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I would be curious to know the differences between the V8S 6-piston calipers and the Brembo GT upgrade kit. Going with the V8S option with the factory spindles would potentially eliminate an adapter bracket like the Brembo kit uses. With an adapter bracket it would make for a simpler change over though. Also, I am not sure if Porterfield makes an R4-S pad for the Brembo GT kit.
Definitely some questions to be answered e.g. what are the piston diameters of the 2 different setups, swept areas of each, pad volume of each, etc, etc, etc.
One thing that concerns me about the proposed Redpants kit is the engineering. Specifically FEA for the bracket and hat, and metallurgy for the rotor. We have been running Wilwood Spec 37 GT48 rotors for several years now with great results.
Either of these kits have to be track oriented - they would be of no use on the street. For me, engineering is critical because of the intended use.
From what I understand VAP has put several sets of the GT series on the Vantage. I hope to get some details on them.
I would not run the 4-s on the track. It has its place, but not there.
I wanted to post this picture for reference. We bolted the 19's back on and left the ride height for the track. The car is setup with the bottom flat and 1/3 of an inch higher than the N24. The next time we run it we will try to drop it another 1/3 in front, but run with a nose down sloped bottom.
I purchased a full set of upper control arms to upgrade the bushing's in my 06. I started on the rear and when I got to the drivers side I ran into a link that is attached at the upper arm to some kind of motion sensor that has something to do with headlight adjustment. Evidently this was eliminated in newer cars so the new control arms no longer have the mounting tab for attaching the link.
I am wondering if I can eliminate these components completely (disconnect electrical plug, and remove link and motion sensor) without running into computer trouble.
The original arm has the mounting tab - the new one does not. The leveling motion sensor in background. The leveling does not matter to me so it is going into the parts bin. It was suggested to use wire ties, but if I were to keep it, we would fabricate some kind of clamping system with an integrated tab. I taped off the plug and tied it to the original mount on the sub-frame. Drove the car 50 miles last night and could not discern any ill effect.
Here are the bushings for comparison. I assume the plastic bit is shown at the end of the red line. If anyone can explain, I am interested in how (where) the failure occurs on the the older bushings? Is the raised cylinder plastic ? It is bonded to the rubber?
From my understanding the sensor originates from a legislation, which required all xenon lights equiped cars to use a self leveling light to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.
The early versions of such leveling systems were rather slow in reaction and merely designed to compensate for a heavy loaded trunck (which would rise the cars nose).
As a Vantage is rarely subject to carry 150kg of concrete bags as load ... I guess it can perfectly do without the sensor.
Modern systems of leveling systems are fast and adjust several times per second, so also during acceleration and braking.
In the Vantage, when you go to high beam, the level of the xenon lighs (main beam) is raised a bit to support the high beam. That raise should still be functional without the level sensor in place.
On a sidenote - I don't understand why Aston did not go to a Bi-Xenon for the Vantage at the time. My daily driver, a BMW E46 from 2004 has a Bi-Xenon which easily "outshines" the Xenon on the Vantage.
The early versions of such leveling systems were rather slow in reaction and merely designed to compensate for a heavy loaded trunck (which would rise the cars nose).
As a Vantage is rarely subject to carry 150kg of concrete bags as load ... I guess it can perfectly do without the sensor. .............. Thomas
Does anyone know if the upper ball joints were dual sourced. I took a look at different Ford products of the era and I am wondering if the XJ8 used the same joint. I am trying to find a source for these.
