I'm new here, having taken nearly a year of ownership of my Aston before finding this forum - glad to know there is one.

I currently have 2500 miles on my Vantage V8 and am toying with the idea of modifying it for a bit more power but frankly I like the idea of keeping it stock, too. Not sure now what I will do.

I love just about everything about cars from restoring classics to hot rodding to following marketing strategies of manufactuers. Over the year's I've owned a lot of different cars -- enough to know that a famous brand name and a record of racing wins means little on the street: I've owned a bunch of M-B and BMWs and Audis (none remarkable), a '67 Dodge Dart slant six (a wonderful car, just like Click and Clack say), an '82 Dodge Charger 2.2 (best Alfa Romeo I ever had), a number of real Alfa's including a very rare '67 Sprint Speciale, at least one of about every English sports car brand including an Elva Courier and five big Healeys, and a Le Mans-bodied Midget, some Porsches. My daily driver before the Vantage was an '02 ZO6 with a supercharged 7-liter C5R engine built by Nascar engine builder Charlie Hempfield that drove like stock but would click of 10.0 quarter miles on street tires: it had God's own torque curve but a body that might as well have been built by Fisher-Price, not Fisher body.
And that's what I love about the Vantage. It's not too fast -- I took mine to the track and it does 13.6s with me driving and a 13.4 with my youngest son (a pro) driving, but its build quality is superior to anything I have ever owned.

 

Welcome to the boards, Lee. Congrats on the new Aston. Enjoy

 

Welcome to the board Lee. Quite a nice collection of cars you've had. Particularly interested in the Alfa - I had the pleasure of seeing and ex-Sebring Sprint Speciale in Vancouver recently. Really lovely little car.

 

Congrats on your purchase! I hope you get the mod bug soon! Vantage has a vette like transaxle any word on why we lose a bit more power to the wheels than a vette does??? Vantage has a carbon prop shaft , is that not better than what a vette has???

 

Comments and Replies:

Frankly that Alfa was a pain. When it ran well (rarely) it was awesome. But it had two huge sidedraft webers -- one barrel per cylinder and was fussy -- if the humidity was off or the temperature low, it would misfire at high RPM. And trueth be told i couldn't afford it -- today I have the $$ to buy the needed professional help, but at the time I did all the work myself. That's why I had so many Healeys - those I could get to run sweetly and reliably, Lucus electrics not withstanding.

As to the driveline losses in the Vantage, its important to realize that no one can really beat GM at engineering. Its financial problems aside, and despite having its head up its butt as to marketing in the past, its drivelines are the best engineered in the world, given their cost. GM has developed really low loss drivetrains to pare that final few $$ out of its CAFE costs, etc. I understand the trans in the Vantage is just a bit more lossy. I also am not certain what lubricant Aston calls for -- that in the 'vette is super thin and worth about 5 HP on the dyno.

I know its probably considering treason to say so, but there is nothing I would like more than to have my Vantage with a new LS3 V8 (435 HP) or ideally the LS7 (505 HP) -- they are actually lower top to bottom (what they take in added stroke they give back in not having cams above the heads) and no heavier but produce much more torque (Here, I actually have never weighed the Aston Vantage V8, but it is close to the Jag V8 and I did weight one of those side by side with an LS6 (405 HP) which, sans all accersories, etc. weighted 18 lbs less.

I went by the shop that did all the work on my 'vette and they kinda begged off doing a conversion: they thought an Ls7 (also a dry sump engine) would be easiest and it would definately fit, but they begged off because they felt the driveshaft would be too difficult to modify and balance well (the LS7 only revs to 7000 RPM, but still, if you don't get that perfect . . .

Anyway . . .

 

I just sold a 2007 Z06 so that I can buy a DB9. As much as I was amazed at the brute power of the Z06, the cheap interior finally got to me (nasty is the best way I can describe it).

I can give up some speed for a little luxury and exclusivity. I guess I was never really a 'Corvette' kinda' guy.

Hoping to join the ranks soon myself.

Cheers to you!

 

I agree about the build quality on the 'vette. What surprises me is that its so much worse in build quality and particularly durability compared to other GM cars. The interior just went to hell in four years and 27K miles - seat upholstery opening up, turn signal stalks falling off, etc., etc., etc., etc.

Not so my '98 Camaro after 11 years and four times that mileage, five years of that when driven by my youngest son (when he was 19-24). Its interior wore much better and it never suffered all the cosmetic and annoying small plastic failures of the 'vette. Today the Camaro is a much modified street/strip car - insulation removed (but carpets put back in), welded solid motor mounts, class 2 rool cage, styrofoam NOS tank holders cast into the trunk wells, and a built cast iron LS V9, etc., but the seats and door panels are still flawless and good looking, and all the controls (that are left, radio and Ac are gone) like turn signals and such as still all original and working.

I expected to buy a DB9 when I went to the dealer but I drove both back to back and prefered the Vantage V8, still do, although the new Vantage V12 is appealing. Still, a stock LS7 in a Vantage would be just about my perfect car: it would have the power and torque of the V12 but weigh noticeably less.