I will soon be in the market for a 4.7 v8v. I love the looks and sounds of the car but am not an aggressive driver and am more interested in a comfortable ride than a stiff ride. I have driven a non sport pak v8v and felt fine but have not driven a sport pak yet. I currently have a Gallardo and the ride on it is not overly stiff to me and if the sport pak is no worse than it then I wouldnt have a problem with it. It will be my daily driver. Thanks for your advice.

 

Stiff! I had the Sports pack on my old Vantage and I was surprised to feel how stiff it was. It was stiffer than my M5 on H&R's and close to my 430. For me, if it were a DD, it would have worn on me. Would have been nice if there were dampening control.

 

^^ Agree, pretty stiff. The ride actually became more comfortable when I switched to RSC/H&R lowering springs, presumably b/c the H&R's were progressive rate, while the OEM's are not.

 

On my DB9 the sport pack feels awesome, very stiff, car sits lower, is much tighter and really transforms the car, with that and the manual gearbox it makes it much more or a sports car rather the simply a GT ... You do feel everything on the road, so in the city maybe not best but for spirited driving and corner carving even on a bigger car like the DB series, Aston got it just right with the sport pack!

 

I did 8k miles in my last 4.7 with SP around Europe on all sorts of roads.
No issues for me or mrs K my S is A LOT stiffer.
You need to try it for yourself

 

Agree with Mikey, try to find one to drive with the option. Dealer or private.

I have the Sport Pack and love it. But my car is just a weekend road carving toy.

 

My car has the Sports Pack, I live where the roads are really poor, and I don't think it's too firm. Although it is certainly stiff, it isn't crashy, it never slams into things and is very well, but tightly! controlled. The handling is superb. I'd think that if the Gallardo isn't too firm, neither would the Sports Pack be. But...

If you don't want the extra control and responsiveness that the Sports Pack brings, you would probably prefer the standard suspension, which still gives excellents handling, and definitely rides more compliantly, especially at lower speeds. Obviously, the thing to do is try a Sports Pack car and see how you like it.

 

Speedraser has a point about firm vs. rough. My V8V had softer suspension than my V12V, but was terrible over bumps (quite "crashy"). The V12V absorbs bumps much better. So, firm may not mean uncomfortable.

 

Does the Vantage "S" model have a different suspension then the regular Vantage?

 

Completely agree. The more I drove it, the less I liked the V8V sport suspension. Impact harshness galore, but you wouldn't guess it from the amount of fender gap. And that odd corkscrewing motion over dips in the road - it felt like the front and back of the car were disconnected. Lowering with H&R springs actually improved ride as they had a progressive rate. It also banished some of the corkscrewing, but not all of it. I wonder what the standard suspension is like?

 

Racer,
IIRC your V8V was not a Sports Pack car, correct?

Spinecho,
My point was that the Sports Pack suspension is firm, but NOT crashy. I've had mine about 3 years, and I love the suspension set-up, largely because it is firm and well-controlled IMO, but manages to do that without impact harshness. I found the standard 4.3 suspension softer, but it had more impact harshness than the Sports Pack suspension.

In my car, when I see something unavoidable in the road, like a sharp construction ridge across the road that there is no way to avoid, I wince in anticipation of the crash -- but it never happens. Also, the Vantage is extremely stiff structurally (especially the Coupe) and it feels it, which is one of my favorite things about the car.

Tim,
All of these opinions mean one thing -- try them both. Much as I love the Sports Pack, including its ride quality, if you don't want the extra precision and responsiveness, you'll probably prefer the standard setup.

 

Speedraser - I guess it depends on your reference point. I found it crashy, and sought to improve it, but that's just me. Is my opinion now suffering from retrospective bias, with the V12 as my reference point? Could be.

 

is the sports pack consist of just upgraded springs or upgraded springs AND shocks?

 

Correct, but it was still a harsh ride. This was in part due to the hard OE Bridgestones.

 

Spinecho,
Or maybe the roads on Pluto are even worse than those in the Northeast US.

Racer,
That makes sense to me. The 4.3 V8V (which is what you had, right?) was not as firm as the Sports Pack, but IMO it was harsher. The Sports Pack car is firmer (especially at low speeds), but it is better controlled and, IMO, less harsh. The standard 4.7 suspension gives the best ride quality of the V8Vs.

911ist,
Sports Pack includes revised springs, dampers, rear anti-roll bar (only for the Coupe) and lightweight forged wheels.