top-end, which on the road is rarely useful. The most fun I've had tuning has been on forced induction cars where gains can be substantial (a few ex-XKR owners like me there yesterday - smaller supercharger pulleys anyone?). So I thought I'd grown out of putting money into tuning NA cars. Oh dear, I might be wrong about that - my 4.3 felt very pedestrian on the way home (and having left my phone in the blue test car, I got a good long run to TopCats twice...oops).
The way I'd describe it is everything I love about my Vantage amplified.
If only the kit were cheaper... £18k seems a lot for the thrill (If you want a factory V8 supercharged motor, a tidy 4.2XKR can be had alongside your V8 Vantage for that amount or significantly less and will return most of that value on re-sale - which I doubt the supercharger kit will). This will need a significant feat of man-maths - but boy am I trying to make those sums work.
Edited by albany on Sunday 26th June 13:00
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