Great post and thanks for sharing/creating!

 

The large battery was likely chosen for a few reasons: Generally, people don't drive their Astons very often. It's often a second or third car, only driven on a sunny Sunday. The large battery helps prevent the battery from draining while it sits unused. There are also a lot of electronic subsystems that sap energy from the battery. Alarms, settings, etc, while minimal, still have an effect.

Dropping weight from a smaller battery won't make a noticeable difference in normal driving. Think of how different your car feels with a passenger - you can tell it's carrying more weight. To get a similar benefit of losing the passenger, you'd have to do the equivalent of 5-6 lightweight battery kits (obviously not possible lol).

Benefits aside from the weight savings... The lightweight battery kit will make removing the battery a 5-minute job. While this is great compared to the hour-long job of the OEM battery, the OEM battery should only need to be pulled once every 3-5 years. Dropping to a smaller battery will increase the risk of accidentally draining the battery, so it's possible that it will need to be done more often. But, when it does happen, it's a 5-minute job lol... If you keep your car on a battery tender (which is advisable for the OEM one as well), then that risk drops considerably. Still, it's up to you whether or not it's worthwhile.

 

I decided to stay with a "European Battery" for my European Car, so I bought a Bosch.

http://www.boschautoparts.com/auto/passenger-batteries

 

great post Telum 01
being able to do a lot of the routine maintenance myself was instrumental in my
descision to buy a v8v, i scanned the web and how to forums for months before
going out and looking for a car, so for me the do it yourself mods
and dont be scared outlook has made me a happy owner of an 07 v8v.
win win for A.M "i bought one"

 

God Bless you Telum! I just changed the battery on my '07 roadster yesterday. Could not have done it without your video. But even with the video, it was torture! Next time I will drink some beer beforehand.

 

Telum, I do appreciate all of the knowledge that you share. I feel confident working on my Vantage and I have never been very mechanical before. I am actually enjoying my car more being able to work on it. It has become my project as well as my passion!!

 

I replace my battery last week. I used a razor knife to score the side trim piece that blocked the batter hold down clamps from sliding off, I just trimmed to portion the went rearward past the carpet. I might of taken 2min, the clamps slid off without and issue. The portion cut off is not visible and did not perform any function. End to end 30 min tops to replace the battery.


Jack

 

Glad it helped, guys!

 

Hey Rich, there seems to be an epidemic of battery replacements lately. I also had to replace mine last week after I took my car to the shop for its emissions test. It passed the test but then wouldn't start. The shop left the key "on" for 30 minutes. After a charge I got the car home and immediately bought a new AGM battery. I watched your video and had the battery swap done in about 40 minutes. Easier than I expected. Thanks for putting the video together and sharing.

 

No problemo!

I'm expecting to see a number of "seasonal" issues as the temps cool down for fall and winter. Plus when a topic gets brought up, it tends to trend because other people chime in that would otherwise have not brought up the issue or initiated the conversation.

 

Yeah I cant thank you enough Rich, your DIY helped make the car ownership so easy.

So easy that I decided I want to torture myself with something harder. Boy am I starting to doubt myself... haha

 

You'll be back, Mike hahahaha

 

I am sure of it, when I parked the car back in my parent's place in NJ where it will be picked up tomorrow I started to tear up.

Anyways no more sob stories, back to the discussion at hand

 

Thanks for the instructions!!

is there any clue how to remove the panel on the side?

that carpet panel does not move in any directions for
me.