If you need to replace your rotors, going with 2-piece rotors is a no-brainer in my opinion. You've already done so much work dropping weight from your car that it'd be a wasted opportunity!

I've already got headers on my car, so that's done. I should be able to knock the clutch out in several hours, beer permitting. Once the clutch is done, I'll be getting an updated tune from Stuart and then I'm planning to do a back-to-back dyno comparison against a stock 4.3L V8V.

Had to do a little digging to find the latest count, but here's an update on what's done to my car. I sell a bit of this so there are some links as well

Completed:
wheels -24.5 lbs (BC Forged RT50 Redpants fitment vs OEM 7-spoke) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/tanb0x7...czz5ir7gz01qj6
tires -4.0 lbs (MPSS 245/285 vs OEM Bridgestone 235/275)
brake rotors -18.0 lbs (Wilwood 2-piece vs OEM Brembo) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/wilwood...e-brake-rotors
battery -29.5 lbs (Redpants Braille kit vs OEM Varta) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/lightweight-battery-mount
muffler -27.0 lbs (estimate, RSC vs OEM)
high-flow cats -8 lbs (RSC vs OEM)
headers -8.25 lbs (VelocityAP vs OEM)
EGR delete -1 lb (VelocityAP delete)
cargo divider -10 lbs (estimate, only when at the track)
front fender liner pads -1 lb (removed)
oil catch can +2 lbs (VelocityAP/Redpants addition) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/oil-catch-can
Carbon fiber shifter surround -0.25 lbs (OEM Aston Martin) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/carbon-...shift-surround
VelocityAP clutch and lightweight flywheel -17 lbs (VelocityAP vs OEM)
Aston Martin Racing GT4 carbon fiber side sills +3 lbs (approx, compared to early V8V side sills)
Aston Martin N420 rear diffuser -2.5 lbs (vs original 'blade' diffuser) http://www.redpants.lol/shop/n420-styling-pack
4-bar grille mod -1.75 lbs (8 bar vs 4 bar)
VCollection carbon fiber front lip +0.75 lbs (vs OEM plastic piece)

Current Total: 137 lbs weight loss
The original weight is around 3550 lbs, so that puts me at ~3413 lbs.

Still to do:
Recaro Profi SPG seats with Redpants mounting hardware -50 lbs (estimate, both seats combined)
Aston Martin Racing GT4 front bumper armature -16 lbs
Air box deletion -8 lbs (someone please correct me if that figure is wrong, planning to do this because the air boxes are probably not supported by the GT4 front armature)
Carbon fiber door sills and arm bars -10 lbs (complete guess)

Total at that point: Approximately 220 lbs weight loss! (~3330 lbs)

With a couple random other things, I should be able to easily hit 100 kg (220 lbs) without issue, if not exceed it by a comfortable margin. Again, this is with full glass, a/c, Premium Sound, nav, etc. The only creature comforts that have been removed are those in the seats due to the Recaro SPGs.

 

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. It's been on my must-do list for a LONG time, but was cost-prohibitive. I let a buddy throw my car around (read: destroy my clutch ) so now it's a necessity. But it's a huge step in the right direction for my plans for the car, and business is starting to pick up so I have a little extra money to soften the blow to my wallet, so it's all good.

 

Question for you guys. It was mentioned in this thread and there's another thread about it as well - the sluggish throttle response. The lightened flywheel seems to help that, but is it also a function of ECU programming? I.e. Can you change the ECU parameters to help the throttle response? I've been shopping Vantages off and on for a bit (almost bought one) and this is one thing I've been trying to get a better idea about. I heel/toe in daily driving out of habit (do some racing with SCCA and it just carries over to my daily driving) and it would be annoying if the throttle response is sluggish enough that it messes with the ability to heel/toe. Can that be cured? Do you know if it's better on the later year, 2009+, cars?

As an aside, seeing that there's a community of people doing their own work and tuning these cars is something that attracted me to them. I like being able do to my own work and don't plan on treating this car any different just because it's an Aston.

David

 

A tune will help by changing the way the throttle body responds to your pedal input, but the real issue is that here's a LOT of weight on the engine, specifically at the crank pulley and flywheel. The later cars do have a lighter flywheel, but I'm not sure just how much of a difference it made when you're actually pushing the car.

What area are you in?

It's a small but growing community with some great people involved. Definitely makes ownership a much more enjoyable experience.

 

I agree with Rich. Adding the power pack to my 4.3L years ago made a noticeable difference (through the tune) to the throttle response. Then multiple incremental changes also assisted with how the car responded but it was not until the LW Flywheel/Headers and V12V clutch followed by a custom tune where I have no issues at all with the throttle response.


It has been a long, expensive trip but as Rich said the community is growing and many are holding on to these cars for a long time as they are truly special.

 

Awwwww yeah!!

 

Have you opened the headers box yet?

 

I'm in metro Atlanta. I've driven a 2007 as well as a 2008 with the power pack thus far. The 2007 felt completely sluggish to me. If you've driven anything remotely fast I think a stock 4.3L would feel slow. The 2008 felt more alive, but still not quick. The throttle did seem to respond better. I've pretty much decided to focus on 2009+ cars at this point.

I was down in Daytona this weekend for the 24 hours. There were 3 V8 Vantages running in the Continental challenge race on Friday and a V12 in the GT Daytona class. I looked at the V8Vs in the garage after the race on Friday. One of them was actually a manual. I was surprised and was talking to my dad about it when one of the driver's walked up and we chatted with him for a few mins. He said that it was the only manual car in the field. He felt the sportshift transmission was worth around 2 seconds on track. They were going to convert the car from the manual to the sportshift. Said the kit was around $30k. Apparently the other car started out as a manual as well. He said as far as heel/toe on the manual that he had to anticipate the downshift a little more, but that it was not an issue. They have an Aston Martin racing engineer that comes and does the tuning and I didn't get a chance to talk with him.

I didn't see one Aston at the track other than the ones in the races. The weather sucked so I didn't walk around much, but saw plenty of other cars. If I manage to get one by the Petit LeMans in October I may have to see if folks want to get a corral or something. Maybe do something with the race teams. Interesting idea anyways.

David

 

Where will you find the torque values for all the parts you need to remove and reinstall?

 

Ah, okay. There are a bunch of Astons in that area and a dealership that may have a few cars to try out to get a feel for the 4.7L and how it differs from the 4.3L cars. There's a pretty substantial difference - the power is a lot more effortless. I agree with you that while you can feel a difference between the 380-hp standard 4.3L and the 400-hp Power Pack 4.3L, they're still not fast in stock trim.

I haven't been to Petit LeMans in a few years, but I'll be at VIR when the series swings through.

The workshop manual has pretty much all of it

 

Where can one purchase a Workshop manual and at what cost, thanks

 

Go to:
astonmartintechinfo.com

Sign up for a one-day subscription. Download the WSM for your car along with any additional documents you want to get (TSBs are a good thing to get).

 

I don't actually have a car yet, but I do have a workshop manual. I like to read up on cars before I purchase them and find that the workshop manuals help you understand how the car is put together. I got mine off Ebay. There's a guy selling a printed out version for around the same price as you pay to get on the techinfo site. I'm impressed with the quality of the manual and it's printed in color. He'll print it on thicker paper if you want as well for a little more. Just search for aston martin vantage workshop manual and you should find it. If you can't, let me know and I'll look up the guy's user id.

He also sells the wiring diagrams, but I didn't get that because it's year specific. The workshop manual covers all years through 2013 I think. There's a different one for newer years.

David

 

I think there was an exhaust change from 2012 to 2013 then another in 2014 if I'm not mistaking - anyone verify that? If true 2012 (2013?) is a odd year.

 

I considered doing this a long time ago, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal, so I didn't pursue it lol

Catalytic converters were added to the headers in MY12 sometime (MY12.25 or MY12.5 or something like that).