We did a series of before and after dyno runs including some with the secondary ECU bypassed. I'm not saying your chip doesn't do anything, but it would be nice if someone could offer up some results. There's been a lot of talk and a number of claims, but none of them have been substantiated.

 

Here are a couple.







My mesh on the sides is the same color as the hood. It looks silver to me. Definitely not black.

 

Those side sills look really sharp. So, factory pieces were $2300 installed? I might have to consider that one...

 

I totally agree that the stock 4.7 is faster than the stock 4.3. No question, based on displacement and hp increase results. The question I am looking for hard data on is:

Is the stock 4.7 faster than the modded 4.3? (with ECU, 200 cats, and n400 updated air box, and intake)?

Need some help on this one Stuart. thanks, Jeff

 

My car feels faster than stock with the mods. Seems to have some better low and mid range power now. With the mods I have (ECU, exhaust, K & N filters) I don't feel that I am that far behind the 4.7.

 

This really is a fabulous looking car, and when I do eventually buy one, is probably the same color/configuration I'd get. I'm starting to like those stock rims on the 07 better and better too, especially considering the cost to upgrade.

The silver mesh must be a much more intense/brighter, high contrast color than, because it really stands out on the hood/side, even from a distance, and provides some great contrast. See the two picks here where I circiled what I'm talking about in red.

I think I would also like the bottom front grill to be a high contrast silver like the upper part of the grill is; this is what the XKR does and I think it looks great on the XKR. This does not appear to be an option on the 10 model, but I'd think something realatively easy could be done about it.

 

What price did you pay for each of those mods, if you don't mind? Does utilizing those mods affect eligibility for Aston's extended warranty? I'd think exhaust/filters wouldn't matter, but ECU might be a problem here.

I assume you have a manual?

 

I have the sport shift (paddles)

the ECU and 200 cats do violate the warranty, I believe. But as a 2007, the warranty is up in 4 months anyway.
You should get direct quote from RSC for their mods, but I paid about $6K installed for the kit from Aston Martin (it is warranty covered).

J

 

From what I remember this was the cost.

Exhaust-$2,600
ECU-$1,850
Filters-$90

Yes, I have a manual. I have the extended warranty and my mods do not violate the warranty. This is something you want to speak to your service adviser about directly.

I still think there may be some more power to get out of the engine. To me, the fuel maps could be leaned out a bit.

 

The only exterior visual que I am adding (did the sport pack which came with the great 19" lightweight wheels) is the carbon fiber rear diffuser. Looks really sharp and adds an extremely agressive stance to the rear.

Its tough to mess with the exterior too much as it is the most beautiful car on the road.

Just my 2 cents

 

Cheers Tahoe - wasn't trying to have a go at you by the way, just want to make sure everyone realized that the ECU map we have isn't designed to work with the S/C cars.

 

Thanks for the feedback Jeff. You and a couple of other people have posted regarding dynos/output readings - apologies for not answering sooner, I'm normally paying attention on the weekends but I think I'm emotionally drained after expecting a snorefest at the Oz GP and being kept on the edge of my seat all race!

I would love to have some conclusive before/after dynos but one of the problems is that RSC, being a manufacturer/distributor doesn't have a dyno. We could install one in the new office I guess, but the thing is, we don't really do any install work and it would probably be a collossal waste of $100K.

In terms of substantiating what gains each of the mods offers, I only have one before/after dyno figure (as I'm sure everyone is aware, a same-day pre-mod baseline figure is very important.) This was produced by one of our customers in the UK who installed our ECU program, Cats & Exhaust. We didn't have any involvement apart from that. The baseline run showed just under 388 BHP (hence why it is important to run a baseline first with the same climatic conditions) and the post-mod run showed 448.4 BHP. So an overall gain of 60BHP.

In my opinion, that sounds a little bit on the high side, but nothing too ridiculous, and I'm basing that on things I know which are certain. Our ECU map does pretty much exactly the same thing as the N400 revision that AM released, which we know is worth 20 BHP. I'm pretty comfortable with that number.

We have been told (although I haven't seen dyno results but I trust the source) by a fellow 6speeder who purchased some RSC cats that the 200-cell cats were worth 20RWHP on his supercharged car. That is approximately 25BHP, which, given the same percentage gains on a 4.3L car with the ECU done should show another 20BHP.

Dyno figures on a number of companies exhaust systems have all shown small gains with an average of about 8BHP (as a couple of you have pointed out, the primary reasons for picking up an exhaust are sound & weight + having a nice hancrafted stainless item, but the exhaust does produce a small gain.)

So given the 'known knowns' as Rumsfeld used to say, we can be pretty confident of 20 + 20 + 8 giving you something like 45+. We have some performance filters slated for release soon that I would like to think will be good for another 5-10 so getting over 50BHP of additional peak BHP I think is not unrealistic. We also had this set up upgrades installed on Norb Kaminsky's Vantage - he probably does more track miles in his car than anyone I've come across and knows Mid-Ohio like the back of his hand. He was on the phone to me right after his first session and told me he'd picked up 9mph in top speed down the back straight. That might not sound like much but for those of you who are familiar with racing or trackdays, you'll know that 9mph is actually a BIG difference.

Those of you who have purchased these upgrades from RSC will probably confirm that this is the information we have always given and what we believe to be true. We're the sort of company that will always give you an honest and fair assessment of what to expect, and for the most part I think that's reflected in the number of happy customers you'll find on this forum. Sorry that I don't have the hard data you're looking for on this one.

 

I only have anecdotal evidence on this one Jeff but I'm told that your setup will be marginally quicker than a stock 4.7.... never been there to see it for myself though. I put 3500 miles on our car with the same setup (minus the intake) and have driven a couple of 4.7s and my impression was that in an outright drag race there's not much to choose between them. Having said that I still feel like the 4.7 has just got a bit more mid-range than the 4.3 so if for example you were doing roll-ons it would depend what gear/speed you were in because the 4.3 would need to be kept 'on the boil' in order to win.

 

Stuart, I agree with most of your analysis. Not real sure about the cats adding 20.

Instead of installing a dyno, maybe you could take a car to do a before and after near one of your location. South Florida has plenty of them. Dyno time is only $100 for 3 pulls.

You have also been very upfront, and I am happy with what I got for the money. Having coming from a supercharged car, I was under no illusion that bolt on mods were going to give me the same type of hp increase.

 

I have the 4.3 with factory AM power upgrade (intake manifold, ecu, etc) and Quicksilver exhaust and it is significantly faster and better sounding than before. Drivability is great.

I've never driven a 4.7 but I no longer wish for more power.

...did I just write that?