I've used my 2008 V8V Roadster as my daily driver since day one. While it has been a lot of fun, it has racked up a lot of miles. So this past October I picked up a more practical daily driver that IMHO is still quite fun -- a 2017 Porsche Macan GTS.

I decided to spruce up the Vantage since it has been retired from commuter duty and promoted to garage queen. I had the paint corrected, had the whole car covered with Suntek Paint Protection Film, and then had the whole car coated with Gyeon MOHS+ ceramic coating for good measure. I picked it up from the detailer yesterday and needless to say it looks great!

Here's the thing: after driving the Macan GTS for several months, I was a bit shocked at how heavy the Vantage felt when I drove it home from the detailer's shop -- that says a lot when it feels heavier than a 2 ton CUV! I guess the old girl is showing her age.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded intro. Here's my question:

If you had a budget of ~$5,000, what upgrades would you get to breathe new life to a 4.3 liter V8 Vantage?

I am inclined to keep it "factory" so I am looking at the Aston Martin Power Upgrade. It is supposed to be the same modifications Aston Martin developed for the N400 Vantage -- 400bhp (up from 380bhp) and 309 lb-ft of torque (from 302 lb-ft). The dealer says it is listed for $2,800 but they sent an inquiry out to Aston Martin UK to see if the kit is still available.

I am also considering an RSC ECU Tuning. It looks great on paper (or web browser) but can it really deliver +27hp and +22 lb-ft of torque with just an ECU tune for around $1,500?

What other upgrades should I consider? I alredy have a Quicksilver sports exhaust which I think shed a few lbs. Should I get aftermarket cats too?

Finally, this is outside of the $5,000 budget but I should probably get the clutch replaced since I am still on my original clutch after 55,000+ miles! I will get the clutch replaced when I bring her in for the annual service in April. I was wondering, though, should I get a lighter aftermarket flywheel and clutch? Will I see a performance improvement or will it just mess up the sports shift computer?

Thanks for reading my long post and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. I really want her to have a little more pep in her step after all that work making her look good.

 

I had the power pack installed on my 2007 Vantage. It was around $4000 + installed.
This is a link the thread.
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ml#post4227008
Ron

 

-If you want to stick absolutely factory, have a dealership install the Power Pack.
-If you want to blend OEM and aftermarket, get the OEM Power Pack and some high-flow cats.
-If you want to go full aftermarket, get some high-flow cats and an aftermarket tune.

I've got another customer asking about the Power Pack right now, so here's the skinny:
There will be a 1500 GBP core charge, not including shipping costs between the US and UK.
There's a wait time because these aren't "in stock", which makes me *think* Aston will receive your core, modify it (nothing wrong with that, they'll add the vacuum port to the intake manifold, then coat the manifold black), and send it back.
Aston won't give the N400 tune to a non-dealership, so you'll have to go aftermarket for that piece of the puzzle. If you're looking at aftermarket tunes, that might not be an issue.

Regardless, my suggestion to most people is get a 200-cell cats and an a tune. You're looking at ~415 hp vs 380 hp and easily reversible in 2 hours if you want to go back to stock.

I'll have my VelocityAP clutch and lightweight flywheel installed next weekend. You're welcome to drive my car and see how it feels.

"Long post"... you're right down the road from me. Come over and sit down for a bottle or three of wine and we can "long post"!

 

I have the 200-cell cats and VelocityAP tune from Stuart. Big difference from stock in my opinion. Sound, power, throttle response are improved. Waiting for Richard's review on the clutch and lightweight flywheel. Heading that route soon.

 

Installing it next weekend

 

If you're at $5000 for power upgrades, I'd 100% recommend sport cats + an ECU Tune. We have seen as much as 31WHP from independent customer dynos on our software alone on the 4.7L. The 4.3L does very well here also: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-upgrades.html

We gain 27WHP on the tune alone, the car dyno tested there already had sport cats fitted, but these offer additional power also. I would consider potentially our XPipe Center section - picks up another 20+ ft/lbs of torque, as per the graph in our tuning thread above. We have all that stuff in stock, ready to go. The power upgrade from AM offers pretty small gains in comparison. Lots of people here on the board have these VelocityAP products fitted as you can see, and will tell you how much it wakes the car up.

For the clutch, it depends on what route you go for with the upgrade, but if you use our Twin Plate organic setup (OEM V12 Vantage Clutch with our own flywheel) then it is 100% compatible with the sportshift, and frankly is a huge improvement over the stock shifting.

But don't take my word for it:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...upgrade-2.html
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-flywheel.html

If you drop me a line at Stuart@velocityap.com I can put together some package pricing for you.

 

id wrap the car if you want to really change it up as well as change some bits to alcantara or do the flat sided v12 vanquish/one-77 steering wheel

 

Thanks, Rich. You mentioned the 200 cell cats the other night when I ran into you at Glaswerks. I am seriously considering it now to increase horsepower as well as make my Quicksilver exhaust sound better. The cats and tune option sounds like a winner.

I'd like to take you up on your offer to check out your Vantage after you get the lightweight clutch and flywheel installed. Thanks.

Thanks, Stuart. I asked the service advisor at AM Washington about replacing my clutch with a lightweight aftermarket unit and he advised against it. I'm curious, since AM Washington (Exclusive Automotive Group) is one of Velocity AP's dealers whether I should have them install the Velocity AP clutch or if there's another shop in the area you can recommend.

My main concern was that the sport shift computer would get messed up with an aftermarket clutch but it looks like you addressed that with a specific sports shift variant of your clutch. Do I need to get the tune when I do the clutch replacement or is it a straight replacement and I'm good to go? The reason I ask is cost -- I'd like to do the clutch work first and then do the cats and tune later so that I am not dropping $10k all at once. Thanks again.

 

'

I'll have to talk to DC. There's been some changes over there in the service department. My good friend who is one of the owner is a big proponent of our parts. He has some independent dealerships as well so we could sort it out at one of those. Either way, we're selling these kits to a few of the Aston dealers and they all love the operation. It is 100% plug and play with the Sportshift.

No, you can hold off on the tune. The clutch can be done as a standalone modification.

 

You understand that it's an OEM Aston Martin clutch (just from the V12), right? The lightweight part is the flywheel, not the clutch. If you said "lightweight clutch" when you were asking them, they probably didn't understand you meant flywheel...

 

Thanks, Stuart. Email sent. Going to order the clutch and lightweight flywheel, 200 cell sports cats, and ECU tune.

 

Hey buddy,
I see you followed ALL of my suggestions for the paintwork, including the paint coating on top of the PPF. Awesome and the car will look spectacular for a long time. Gyeon is good stuff. HINT----- A good Carnauba wax ie... AMMO Crème, Pinnacle Soveran, SWISSVAX higher line, etc..... will make it pop a bit more for a special occasion. I haven't Checked, I don't think they do, but Gyeon might make a add on topper to the coating which would work well with it, but also be in line to the chemicals they use. Any will be fine but if Gyeon had a carnauba I would use that, if not, then AMMO for me. I am using ALL AMMO products without a coating on my black DB9. System works and its like supporting Rich, a person who cares.


I met the guy who likely worked your car at Rich's house in December. Nice guy, knowledgeable and would be someone I would trust with my car, so great choice.




1. I would definitely go with the clutch set up through Stuart and then have the dealer install. Not cheap, but there are a few threads on here lately discussing it. Everyone seems to love it, and say the setup completely changes the whole car.
2. Since you have the quicksilver, get the 200 cell cats, and definitely the VAP tune. After all that, you will be set for sure and feel like you have a different car altogether.

 

I got back from a 3 week trip to the Philippines this past weekend. Before I went on my trip I arranged for the parts from Velocity AP to be delivered to the dealership and I left my car with them so that they can work on it while I am away.

Anyway, I picked the car up this afternoon and wow! What a difference! I immediately noticed the difference the new clutch/lightweight flywheel made when I drove the car away from the service bay -- the car "crawls" much more smoothly now -- no more hesitation when crawling less than 5 mph and doing 3-point turns. And when I got out of the dealership the car pulled away quicker and smoother than it did before. This might be a combination of the new clutch/flywheel and the 200 cell cats. And I love the more aggressive sound when I get to around 2800 RPM!

I can't wait to install the Velocity AP ECU tune! Stuart, can you provide step by step instructions on what I need to do? The only manual I got was a very basic guide with safety tips for the OBD II flash tool. Is the program already loaded in the flash tool so I just plug it in and install or do I need to follow some steps to download my existing program and email it to you so you can tweak it? Please advise. I'll send you an email as well in case you don't see this post.

Thanks again!