Prodrive upgrades for V8 Vantage
Discussion
Has anybody has these done or planning too. I'm tempted. Cost breakdown of everything with 15% VAT and 5% reduction if ordered before Christmas is coming in at:
engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Hi - I've not had the Prodrive upgrades done to my car yet, but have been looking at the official Aston Martin power pack for the V8... The cost is just under £2000 for parts, and I've seen fitted prices of around £2700 mentioned (including the parts) - this takes power up to 400Bhp (i.e. same as an N400) and a very small amount of extra (few lb ft) torque...
That new lower price on the Prodrive engine kit is starting to look tempting though - as your getting an extra 45Bhp for not much more than double the price of the official AM 20Bhp upgrade...plus the Prodrive kit will sound much better as it comes with changes to the exhaust system (plus a button to change between 'loud' and 'very loud' on the steering column), which you don't get with the AM power pack. You do get a nice new sinister looking black inlet manifold on the AM kit though
http://www.hwmastonmartin.co.uk/parts/aston-martin...
That new lower price on the Prodrive engine kit is starting to look tempting though - as your getting an extra 45Bhp for not much more than double the price of the official AM 20Bhp upgrade...plus the Prodrive kit will sound much better as it comes with changes to the exhaust system (plus a button to change between 'loud' and 'very loud' on the steering column), which you don't get with the AM power pack. You do get a nice new sinister looking black inlet manifold on the AM kit though
http://www.hwmastonmartin.co.uk/parts/aston-martin...
Id like to see some proof first on an independant rolling road, on a customers car, that the Prodrive kit gets anywhere near 45bhp gain ...I think its more like 400bhp by the sound of what they actually do - check out the figures ...they say it knocks .9secs off the 0-100mph, yet with a real +45bhp gain in the engine of a 4.7, Autocar knocked off nearly 2 secs....something dosent add up
the factory power pack upgrade will at least add some value, and keep any warranty intact, instead of being an aftermarket hashup with a piggy back ECU
...either way, I really doubt that 20bhp will make any real difference, other than to your wallet ! Ive put 20bhp extra in an Elise before, which is 1/2 the weight ...it felt a tiny bit more nippy and so I was bored within a week or it, looking for more power.
Unless someone does a supercharger kit to bolt on 100bhp I dont think I will bother - I would wait until a factory 4.7L car are dropping in price and upgrade to one of those instead
the factory power pack upgrade will at least add some value, and keep any warranty intact, instead of being an aftermarket hashup with a piggy back ECU
...either way, I really doubt that 20bhp will make any real difference, other than to your wallet ! Ive put 20bhp extra in an Elise before, which is 1/2 the weight ...it felt a tiny bit more nippy and so I was bored within a week or it, looking for more power.
Unless someone does a supercharger kit to bolt on 100bhp I dont think I will bother - I would wait until a factory 4.7L car are dropping in price and upgrade to one of those instead
bogie said:
Id like to see some proof first on an independant rolling road, on a customers car, that the Prodrive kit gets anywhere near 45bhp gain ...I think its more like 400bhp by the sound of what they actually do - check out the figures ...they say it knocks .9secs off the 0-100mph, yet with a real +45bhp gain in the engine of a 4.7, Autocar knocked off nearly 2 secs....something dosent add up
the factory power pack upgrade will at least add some value, and keep any warranty intact, instead of being an aftermarket hashup with a piggy back ECU
...either way, I really doubt that 20bhp will make any real difference, other than to your wallet ! Ive put 20bhp extra in an Elise before, which is 1/2 the weight ...it felt a tiny bit more nippy and so I was bored within a week or it, looking for more power.
Unless someone does a supercharger kit to bolt on 100bhp I dont think I will bother - I would wait until a factory 4.7L car are dropping in price and upgrade to one of those instead
Good points. I've driven a couple of Prodrive cars and would say that (on a first generation car) the suspension and exhaust are worth having. The suspension mods address some of the cars weaker areas well and the exhaust sounds awesome - which of course makes the car MUCH faster! the factory power pack upgrade will at least add some value, and keep any warranty intact, instead of being an aftermarket hashup with a piggy back ECU
...either way, I really doubt that 20bhp will make any real difference, other than to your wallet ! Ive put 20bhp extra in an Elise before, which is 1/2 the weight ...it felt a tiny bit more nippy and so I was bored within a week or it, looking for more power.
Unless someone does a supercharger kit to bolt on 100bhp I dont think I will bother - I would wait until a factory 4.7L car are dropping in price and upgrade to one of those instead
Engine mods? Not sure about the claimed bhp and while they did make things seem 'sharper' and more 'alert', even if you do get the full, claimed increase, the actual performance gains are going to be hardly noticeable. Frankly for all that money you could think about upgrading to a 4.7 car.Edited for spelling and er, more spelling!
Edited by Pugsey on Wednesday 26th November 14:53
Edited by Pugsey on Wednesday 26th November 14:54
Lucozade said:
Has anybody has these done or planning too. I'm tempted. Cost breakdown of everything with 15% VAT and 5% reduction if ordered before Christmas is coming in at:
engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Does the Engine pack include a sports exhaust? If not, I wonder why not. With sports cats and a free flow exhaust surely, you' get more BHP?engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Lucozade said:
Has anybody has these done or planning too. I'm tempted. Cost breakdown of everything with 15% VAT and 5% reduction if ordered before Christmas is coming in at:
engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Lucozadeengine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Why would you buy an early 06 car and then consider £17k of upgrades?
You could have bought a newer car 4.7 etc or a Porker 997 turbo if you had the extra cash!
The Paramount performance option looks good in comparison;
Paramount Perfomance said:
Aston Martin V8 Vantage Performance Package
Price: £4,840.00 + VAT
Performance ECU remap, Racing performance catalytic converters, performance vantage exhaust system, road holding and lowering kit
60bhp increase in power
Supplied and fitted £4840 + vat
Price: £4,840.00 + VAT
Performance ECU remap, Racing performance catalytic converters, performance vantage exhaust system, road holding and lowering kit
60bhp increase in power
Supplied and fitted £4840 + vat
Tonto said:
The Paramount performance option looks good in comparison;
With the Larini exhaust system it sound fantastic.Paramount Perfomance said:
Aston Martin V8 Vantage Performance Package
Price: £4,840.00 + VAT
Performance ECU remap, Racing performance catalytic converters, performance vantage exhaust system, road holding and lowering kit
60bhp increase in power
Supplied and fitted £4840 + vat
Price: £4,840.00 + VAT
Performance ECU remap, Racing performance catalytic converters, performance vantage exhaust system, road holding and lowering kit
60bhp increase in power
Supplied and fitted £4840 + vat
However it does'nt really enhance the car's performance, except on the dyno.
On the road it makes very little difference to the performance!
go look on the owners club forums - its the Paramount kit being fitted by dealers out in the US ....so far the only independant rolling road test strangely enough came up with a 20bhp gain ...about right for what it is IMO ...and of course the supplying tuner came out with all the usual excuses, trying to blame everything under the sun
its wishful thinking that an exhaust and remap is + 60bhp on one of these engines ..and not good value when you consider a one-off custom back box from someone like Hayward & Scott is under a grand. Sports cats are £117 each + flange, and a remap £600 for a custom jobbie if you had access to the OEM ECU (neither Paramount or Prodrive do AFAIK - both use piggybacks I believe)
dont get me wrong - if there were dozens of happy customers, with before and after dyno runs from different dynos around the country, showing 50-60bhp gains from a sports exhaust/remap then Id have it fitted tomorrow...but Ive had too much tuning work over the years, on NA, turbo, and supercharged engines, and the amount of hype and bull in the tuning world still is unreal
its wishful thinking that an exhaust and remap is + 60bhp on one of these engines ..and not good value when you consider a one-off custom back box from someone like Hayward & Scott is under a grand. Sports cats are £117 each + flange, and a remap £600 for a custom jobbie if you had access to the OEM ECU (neither Paramount or Prodrive do AFAIK - both use piggybacks I believe)
dont get me wrong - if there were dozens of happy customers, with before and after dyno runs from different dynos around the country, showing 50-60bhp gains from a sports exhaust/remap then Id have it fitted tomorrow...but Ive had too much tuning work over the years, on NA, turbo, and supercharged engines, and the amount of hype and bull in the tuning world still is unreal
bikeracer1098 said:
Lucozade said:
Has anybody has these done or planning too. I'm tempted. Cost breakdown of everything with 15% VAT and 5% reduction if ordered before Christmas is coming in at:
engine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Lucozadeengine - £5,800.95
aero - £2,730.78
suspension - £5,189.15
wheels and tyres - £3,993.44
Total - ££17,714.31
I'm tempted to start the process and get at least engine and aero done before end of year.
I heard that Aston were going to be offering an upgrade package not heard what and how much.
Why would you buy an early 06 car and then consider £17k of upgrades?
You could have bought a newer car 4.7 etc or a Porker 997 turbo if you had the extra cash!
I'm not entirely sure I will go for all the upgrades, just gauging interest to see if they are really worth it. Nicholas Mee, the approved Prodrive dealer, has said it makes a big difference to the car and has offered a drive in their demonstrator.
The car is stunning and I'm loving every minute of it.
if I was trying to fog you nearly £20K of stuff, Id say it made a difference too
£6K for some shocks mmm....I would sooner go to my old supplier at Nitron and have a fully custom set of race shocks built to my spec, and how I wanted the car set-up...for under £2K, then about £250 to fit at my local garage...oh and about £250 for a geometry and ride height setup ....so how come a set of shocks fitted is like £6k? ...well simply because you have to pay the markup for "prodrive" development ...and profit margin for them, then profit margin for dealer..even 3 way race spec Ohlins dampers are not even £2.5K and I bet they arnt fitting them
/sorry...im just a cynic and I know performance parts for an Aston are going to have a premium attached ....but not nearly £20K for what is at best about a £6-7K job if you can be bothered to source the parts yourself from different suppliers
£6K for some shocks mmm....I would sooner go to my old supplier at Nitron and have a fully custom set of race shocks built to my spec, and how I wanted the car set-up...for under £2K, then about £250 to fit at my local garage...oh and about £250 for a geometry and ride height setup ....so how come a set of shocks fitted is like £6k? ...well simply because you have to pay the markup for "prodrive" development ...and profit margin for them, then profit margin for dealer..even 3 way race spec Ohlins dampers are not even £2.5K and I bet they arnt fitting them
/sorry...im just a cynic and I know performance parts for an Aston are going to have a premium attached ....but not nearly £20K for what is at best about a £6-7K job if you can be bothered to source the parts yourself from different suppliers
bogie said:
....I would sooner go to my old supplier at Nitron and have a fully custom set of race shocks built to my spec, and how I wanted the car set-up...for under £2K, then about £250 to fit at my local garage...oh and about £250 for a geometry and ride height setup .....
I think you might be oversimplifying what would need to be done here.There is far more to damper design than ride height and geometry. They'd need to look at all sorts of factors (plus springs) and unless they already have a lot of data for the V8, this is likely to take a lot of time (and therefore money).
I do, however, agree that the prices of these bits are more expensive than they are worth. I'm not sure it would have cost them any more to develop than it would have for Subarus etc, and I'll wager Subaru owners aren't presented with such numbers.
yeah, im oversimplifying , I know whats involved in developing an off the shelf kit ...and sure they will need to recover that cost in the low volume sales of such a kit hence the higher price.
Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
bogie said:
if I was trying to fog you nearly £20K of stuff, Id say it made a difference too
£6K for some shocks mmm....I would sooner go to my old supplier at Nitron and have a fully custom set of race shocks built to my spec, and how I wanted the car set-up...for under £2K, then about £250 to fit at my local garage...oh and about £250 for a geometry and ride height setup ....so how come a set of shocks fitted is like £6k? ...well simply because you have to pay the markup for "prodrive" development ...and profit margin for them, then profit margin for dealer..even 3 way race spec Ohlins dampers are not even £2.5K and I bet they arnt fitting them
/sorry...im just a cynic and I know performance parts for an Aston are going to have a premium attached ....but not nearly £20K for what is at best about a £6-7K job if you can be bothered to source the parts yourself from different suppliers
Are these dampers the same spec as the Gt4 Koni's?£6K for some shocks mmm....I would sooner go to my old supplier at Nitron and have a fully custom set of race shocks built to my spec, and how I wanted the car set-up...for under £2K, then about £250 to fit at my local garage...oh and about £250 for a geometry and ride height setup ....so how come a set of shocks fitted is like £6k? ...well simply because you have to pay the markup for "prodrive" development ...and profit margin for them, then profit margin for dealer..even 3 way race spec Ohlins dampers are not even £2.5K and I bet they arnt fitting them
/sorry...im just a cynic and I know performance parts for an Aston are going to have a premium attached ....but not nearly £20K for what is at best about a £6-7K job if you can be bothered to source the parts yourself from different suppliers
If they are I got a few sets of these and they are over £5k a set. Theres a bit of additional kit with 4 new top mounts and theyre 2 way adjustable. You dont have an hour long job removing bits to change springs now...
Sure you can get them cheaper ( though Dynamics initially quoted me £1k a corner) but you cant say theyre ott without comparing internals etc.bogie said:
yeah, im oversimplifying , I know whats involved in developing an off the shelf kit ...and sure they will need to recover that cost in the low volume sales of such a kit hence the higher price.
Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
So when are we going to do a group buy on sport cats and exhaust matey?Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
Hey, i'm passing your place this week I'll u2u from Seloc to see if you're around bud.
siw06 said:
bogie said:
yeah, im oversimplifying , I know whats involved in developing an off the shelf kit ...and sure they will need to recover that cost in the low volume sales of such a kit hence the higher price.
Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
So when are we going to do a group buy on sport cats and exhaust matey?Its just a lot of money for some shocks n springs when even if you go for the "Rolls Royce" brands and a fully adjustable 4 way setup for a race car, Ive never heard of them costing that before ...£1500 a corner !
Hey, i'm passing your place this week I'll u2u from Seloc to see if you're around bud.
oh SMH, I dont think the Prodrive supplied kit is that exotic - just some 1 way Bilsteins with Eibach springs that are about £1500 for a factory fitted kit with say someone like Lotus, so why theve gone up 400% I dunno...must be the "Aston value added tax" LOL
200 cell sports cats are about £100 each for the cat cell (good for flow for 300bhp per unit) - the working bit as it were - then its a case of getting someone to weld on the flange each end to suit the Vantage exhaust - give them a pattern like the OEM one and I would have thought that the usual going rate for most cars of £300 per cat for a stainless finished product is about right.
...funny how the ones Ive seen from suppliers for Aston owners want £1000-1500 each !
...funny how the ones Ive seen from suppliers for Aston owners want £1000-1500 each !
Murph7355 said:
siw06 said:
...
So when are we going to do a group buy on sport cats and exhaust matey?...
I know the Tubi importers and can get a group discount on those systems.So when are we going to do a group buy on sport cats and exhaust matey?
...Not sure on cats, but they may be able to help there.
Count me in.
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