I agree, but those things suck to drive on the road. Talk to any of those Exige owners during the drive home and they'll all want to trade cars!

For the original point of this thread - occasionally tracking a Vantage isn't a big deal. I made some recommendations that will help greatly on the track without being much of an issue on the street.

Building a dedicated track car out of a Vantage is another story. It'd require a lot of prep to get it competitive vs other dedicated track cars. You're starting off with a car made just as much for comfort as it is for performance. There's lots of weight to shed. But for the original post, the Vantage is an excellent car for occasional track days.

 

You might try "Hooked on Driving" (no affiliation) for your bucket list event. They are active in Florida in your area at three tracks (lucky you!).

Sign up in A group and have a great time. They'll put an instructor in the car with you (no extra charge) to help you learn the track and the line: they also conduct "classroom discussions" after the individual on-track sessions to help you refine your driving skills...

Once you progress to B group or higher, you might want/need to take some additional steps regarding car preparation, budget allowing!

As others have said, go out and enjoy your car .

 

I see your in Florida - take a look at Flatoutmotorsports. They just ran an event at Daytona.

 

2 piece rotors are NOT for better heat "dispersion". they are ONLY for warping and float for more consistent braking in racing conditions when the rotors are at temp.... near glowing. they are worse for heat dissipation. much worse, because you remove a HUGE heat sink of the cast rotors, which is great for heat dissipation, but bad for putting heat in the hubs. (bearings etc). they are ONLY good for street applications because of the weight savings.

i tracked the aston with 8 year old tires and fluid with the stock pads. it was fine.... there was no weak links other than the tires. (and the suspension set up vs my race car of similar size and power).
The car will never tax the brake system at our power level. again, these are HUGE calipers and 14" rotors!!! now, if you over slow the car, or ride the brakes, you can overheat them and it will seem like you have a problem, just as if you crush the tires by overdriving, you can
and make any tire overheat and not work well.
your cooling ducts are surely effective, but what are you trying to achieve? if you dont (or shouldnt) have a heat problem, then they are not required.

again, if you are seeing brake problems, its due to technique. spend the time and money on an instructor for a session or two. it will be well worth it. im available if you are in the bay area for a day . you can share me with a couple of friends . Laguna, sears, thunderhill, buttonwillow , etc.
you boil brake fluid, when you fade the pads, you fade the pads when you use too much brake, and too little, too early. I can make any street car, brake fade, oversteer, push, etc. the AMv8 is too slow of a car (compared to a real race car), to require anything significant from the brakes. you could almost run at a fast track without even using the brakes, a side from the really slow corners off the fast straights. Ive run a 1:48 at Laguna seca (as fast as a championship winning spec miata if you dont know laguna seca) with absolutely no brakes (Zero) with my race car on DOTs. its all about gear changes, trail braking, (or early turn in with no brakes), and using the turns to slow you down to the apex.

 

thats not true , and certainly at least is debatable. I would take that race any day of the week. ..... same tire compound, brake material, all other things stock, the wider vantage with its near same HP weight ratio, but broader HP curve, would win out. I see those things on the track all the time.... they are not particularly fast. a stock AMV8 on a good set of DOTs would be very fast. it boils down to a few major points. 400hp/3400lb 8.5Hp/weight ratio, (or 10:1 if you use RWHP) and g holding of over 1.3g..
I would spank any stock Exige, no matter who was driving. the exige is 190ish hp , 160 RWHP and 2015lbs 12.5 Hp/weight. it would get Slaughtered in the straights of turns, etc. It comes with tiny tires. 175/225 aspect ratio tires. Pinners! the fact that its 2000lbs is great, like miatas, but the tire size is a huge limitation. these are near 5" rims folks!... don't get me wrong, its a great car. ive driven one at the track. lots of fun... but no match for a AMV8, which is a true supercar and has been since it came out. In all honesty, in a real race , it might be close but the Aston would win for sure..... (unless we are talking autocross . )


a little bit of a reality check..... in the spec mustang series... the mustangs are running 2:01 at Thunderhill California. no stock exige has even gotten near close to this time. the spec mustang is a stock mustang with bolt on suspension, cage , etc, and gutted but still is near 3300lbs. HP is in the 310rwph range and they run on a DOT tire. The AM as a street car, would be near this spec, and would not need any special "Bits" that the mustang has, to be a race car.... the AM already has these bits..... all it would really need is the stiffer suspension, to really compete, but as is stock, would be able to hang with the mustangs, albeit just behind them I would imagine having driven both. Ill have to post some incar footage of a very old stock , gutted 250rwhp Porsche 928 vs a exige in one of those hooked on driving DE/ race weekends.
EDIT: Here is that video. you can see the lotus gets crushed down the straights, but is a little more maneuverable in the turns. the 928 is 2700lbs but only 250rwhp so its 10.5:1 about HP to weight. The times that these guys are running are not that fast. 2:04-5ish at thunderhill. both drivers are relatively new but pretty good for their experience and about equal. As the aston vantage is stock, it could run with these cars on DOTs and with some race brake pads.
But the point of all this is, do you really want to beat up an aston as a track car?? no , of course not. but, the point is, it is a capable track car as good as anything in its HP to weight range.


from the inside of the 928. (brian 928 vs Rob Lotus)

 

Just for clarification. On newer Vantages, the front brakes actually have 15 inch rotors (13 inch at the rear).

 

I haven't had any braking issues on track. But I also have upgraded pads and cooling ducts. I was just throwing suggestions out there for extra assurance for anyone concerned about their brakes.

As for the 2-pc rotors, I misspoke. What I meant was that they keep heat away from the hubs.

 

XWCGT:

Just to clarify a few points:

Exige S240 = 240 hp not 190 hp. So really no significant power to weight difference from a 4.7L V8V. Tires = 195-5016 fr and 225-45-17 r.

You are correct that in my case the cars were on different tires: R888 on Exige, RE11 on V8V. Grippier tire on the Exige, yes, but not by a huge margin IMO. Pads: Pagid Yellow on both.

At any rate, on the Exige, I run through tires faster than pads; the brakes feel basically bulletproof even after extended sessions. When I had the V8V I never really got to the point where the RE11s felt too hot, but the brakes sure did, even after 10 minutes.

I have had some instruction. I've never been told my braking technique is problematic. Maybe I haven't had the right instructors or maybe my braking technique must be modified substantially depending on which car I am in (I never got instruction while in the V8V).

Re: the V8V. Only the S model AFAIK has 6 piston callipers; the others are 4 piston.

Re: comment that the RS6 had similar brakes to the V8V - in fact they had considerably different OEM front brakes: 8 piston Brembos with wee little pads (RS) compared to 4 piston Brembos with bigger pads (V8); floating discs with unusual radial pins (RS) compared to one piece discs (V8). Anyway, as I said, I changed the front brakes on the RS to an Alcon setup with floating discs and 4 piston callipers and bigger pads than OEM.

No doubt you will deem the above immaterial to the final outcome, but hey, it's a fun discussion.

The 928 sounds mean, BTW.

 

All new Vantages since 2012 have the same 6-piston calipers as the S as well as 380mm front discs. The difference is that on the S they are 2-piece while on the others they are not.

 

Nice that they upgraded to the S spec. Mine was a 2009.

 

Yes, I corrected the original post after I posted it regarding the 4 pot calipers of our cars.
bottomline, if you had some issues with the aston at the track, it probably was either the pads not being bedded, but would be after they failed , or just technique. it is a much heavier car, and needs to be driven a little different
I didn't know what exige you had, so the "S" model does have the 240hp, which is probably around 200rwhp so yes, near the same HP to weight.
now as far as tires.... omg, RE11 are no where near the grip of the R888. even full tread. that would be the main difference.
Again, I cant emphasize enough that the RE11 is a street tire with a tread wear of "200". (very hard) and the R888 is a "60". (really, even though they changed the rating a few years back to "100".) they did the change due to the better wear capabilities, even though the stick was equal to a 60 tire. (for comparison, hoosiers are rated at "40") Bottomline, that's about 3-4 seconds a lap on the track. (DOT racing tire vs street tire).


On the track, this would be a decent fight, and he who likes the small and nimble vs the wide heavy and stable. one might have a certain advantage at certain tracks too.
yes, interesting discussion.... for sure. but, don't discount the vantage ,and its brakes.... they are racing brakes for sure! they just need racing pads. (by the way, yellows don't really cut it and wouldn't really be a fair fight. (endurance pads) you would want a pagid black or at least an orange. RS4-4 / RS-14.


in the brake busness, its really about rotor diameter and pad compo....... 14" rotors and now 15" on the newer models, are spectacular in capability. if you EVER have an issue on the track with a 3500/400hp car, its not the brakes!

 

What is the reason the yellows "don't really cut it"? Durability? Temp rating? I was recommended to these pads by several sources, includng AM Works, who said the N24 race cars used them.

 

Brembo recently came out with a new line of two piece rotors that fit our cars. Has anyone tried them?



https://www.gmpperformance.com/index...ail&PID=261056

 

I had them on my V8V about a year before I got rid of it (they were available on special request at that time and were competitively priced with OEM discs, and mine needed replacing). Not sure they really did much, though, except weigh a bit less.

 

they are endurance pads, and dont have the stopping power of the normal race pads. N24 race cars use them??? doubtful if they are serious about winning.
the top teams use the top pads.... supercup porsches use the pagid black RS14s, nascar uses ST41 raybestos, WCGT and others use the HawkDCT 70, etc etc. pagid has black, and grey for the best pads, yellows, (again) are endurance pads, period. The yellows will act very different on the two cars you have run.
again, the Vantage has racing brakes. HUGE rotors, and large surface area pads. actually larger than the Big Reds on many porsche race cars. it is NOT a weak link by any stretch. when the race teams change to other calipers , its usually about sponsorship, or very demanding applications where the caliper stiffness is coming into play. AP, stoptech, brembo, all make a very comparable caliper. you will NEVER know the difference on street car, and certainly running a car with the hp and weight you have, along with the tires you run. Its taxing the brakes at a "6-7" out of "10" with a pro driver. you can easily tax the brakes at a 10, by wrong techniques.
your change on the RS6 to the AP brakes, might be a slight upgrade. the huge RS6 brakes are more than capable . the 8 pot design is racing inspired, and allows for more even wear on the pad in race conditions. surface area is proably very close to the large 4 pot you replaced them with. again, its pad composition, and wear characteristics that are the main difference between all the different race calipers, NOT stopping power ability of the calipers. and one more time, two piece rotors are for keeping the heat out of the hub, critical for racing applicaitons for wheel bearing wear reduction, NOT for street use or occasional track use... as i said before, its worse for street car due to the HUGE reduction of brake coolling that the larger mass provides with the solid cast rotors. so, if you use 2 piece rotors and you are a serious racer, you better have a good external cooling system for the brake rotors.