In 20 years time, a v12 vantage will be worth 5 times a v8 vantage. Not that most will still have their car. A v12 is an exotic motor. A v8 isn't.

 

...and a modified car isn't worth much more than the unmodified version, irrespective of how much is invested in the mods. In fact, a heavily modified exotic may be worth less than the stock version.

 

True most of the time, but I managed to get quite a premium for my modified 07MY when I sold it.

 

Yes but not everyone has your talent!

 

I have been down this road my self in the past of modifying an existing car instead of purchasing a new one. Everyone is correct that you will never get your $ back when you sell it. And yes unless you find that one person that likes what you have done, you will take a hit and it will take longer to sell the car.
When I bought my 2007 Vantage I was looking for a 4.7. But this car came along and just too good to pass up. I have decided to add some Aston Martin performance parts as many of you know (it is at the dealer now for the Power pack install). I know they are way more $ than other after market companies, but they won't hurt my warranty and they are smog legal in my state (CA). Plus they can be unbolted and returned to stock. I have looked into the Aston sport exhaust as well, and at $5 k it will have to wait. I did find a used exhaust from a forum member at a better $ but he is across the country from me and shipping would be a bit of $ as well.
So the long and short is, if you really like your V8 keep it. If you have the funds and the V12 floats your boat. BUY it, life is too short plus it will be worth more down the road. Especially with a stick(not a lot produced).
Ron

 

All great insight guys, thanks. It's not so much of a "can I afford the upgrade to the V12" as a "does it make sense to spend double the price of what my V8 is worth"? Ahhh the big ponder! I totally agree with you guys that I will get little to nothing of my mod money back when I do sell, but part of the fun is tinkering with the toys. I also agree there is a good chance the V12 will hold and increase in value...it's a rarer car and the last of the V12 stick shift cars. I don't tend to flip cars the way I used to, I've had the V8 for two years now and am only considering a sale to upgrade. I appreciate the opinions and experiences guys, feel free to keep em coming! -Jon

 

One thing is for sure with mods - and I talk to a lot of people who are considering them and say the same thing. The old 80/20 rule applies. 20% of the money will get you 80% of the way there. The last 20% is a different story....

If you keep your V8, some relatively simple bolt-ons will go a long way, but trying to get it on a par with a V12V will probably find you with the law of diminishing marginal returns

 

I know I am in the minority here but I have owned both and prefer the V8V-S. I also like the the AMT2 trans. However, if you want more "go-fast" I think you will be dispopinted squeezing it out of the V8. For a GT car that you want to keep the "Touring" feel in it, don't get crazy with mods. It will be overly loud, high maintenance and probably end up costing you twice what you already think is too expensive for the power.

These rules do not apply to race cars (had to say that so I wasn't to big a hypocrite).

 

one thing to consider is that the v12 doesn't rev out like the v8. the v12s does, but it's a travesty that car is only offered with THAT transmission

 

Travesty indeed!! I've contacted AM and asked them if they intend to ever offer the new S with a manual box and they said no. End of an era really...

 

I agree Fubar, I have made the mistake in the past of "over modifying" cars to point that I actually no longer enjoyed driving them. The Vantage is a wonderful car and I definitely don't want to lose the feel or intention of the car, just a bit more grunt, a little lower stance and a few cosmetic goodies. Honestly I would probably do the same to a V12 car.

 

All true Stuart. Any further updates on your new lowering springs and will they work with the last gen of V12 vantages as well or will there be a set for the V12's down the road?

 

What does that mean?

Having owned both, I would say they are about the same in their ability to 'rev out' - that is, I was always wishing for another 1 or 2K rpm in both

I know which one sounded better to me at the rev limiter or, for that matter, at idle...

 

I was with you on the V8VS and ASM2 then it went south
My car is a 5.0 GT4 spec V8VS with ASM2, probably the most modded V8 road Vantage in the world?
It was bought as a true GT car used mostly for 2 week Euro tours every 6 months or so.
With the sport button out the exhaust valves never open, it is a smooth and quiet GT (especially with the roof up ) we recetnly did 950 miles in a day like this and got out "fresh as a daisy"
Press the sport button, the valves are always open and the throttle map tighter. It has a great burble upto ~6k rpm then all hell breaks loose
It has now done 17k miles and my last 4k miles Euro tour it was a far better GT car than in std factory spec

My highly modded S2000 was the same idea and worked as well
As Karl has proven the trick to doing it well is lots of research and careful selection of mods to compliment each other
Its too easy to draw up a shopping list with no idea of how the parts interact with each other, then you end up with a really handful your not happy with and a lot of money tied. I saw laods of people with the Honda blow stupid money on JDM Mugen, Amuse and Spoon parts only to hate the resulting package, a few months later parting it out

 

Yes, we're almost there. The fronts were perfect right out of the gate, the rears were a little too low. We unfortunately lost well over a month waiting on our first tester to bring the car back in before we had to move onto a new car. The second set of rears were just a touch higher than we wanted, so hopefully the 3rd one is Goldilocks' porridge... JUST RIGHT!

Those are due to be completed today, so we should be about ready for signoff and production starting some time next week. I'll be meeting the manufacturer at SEMA so we should have it all sorted by then.

I don't know is the answer for the V12. Of course AM lists different parts but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. My guess would be that the rears are similar but the fronts need beefing up a bit. Either way, I have plans to develop a similar product for the V12V and for the DB9/DBS/Virage/Vanquish