I am about to pull the trigger on a 2006 AMV8 with 15k miles on it. A friend of mine told me that an AMV8 will likely need a clutch replacement before 20k miles and that it costs $10k. Can that be right?

Thanks in advance.

 

No...it should be under $6K.

 

I have 21k miles, clutch is still strong. If you know how to shift and down shift the clutch will survive just fine.

 

Cost will depend upon your labor rates but the AM service manual quotes 9 hours for a manual and 9.65 hours for a Sportshift. Retail price on the clutch/flywheel is $2500.

 

stuart, for whatever reason i can not locate the clutch and flywheel on your site. what is the cost and how does the function compare to stock in pedal pressure and engaging point?

 

Yeah, that one requires a bit of an update I think. We have successfully developed a clutch and flywheel which reduces the rotational mass by 10kg. It is rated to considerably more power than the Vantage puts out, and should last considerably longer. It also requires virtually no modification to the thrust bearing mechanism so is totally reversible.

Mike Cobb (Michael996TT on this forum) was kind enough to be the guinea pig and test this mod out for us. Unfortunately it wasn't a home run - once rolling, he reported that the clutch action was good, very direct and positive. Unfortunately it is also pretty much on or off. Due to the smaller diameter of the clutch cover, the mechanical advantage of the actuating mechanism is decreased by about 2 times, which means that for every inch of clutch pedal travel, the actual clutch travels twice as far as previously. This means that it is very hard to modulate from a standing start.

So the final feedback was that we have basically developed 'a great race/trackday clutch' but not one which will prove useable on the street. Disappointing for the moment because I think this is one of the biggest weak points on the car and would love to offer a cost-effective alternative that improves upon performance at the same time.

I'm looking into alternatives, but unfortunately we will probably have to undertake a complete redesign because we can only increase diameter by a very small amount with the clutch products available to us, and there are no 'sprung' plates available that meet the spec we need at this point. We could go the route of basically refurbishing or beefing up the stock assembly, but to me that's just not the right product - we don't do things in a half-assed way and I'm not going to take the trouble of developing it if it isn't the way I'd want it on my own car.

So we're still working on it, but the original design hasn't worked out at this point. A shame as we invested a good chunk of time and $$$ trying to make this happen so I'm not giving up yet. If anyone is primarily a race/trackday customer we can make these no problem and we would have a price point of $3500.00

 

thanks stuart, as little as i will drive the car because of my work location this may not be a bad alternative. with my car history i have dealt with many different clutch assemblies and short of a test drive on your design i could not imagine it being any worse on the street than some of the others i have experienced. i am still on the hunt for now i guess and as far as our other conversation i will give you an answer in the near future and look forward to doing business with you.

 

No sweat. Look forward to hearing from you. As of this week I will have a mildly used unit (as in, a couple hundred miles on it) and if you or anyone else wants to buy that one we'd probably let it go for 50% or something like that.

 

$10k is absurd

 

Yeah, don't worry it's half that!

 

34k miles and going strong
I guess it's the original, not sure if the original owner ever swapped his out. All depends on how you drive. Driving aggressively and shifting excessively are different things.

and yea, don't listen to the $10k number. $5k at AM, lower if you got a good tech that you trust.

 

And I might add a good inde'p shop can do a Vantage clutch no problem ... I also agree $10k is totally wrong !!!

 

My Aston Vantage as 47 miles and my clutch is perfect!!!!

 

mhmmm, I think I spoke too soon .... I think my clutch broke tonight, speeds do not pass the engine running, but only the engine off ...
Stuart, if my clutch is broken, have you a part of your manufacturing to offer me?

 

I have 25k on mine and its perfect!