6 months into V8 Vantage ownership

LiE said:
A guy I work just got himself an AM, keeps posting his Sunday Service pics :(

Dont' suppose you went to the same one?
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Yes we all met up at the pub before heading into AM. The sound of all the cars leaving the car park was incredible I'm hoping someone managed to video it. You can just about make out my Vantage from that photoset.

ZDZxCfRo.jpg
 
aMb said:
A lot of cars around that price do share common parts with other cars in the group. I think the issue is that AM does not have the budget for the investment required in developing an iDrive system. Even with BMW's resources the first iDrive that came out wasn't so great. I'd much rater they concentrate on other areas of development than an iDrive system! At least later AM's gets a Garmin based sat nav which is considerably better. MY09 onwards gets a crystal based key and is called an "emotional control unit", a huge improvment on the previous Vovlo based key fob!
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You are spot on here - parts sharing is extremely common, especially on underlying components of not some nice plastic moulding.

The issue Aston have is that the parts catalogue available to them is mostly used to build cars in a completely different league.. think Focus, Mondeo, S40, XC70 etc, with a bit of JLR thrown in at certain points. Those Ford-owned brands were never at the forefront of anything much (except maybe off-road systems and safety); building an £80k sports coupe in that environment is never going to be easy. Contrast that to brands like Bentley, who have the entire of VAG (specifically Audi) to lean on, Rolls-Royce on to BMW, Lambo on to VAG/Audi.. the list goes on. It helps this brands keep high-quality and latest-tech without custom-building everything.
 
6FCmy.jpg


That's what's happens when the leather peals off the key fob :D

From looking around the car this is what I've found so far.

Clutch/gearbox - Graziano
Engine - Jagular AJ-V8 based
Wingmirrors - Volvo V70
Starter motor - Land rover
Thermostat - Jaguar
Caliper/pads - Brembo/Pagid
 
aMb said:
6FCmy.jpg


That's what's happens when the leather peals off the key fob :D

From looking around the car this is what I've found so far.

Clutch/gearbox - Graziano
Engine - Jagular AJ-V8 based
Wingmirrors - Volvo V70
Starter motor - Land rover
Thermostat - Jaguar
Caliper/pads - Brembo/Pagid
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Call me fussy but that would genuinely upset me LOL.

Subject change... Have you met anyone who has increased their AM's power output?

If so by how much?
 
aMb said:
Yes we all met up at the pub before heading into AM. The sound of all the cars leaving the car park was incredible I'm hoping someone managed to video it. You can just about make out my Vantage from that photoset.

ZDZxCfRo.jpg
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That a V12 i see in the far right!!! :eek: LOVE
 
DAIR said:
Subject change... Have you met anyone who has increased their AM's power output?

If so by how much?
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As it stands the engine isn't in a paritcularly high state of tune, I think they had to position it below the power of the DB9, so it should be fairly easy to get it from 380bhp up to 420bhp with sports cats/manifolds/air intake etc. I think some people have supercharged the engine but that's something I'd never want to do.

There is an official power upgrade for an additional 20bhp with an ECU upgrade and air intakes, but at £2,100 I'm out, may as well save the money and get a 4.7 :)

http://www.hwmastonmartin.co.uk/par...rts&PartID=582&CategoryID=23&PartsectionID=45
 
Oh man, that is awesome. This is a great thread.

What other cars did you consider before ending up at the V8V? Did you consider the SL55 or 997?

Is there anything that you don't like about the car? Did you look into the semi-auto box at all?
 
NickXX said:
Oh man, that is awesome. This is a great thread.

What other cars did you consider before ending up at the V8V? Did you consider the SL55 or 997?

Is there anything that you don't like about the car? Did you look into the semi-auto box at all?
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I love the sound from the AMG but I specifically wanted a manual so didn't get as far as trying one out. I did test drive however a 997 C2S and R8 as well. The R8 was very nice but over budget. While the 997 was slightly better to drive I felt on balance the V8V did it for me, and if I had gone with the 997 I would have felt like I had a ticking time bomb with the RMS/IMS failures.

Didn't drive the semi-auto as I was pretty set on a manual. I never got on with them from test driving a E46 SMG but I know I probably didn't get enough time to adjust to it. From what I hear the earlier ones weren't so great and eat through clutches. I think that's now it's considerably better with a 7 speed semi-auto box.

Sukh said:
Were you worried that someone would steal your camera whilst you were driving away? :p
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Not really no one was about, it as a nice and quiet until I turned up :D
 
Nice write up there mate! I have been looking at these all summer but was originally after an M6, then Vantage then Bentley GT now back to M6... LOL!

Sounds great with that zort :D
 
Drove my old man's V8 Vantage at the weekend for the 1st time. My god these are addictive cars.

Ride was a bit crashy (but grips well) and the Volvo sat nav is woeful, but other than that very very impressive. Can't even imagine what a V12 must be like.

You must have a huge smile every time you look at the thing, truly beautiful.
 
Beautiful cars that sound amazing! :)

Sound and look far better than the 911 and are a really prestigous car, would love one, but I know I'd miss the dynamics and handling of the 911 too much and probably the outright speed.

Still such amazing cars and am not surprised they handle well in the twisties as its one thing the Brits are good at, making a car go round corners on our crappy roads. :)
 
HummuH1 said:
Can't even imagine what a V12 must be like.
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I'm not sure I even want to test drive one at the moment as I know I'd want one but they haven't dropped much below 90k yet! A lot of people say the V12 gives the Vantage the amount of power it should have. Certainly with 510bhp and P Zero Corsa tyres I imagine it's good fun :D

Gibbo said:
But I know I'd miss the dynamics and handling of the 911 too much and probably the outright speed.
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Have you tried driving one? I drove a 997 C2S before test driving the V8V and was pleasantly surprised after some of the comments I had heard about it, although you can feel the additional weight there. I wonder if a Sports Pack version with the upgraded Bilstein dampers and ARB would be a worthy comparison.
 
Got a few photos today with the nice weather! Unfortunately driving back the clutch release bearing has started to make a noise. The job time for a clutch change is 10 hours so I get the feeling this could be an expensive fix.


IMG_0336 by amb24, on Flickr


IMG_0285 by amb24, on Flickr
 
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