Hello Everyone,


We're very pleased to announce that in partnership with our good friends & UK Dealer David Appleby Engineering, we are now able to offer a perfect solution for V8 Vantage Clutch Replacement. This package is compatible with every V8 Vantage Variant 2006-2015, and is in stock for immediate shipment. We have sent 3 out already to customers, and a well qualified 6speeder will be posting a review for you shortly.


The Vantage OEM clutch can be a little short lived if subjected to hard use or a lot of stop & go driving. This twin plate solution allows you to fit an OEM Aston Martin Valeo Unit as fitted to the V12 Vantage to your V8. Using a specially adapted flywheel and release bearing, both the manual and Sportshift cars can fit this combination. Our package includes:

• Twin Plate Organic Clutch
• 1 Piece CNC Machined Billet Steel Flywheel
• Specially Adapted Release Bearing & Spacer
• All Mounting Hardware

The Benefits:

• Lighter Clutch Pedal for easier modulation on Manual Cars
• Significant improvement in Clutch Longevity over OEM Parts
• 17lb/7.5kg weight reduction improves throttle response and gives an increase of 10WHP
• Lower cost per mile driven than OEM replacement

We have every reason to believe that this clutch package will outlast the OEM single plate by at least double, if not more. Meaning that while slightly more costly initially, the investment will pay dividends down the road in savings, and do so all with the benefit of more HP, better pedal feel and a more responsive engine.


Manual:
http://www.velocityap.com/Aston-V8-V...lateorgman.htm


ASM/Sportshift:
http://www.velocityap.com/Aston-V8-V...plateorgss.htm

 

Stuart at VelocityAP asked me document my experiences with installation and driving impressions of his twin plate clutch & flywheel kit.

I have an 07 V8 Vantage that just turned 22K miles. My pride & joy was built in spring 2007 so it is one of the last Astons from which Ford received 100% of the revenue it produced.

Last Saturday morning on my way to a C&C gathering something new was in my coupe...an aluminum cased, twin plate, organic faced clutch and billet steel lightweight flywheel with integrally machined ring gear teeth and moderate swiss cheesing. This engineering marvel had replaced a combination of very ordinary original equipment (OE) hardware.

Is the car different with my new components? Yes sir. Outwardly the same, inwardly it behaved in a more sophisticated manner, that at the same time permitted me a more aggressive driving style. The car is easier to drive.

How so:

1. Car starts faster. Never a problem, however, with less mass to spin (17# less per Stuart) starting is virtually instantaneous. Push the red button...its running with gusto!

2. Depressing the clutch pedal no longer requires exertion fit for a gym. Pedal height, same. Pedal travel length, unchanged. Engagement (sometimes called bite) point close to OE if not exactly the same. But the engagement is friendlier, smoother, more kiss than bite. The twin organic plates of the new clutch have a much larger working surface than the single plate OE.

The significantly lighter pedal effort was initially disconcerting, now after a few days I am learning to adapt to the change.

3. Is it faster? Yes...Stuart says an extra 10 HP is applied to the rear wheels. I disagree. Based on my 22K mile Vantage experience there seems a lot more than 10 HP arriving at the rear wheels in first gear. Response to gas pedal pressure is more immediate plus the gear change to second is easier. The effect is the same in second but not as dramatic an improvement and so on up to sixth. It is all about the reduction in rotating mass and the friendlier multiple clutch facings.

Stuart says it should also be easier to blip the throttle on downshifts, same reasons. I don't know, I don't heal and toe, I can barely dance.

In summary, throttle response is improved thru the rev range but especially on take off from a stop. And gear changes are a pleasure, easier, even on that 1st to 2nd changeup from cold start. The car wants to go!

Further I have concurrence from 3 Aston dealer service techs who "tested" my car before they called me to pick it up. They recognized the significant change. Marcus, my service adviser telephoned, he said, "Rick, you are going to love this car."

He was right.

Photos will follow.

 

Thanks for the Feedback Rick. For those who don't know, Rick spent most of his career with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn so his feedback as someone who is uniquely positioned to assess the successful integration of a replacement part is very much appreciated.

 

this is beautiful stuff!!! wish it was an option for me with AM Cape Town when I had to fit a boring OEM Clutch in December last year
U guys on mud island and the land of milk and honey (USA) are privileged

 

Awesome feedback, thanks for putting it together for us!

I've got a heavy duty clutch on my V8V and LOVE IT. (Side note: I'm told it was the prototype that Stuart/RSC designed several years ago. It's got over 30k very hard miles on it and is still holding up like a boss *knock on wood*.) P1nky_up drove my car while I was working on his the other day and said the clutch is a vast improvement over his OEM one - when I drove his car, I quickly agreed!

Definitely going to spring for one of these when my clutch comes due. Can't wait to see how the twin-plate does along with the lightened flywheel. A much-needed quicker rev would be worth it alone.

 

Component heritage

My dealership mechanic, Kyle Eckert (smart, resourceful and well schooled) checked the AM part # on the assembly. It is the same part AM is now using to replace every failed V12 clutch back to and including the DB7. A white sticker with Aston logo and part # was on the aluminum case; cast into the case surface is the manufacturers name, Valeo. The box it came in says, Valeo made in Italy.

The throwout bearing assembly is also an AM part. There are several versions depending on the application, but there are tricks permitting their interchange. And there are alternative spacer thicknesses as well as a before and after serial # criteria. Stuart knows the way through the weeds.

The handsome flywheel is a lightened one piece CNC machined billet steel component as described in Stuarts post, above. Timing degree indentations and a top dead center location are machined into the back side similar to the OE markings. This new custom made jewel is the magic adaptor between the V8 engine and V12 clutch.

Driving feedback

Any vehicle function requiring an accel or decel of rotating mass can be improved by reducing that mass. That is what this kit does, it weighs 17# less than the OE components it replaces.

I mentioned "starting" and "acceleration" in an earlier post. It also effects "deceleration" and I noticed this morning, when I turned off the car when it was at idle the engine "stopped" rotating almost immediately. The reduction in time-to-stop was noticeable.

This change also appears to be having a synergistic effect with the balance of the modifications to the car:
- Backbox weighs 32# less than OE.
-Headers and 200 cell cats.
-Aluminum/iron 2 piece rotors.
-Lighterweight Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
-Plus lots of nits and nats moded or eliminated.

Altogether, including the clutch/flywheel kit, the car is down about 105# (and the driver is down almost 10).

The output of this project has the feeling of the total being greater than the sum of its parts.

I do know the car is more fun to drive.

 

Good review, I'm looking forward to getting mine fitted.

 

any reviews for a sport shift car?

 

Looks like our cars are coming together pretty similarly!

Nice job on getting the weight of the car down, and congrats on your own 10 lbs

 

Seconded.

Also, I didn't find anything when I did a search and it's pretty much on topic: Is there a real way to judge the health/life expectancy of the clutch (esp in a SSII)? Even in a 3 pedal system, judgement by pedal feel is subjective to some degree. But with a SSII, I don't even have that to work with. So how do I know when it's time to do a preventative install of the Velocity unit?

 

Wow this sounds awesome!

 

Only thing i hate on this car is the transmission. I should have bought manual but its too late now. Got a tcu flash and although it was much better than stock its still pretty bad. Makes my f430 f-1 feel light years ahead. Hoping this clutch flywheel combo can fix the only real flaw on this car. My car is 09 SS with 28k on original clutch but it is starting to slip a bit. If this clutch lasts twice as long I may be able to hit 100k before another one.

 

[I]1 This is Kyle Eckert, lead mechanic on this job for AM of Troy. The

parent company, The Elder Group, also has Jag service at this location, plus

about a dozen additional franchises in the Detroit metro.





[I]2 My six speed Graziano transaxle on the shop floor. Out put shafts, L &

R, have been pulled. Requires a transmission jack and additional help to

remove and replace.





[I]3 Rear end of the torque tube, a huge aluminum casting. Flange attaches

to front of the transaxle. In the center is the output end of the carbon

fibre driveshaft.





[I]4 Front end of the torque tube. Flange attaches to rear end of the

engine block. Small diameter tube is the hydraulic line to the throwout

bearing assembly that actuates the clutch inside.





[I]5 Carbon fibre drive shaft on the table is amazingly light. Styrofoam

cups contain fasteners associated with each section of the disassembly.

Exhaust system aft of the headers and forward of the backbox and their

respective heat shields are on and under the table.





[I]6 OE flywheel friction surface encircles the 8 bolts which attach the

flywheel to the rear of the crankshaft. On the perimeter is the ring gear

which was heated, then slipped over the cast iron flywheel and allowed to

cool creating the assembly. Poor picture, but dark spots, burns, are caused

in a V8V by backing up or spirited driving.





[I]7 The new VelocityAP twin plate clutch and lightwt flywheel finally in

place. Note the unique billet steel flywheel with integrally machined ring

gear teeth as well as a fair amount of swiss cheesing. Brighter still is the

aluminum case of the twin plate clutch. Looks like jewelry to me. Now the

reassembly can proceed.


Stuart's hardware has been in my car for about a month. There have been lots of short hops and one meaningful trip out and back from Dearborn to the Gilmore car museum just north of Kalamazoo of about 250 miles.

How's the performance? Great. For V8V owners needing a clutch...this is the answer.

 

Background:

I recently arranged to have Tim Unsell at the new Walnut Creek Aston Martin dealership install one of Stuart’s lightweight flywheel/clutch kit in my 2007 6 speed manual Vantage, with approximately 38k miles on the OEM clutch (I’m the second owner (July 09) from 6700 miles onward). I was having no problems with my clutch, but I thought why wait for a problem to present itself.
FYI, I do track my car (3 to 4 events a year at about 7/10’s).

Ordered the kit from Stuart and, despite a minor delivery hiccup, the kit arrived in time for my scheduled installation date with Tim.
Left the car and the materials with Tim at 2PM on a Monday and the car was ready to go later the following afternoon!!!

I can’t say enough positive things about Tim and his professional response to my questions and concerns. I have a lift in my garage and I could have done the job myself, but it would have taken much longer and I would still have to have the dealer perform the relearn of the misfire codes. All things considered, having Tim perform the installation was money very well spent.

Clutch Kit Specifics:

Due to the minor delivery issue, I didn’t have time to weigh the kit components before installation. My OEM clutch and flywheel graces my bathroom scale at approximately 40 pounds. The shipping weight of the kit was listed at 20 pounds. Weight savings will be somewhere between the 17 pounds mentioned by Rick (flinder) in his posts and my estimated 20+ pounds…truly a substantial savings.
(How much would 20 pounds of weight savings cost using carbon fiber bits? – a question mentioned by another 6speeder in a different post).

My OEM disc measures about 8mm of thickness remaining. Does anyone have a thickness dimension for a new OEM disc?
There is less than 1 mm remaining on each side of mine before the diagonal slots will be completely worn away and the disc surface would then be completely smooth on both sides.
There is additional material (1+ mm) before the surface of the rivets would then contact the flywheel.

The replacement twin disc organic clutch is indeed an Aston Martin part, identified as a “V12 twin clutch”.
I doubt the V8 Vantage will ever reach the HP limits this clutch is capable of handling-equate that fact to longer life.
The flywheel is as pictured in Stuarts posting and both components look even more impressive in person.

Impressions:

When I got into the car for the first time at the dealership and depressed the clutch pedal for the first time…WOW!
Tim had a large smile on his face as well…he mentioned that he thought this is the clutch the Vantage should have had from the beginning. He commented that the quality of the kit was “first rate”.

In my limited experience with the kit so far, I can echo all of flinder’s comments…it’s a much better package than OEM in every respect!
No need to repeat specifics…

I have come down with a summer cold (first one in years) and haven’t put as much behind the wheel time as I would if I were feeling better.
I expect to take a moderate distance “road trip” in September and to attend a track day in October; I’m planning to update my comments/impressions after those experiences.

Changing a clutch in a Vantage is an expensive proposition, due to labor involved with the enclosed “torque tube” design - you have to remove the transaxle first and proceed forward to the clutch.
When you consider the labor involved will be the same, regardless which flywheel and clutch is installed, the incremental cost of the Velocity kit over the OEM parts option, in my opinion, is definitely worth it; improved drivability and expected increased clutch life are just two of the benefits!


Tim took two photos of the clutch components which are included here:

 

Thanks for the details. I'm getting close on mine as well and will head this route. What did the dealer charge for install?