OK - first props for AM Tampa & Tom - he did some research on sizes. I just did the order and fun stuff. So the bottom line is yes we have a stock K & N filter available for the V8 Vantage - K&N still does not know it but they will soon catch up - so do not try and oder by your car reference, order by their part number. The K&N part number is CM-4508 and it replaces the AM air filter number 4G43-9601-A. Our cars take 2 of these - you can order off the internet, or the local auto shop (took mine 4 days to get delivered) or most likely your AM dealer can order. The stock filter is your basic old paper style (am holding one) and the K&N is their standard million mile cleanable unit - so we are actually adding some HP and going GREEN !!! And the better news is the Power Kit uses the stock AM filter so you can use the K&N too. I am still checking on the 4.7 V8 cars (2009 +) but I believe they use the same 4.3 air filter number. I will also check out the part number for the DB9 and DBS - hopefully it is all in the same family.
Installation:
1) Remove the stock filter boxes - remember there are 2, one each side of the radiator (hey this is not easy to get too, you have to go thru the belly pan under the car, ie. need to jack it up in the air or use a lift, so use the dealer or a trusted mechanic if this is too much for your home garage). I used my dealer and brought the stock air boxes home for my fun.
2) It takes a T-25 star tool and "socket wrench" to remove the 7 "screws" holding each filter box together. Once the screws are removed gently pry open the box so you then have 2 open halves. Remove the old filter and throw away. To install your new filter do not believe your eyes - it will fit and the filter box will close over it ! Take the K&N filter, remove the hose clamp they provide as you will NOT need it, then gently place the K&N filter over the intake hole the old filter came from. It seems like the opening is to small but use a screw-on motion, turning a few times and the K&N filter will slip on over the filter box sleeve. Do this screwing-on motion with pressure from the top down - very much like screwing a lid on a large jar when you do not want the liquid to come out. Do not strike or pound on the top on the K&N filter to force on - this only crushes the filter (voice of experience). Use the srewin-on motion - it works very well.
3) Make sure the K&N filter is seeded all the way down on the opening box sleeve. Then place the 2 halves of the filer box back together. Yes it looks like the 2 halves will not fit over the K&N but trust me, it will! Replace & re-screw the qty 7 T-25 star screws and you will see the filter housings do in fact snap and fit together nicely thus holding the K&N filter snugly in place (thus no hose clamp needed - you could not screw then on anyway).
4) Reinstall air boxes in car and enjoy driving.
5) Now start a debate about how many HP you picked-up. Better yet go hug a tree as you and future owners will no longer throw old filters it a land fill.
6) ADVANCED LESSON - Now I'll tell you about an old speed secret - when I removed the old stock filter I then used a hole drill bit (a kit you can buy at Lowes/Home Depot) that attaches to a standard drill. Makes clean holes 1/2 to 3 inces in dia. depending on the attachment you use. I drilled like 10 holes all over/thru my stck air box. What a feeling drilling holes in a well made AM part! Anyway so I do not bore you - more air to the filter the better - and yes still use the stock system too. As an example the Power Kit adds a small flap that opens at higher RPM - just like the DB9 (maybe same part #?) so I drilled holes where this flap is too but my point is get as much air to the K&N filter as you can to get the best result. This was a Porshce SuperCup trick on the 964 and all later models. So I am replacing my Power Kit box w/ my swiss cheese stock box and new K&N filter. You do not have to go w/ this extreme as a K&N will work great in stock box form too. I am just pushing the envelope a bit more.

Hope this helps ...

 

Michael, once you have the Aston Cheese ready and done, please snap a picture of it for us. Thanks

 

SonicKrack - shoot me a PM w/ your email - for some reason I am having trouble posting pictures in this forum - probably user error !

 

Mike,
I think you have my email. Can you send me the pics as well. With all your mods, how is the low-end torque?

 

Great write-up, thanks! How are the seat-of-the-pants impressions?

My only concern with drilling holes in the airbox is that because of air being ducted into the airbox from the front of the car, it is probably pressurized at speed. When you have holes drilled you might actually LOSE airflow and pressure. If the airbox was in the direct path of air then the ram effect could make up for this, but in this case it seems like it would work against you.

 

Found the filters for $50/piece + shipping at an ATV store. Apparently the K&N CM-4508 is used in a Yamaha 450/450X ATV.

http://www.onlineatvparts.com/Mercha...&Category_Code=

 

Any 'best' guesses on HP gain??

 

Hi everybody,
I am in the process of picking up a used vantage here in Norcal (hope to finalize this week). Anyways, the dealer is busy with some inspection for the car that I'm picking up and since I came across this thread, I asked him whether he could put this K&N filter in place while they are doing their service. After talking to his technician, he called me back and said that K&N filters can mess up with the (oxygen?) sensor and the computer may throw some error codes (he said it happened already to a few cars at their place). Any comment on this?

 

I call BS on this, as the fitting and part number was recently discovered by Michael... They were probably thinking of a K&N filter system not only the filters themselves. But who knows. All I know that if the dealer did not replace mine while in their shop(asked them to), I will do it following the DIY directions. Worst case scenario, I will put the factory ones back in case of a fault code. My car should be home today after a month of service.

 

I agree... I dont think anyone knew about a K&N drop-in until Michael figured it out... They probably just were trying to keep you from doing any modifications. However, it would NOT surprise me that the change in airflow would throw some type of error.

I know that on BMWs when you switch to a K&N, you need to put about 500 miles on and the air flow sensor will adapt on the fly. I am not sure if it is the same with our Astons or if it is a "german" thing.

 

Thanks everyone. I'm picking it up tomorrow...I've always driven and liked porsches and still like them a lot. nevertheless, I'm pretty excited about AM now!

 

Thanks again to Mike for the research. I just orded my pair at $50/per. I expect to get them installed in a week or two. By the way, has anyone gotten an ECU flash? I have heard that you can achieve up to 35HP maybe more with the powerpack parts. I keep thinking that this car should yield about 450HP without induction.

 

Powerpack parts installed by the Dealer or parts purchased and installed by owner? Also can an ECU flash be done without installing the power pack?
Jay, did you get the K&N from a local dealer or the Internet?

 

I went on the website and got the local dealer who ordered them for me. K&N will sell you them at $69.99 but they advise you to contact someone locally which I did. As far as your other question, two companies; Paramount and Royal Excellence will flash your ECU to gain HP. In fact both companies boast higher gains than the power pack with its ecu flash. The only problem is that you need to extract your chip and send it to Europe to be flashed and sent back. Paramount can even reprogram the shifting if you have a sportshift (which I do). What I would like to explore is the parts from the power pack with better programming. I have not seen an aftermarket power kit that was more than sports cats and a sports muffler. The company kit changes the intake but this with the conservative programming only yields 20HP. There are some dealers that will sell you the parts alone for around $4200. I have to blieve that you could do better with a more aggressive flash. I just don't want to ship my chip to England and pray it comes back in one piece. It would be hard to explain to Aston that "I lost my ECU."

 

Being out of town sucks when you can not log on. OK I think I owe some answers - also sent some pictures to SonicKrack so hopefully he will be kind enough to post - I have more views than what I sent him too.
1) Big NO on error codes or any other AM ECU issues. The K&N filter and the Swiss Chees box does not thow error codes - I now have about 300 miles on the car since mod. My mechanic was curious too - but I said do it and we can always reverse. He thought it might throw an error code while it was adjusting for the first 50 miles or so. Again I used my stock boxes to drill holes, not my Power Pack boxes in case there was an issue.
2) Now we get to really see some interesting info - no there is not a pressure issue - continue using the stock "hook-up" system as I said earlier but w/ the holes in addition to the snorkel from the factory. You should probably do a better job matching the holes for each of the 2 filter boxes (think of them being identical in a mirror) than what I did. But I did so many holes it did not seem to matter (drink beer after drilling, not during). The Power Pack gives you new boxes with a flap that opens at 4500 RPM, this operates as the pressure increases in the top valve cover .The Power Pack is painted black but the real difference is a small hole drilled for the sensor to be installed in; thus to send a signal down the wire to tell the flap to open in the new air box. I think AM actually has the dealer send them your original cover so they can drill the hole, install sensor and paint it black and use it again - kinda recycling so I am good w/ that. Open the airbox, get the ECU flash and bang - you are there. So why not open the airbox yourself ...
3) The down side to my Swiss Cheese air box is you DO NOT want to go cruising through deep puddles - like ones that would cover the lower lip of your spoiler. You will run the possibility of sucking air in thru the filter. I think this is the only reason the box is sealed - I would love to think it is high tech RAM AIR PRESSURIZED ENGINEERING smarts but I think it is not - just simple how do I fit this in the small space engineering. The bottom of the airbox sits on top of the belly pan to give you an idea of how low.
4) If you do not like the Swiss Cheese air box then just use the K&N filter. The holes had nothiong to do w/ the fit of the filter.
5) I need to dyno the car or better yet race a new 4.7, that would tell us just where the 4.3 w/ mods stands. Yes all the mods do feel quicker than standard.
6) Finally the throttle response - a little better but not like the E46 M3 or Cayman S. The reason is a combo of gearing and AM has the throttle mapped to a 1:1 ratio - the others have it mapped something like 2:1 - a push on the throttle produces twice the effect of the signal to the engine. Then again after you get half way down there is no more throttle response. I like the P-car and BMW better. AM needs to change their SW for throttle response IMHO. I believe they are making custom SW/mapping for each individual that buys a 1-77 !
Hope this helps ...