Vantage V8 Rear Wide Track

[3rtt]

Has anyone fitted rear wheel spacers on a Vantage V8 to bring the rear rear wheel/tyres closer to the rear arches and fill the space?

The type I'm thinking of are the spacers that bolt on to the rear hub assembly with new studs or bolt holes for the wheel to attach to. Or a plain spacer with longer bolts / studs?

Just looking if anyone has done this mod to fill the rear wheel arches. If so what size spacers.

Cheers,
Ian

[tuscaneer]

i`m looking out of my office window right now and i have to ask,why do you think the wheels need to fill the arches any more than they already do?looks just fine from here!! mind you, i have just given it a wash and polish

[lady topaz]

3rtt said:

Has anyone fitted rear wheel spacers on a Vantage V8 to bring the rear rear wheel/tyres closer to the rear arches and fill the space?

The type I'm thinking of are the spacers that bolt on to the rear hub assembly with new studs or bolt holes for the wheel to attach to. Or a plain spacer with longer bolts / studs?

Just looking if anyone has done this mod to fill the rear wheel arches. If so what size spacers.

Cheers,
Ian

Would think rick-derby- is the best man to ask.

[bogie]

just fit the optional tyres that are wider - that does the trick...Pirellis I think, they are track biased, dont last long, and not good in the wet, but take up more room under there

[Soul Reaver]

Fit the Pirellis

1. Better looking tyre
2. Better side profile
3. More grip
4. 20mm wider track

Nuff said

[bogie]

Soul Reaver said:

Fit the Pirellis

1. Better looking tyre
2. Better side profile
3. More grip
4. 20mm wider track

Nuff said

until you want to drive in a downpour LOL

of course, for a weekend type use of car, during nice weather, not a problem...Pirellis all the way

..also only last a few thousand miles

I considered them when I got the car, but for 15-20K road miles a year all year around, they are just not practical for me

[3rtt]

I used to own a (964 shape) 911 RS 1992. In fact, the very one advertised on the front page of this website last week. Midnight blue RS Touring.

Porsche did what they called a 'Wide Track' kit which was a spacer bolted onto the rear hub with studs, then the wheel bolted to the spacer. It brought the wheel/tyre right out to the inner wheel arch without compromise.

The V8 Vantage looks great, but feel it would look even better with a similar system.

Cheers,
Ian

[Stuart Dickinson]

You can put spacers on the Vantage but as they used Ford hubs which use studs instead of wheel bolts you have to change the studs as well (or at least you really should...) You can space the wheels out by about 20mm front and 25mm rear without any tyre/bodywork issues.

[Soul Reaver]

bogie said:

Soul Reaver said:

Fit the Pirellis

1. Better looking tyre
2. Better side profile
3. More grip
4. 20mm wider track

Nuff said

until you want to drive in a downpour LOL

of course, for a weekend type use of car, during nice weather, not a problem...Pirellis all the way

..also only last a few thousand miles

I considered them when I got the car, but for 15-20K road miles a year all year around, they are just not practical for me

I have driven in the rain on them quite a lot and had zero issues with grip, they also look to be wearing better than the bridgestones which wear on the front edges excessivly.

Mark.

[bogie]

Im sure they do grip in rain, most track orientated tyres do...they just dont clear standing water so well...so you go through a big puddle on the motoway at 70mph and can end up aqualplaning into the barrier, they trade dry weather track performance for wet weather performance...of course as long as you drive accordingly in bad rain (as we all should) then its not a problem I guess...but I do know people who have written off cars in this way from driving on road legal track tyres like the Pirellis.......

[Soul Reaver]

Fair point but I was driving back through Austria on the Bridgestones last year in a mountain downpour and went through a river on a right hand downhill section and car went straight on! I was doing 60 at the time and thought I was for the barrier to be honest and then it found road and all was well. I dont trust any tire in those conditions now and just slow way down now if I supsect standing water.


mark

[christof]

You can fit 11mm spacers each side using special nuts without cutting the wheels studs. Spacers and nuts are very expensive (400 EUR each set), but giving you the benefit of changing back to standard.

My Vantage has 11mm at the front and 20mm at the rear fitted.

For fitting the 20mm at the rear you have to modify the inner side of the wheels to give room for the nuts which holds the spacers.

I assume you can use 25mm spacers for the rear without modifying the wheels, if
you are using standard tyres. My car has slightly wider tyres and the 25mm don't fit.

I strongly advise not to use more as 11mm for the fronts as you will ruin the suspension geometry and the car won't handle good anymore.

Christof

Edited by christof on Saturday 19th September 16:46

[bogie]

Soul Reaver said:

Fair point but I was driving back through Austria on the Bridgestones last year in a mountain downpour and went through a river on a right hand downhill section and car went straight on! I was doing 60 at the time and thought I was for the barrier to be honest and then it found road and all was well. I dont trust any tire in those conditions now and just slow way down now if I supsect standing water.


mark

yeah, ive had a few scary moments myself on other track tyres in the past, hence I havnt fitted them to my Vantage as its my daily driver now....if I had a 2nd set of wheels for trackdays then Id get some right away ...maybe next year !

Cars like the Lotus Exige comes as standard with road legal slicks essentially, which are great for grip and track performance, but crap at clearing water. I used them before on my trackday Elise and have often been stuck doing 40mph in a downpour on the way home from a trackday, being able to feel the car skipping about on the surface of the road .....as others go past in their Ford Focus etc, at 60mph in the downpour, oblivous to whats happening on the road surface ....

...during winter months on Lotus forums, aquaplaning incidents for newbie owners are a weekly occurance, and certainly keep the Lotus bodyshops busy ...

"but they go around corners like nothing else Mister !" ...they sure do...as long as theres no puddles

[LordBretSinclair]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What is all this rubbish about fitting spacers? Aston must have spent hours and hours and hours on design and development with trained technicians to get their cars handling spot on and you want to play around with this just to make it look like the tyres fit the arches. Talk about style over substance. Leave the Aston alone and if you are worried so much about looks I suggest you put your baseball cap on backwards, buy yourself a Citroen Saxo and get some big wheels and tyres from Halfords to fill the arches up.

[3rtt]

LordBretSinclair said:

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What is all this rubbish about fitting spacers? Aston must have spent hours and hours and hours on design and development with trained technicians to get their cars handling spot on and you want to play around with this just to make it look like the tyres fit the arches. Talk about style over substance. Leave the Aston alone and if you are worried so much about looks I suggest you put your baseball cap on backwards, buy yourself a Citroen Saxo and get some big wheels and tyres from Halfords to fill the arches up.

Taxi for Timmothy............

Thank you everyone especially christof for you input. I will not be touching the fronts because I do not wish to alter the steering geometry (Take note please Timmothy).

Interestingly, (Pay attention at the back there Timmothy) Porsche designed and supplied a wide track kit for the rear of the 911 RS (964 shape) I used to own, to do just this very same job. So you can have Substance and Style.

Cheers,
Ian

[rick-derby-]

LordBretSinclair said:

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What is all this rubbish about fitting spacers? Aston must have spent hours and hours and hours on design and development with trained technicians to get their cars handling spot on and you want to play around with this just to make it look like the tyres fit the arches. Talk about style over substance. Leave the Aston alone and if you are worried so much about looks I suggest you put your baseball cap on backwards, buy yourself a Citroen Saxo and get some big wheels and tyres from Halfords to fill the arches up.

+1

Getting the geometry right on these really is not easy and not many have them set up right, add in extra factors such as a wider wheelbase due to spacers can really alter the stability and driveability, reducing the sidewall profile of tyres can make the difference between a good ride and a really rattly ride, that's why roll's and bentley have large sidewall depth , and sports cars have narrow sidewall depth it's all about compromise, Do you want it to look great, i believe it does this as standard imho, do you want it to handle great, this can be improved accomplished by altering the unsprung weight such as a sports pack, want to sound great, take out fuse 22 or fit a sports rear box, still not happy get it remapped, that's the beauty of an Aston Martin unique in it's birth and fully compliment and adjustable to it's owners will, whatever you want her to be is possible, power, beauty and soul corny but true

[3rtt]

rick-derby- said:

LordBretSinclair said:

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What is all this rubbish about fitting spacers? Aston must have spent hours and hours and hours on design and development with trained technicians to get their cars handling spot on and you want to play around with this just to make it look like the tyres fit the arches. Talk about style over substance. Leave the Aston alone and if you are worried so much about looks I suggest you put your baseball cap on backwards, buy yourself a Citroen Saxo and get some big wheels and tyres from Halfords to fill the arches up.

+1

Getting the geometry right on these really is not easy and not many have them set up right, add in extra factors such as a wider wheelbase due to spacers can really alter the stability and driveability, reducing the sidewall profile of tyres can make the difference between a good ride and a really rattly ride, that's why roll's and bentley have large sidewall depth , and sports cars have narrow sidewall depth it's all about compromise, Do you want it to look great, i believe it does this as standard imho, do you want it to handle great, this can be improved accomplished by altering the unsprung weight such as a sports pack, want to sound great, take out fuse 22 or fit a sports rear box, still not happy get it remapped, that's the beauty of an Aston Martin unique in it's birth and fully compliment and adjustable to it's owners will, whatever you want her to be is possible, power, beauty and soul corny but true

Thank you Rick.

I do fully understand chassis dynamics etc. (I was a factory trained Jaguar MVT, and have raced cars as a hobby) I also understand what difference a set of 18" wheels and tyres make, compared to the optional 19" wheels. I'm not looking to create a Boy Racer look . Just asking opinion from owners / specialist if anyone has achieved something similar to what I am wishing to achieve.

Cheers,
Ian

[rick-derby-]

sorry my apologies, many changes are carried out without there respective coincidences, with prior knowledge and understanding and dangerous consequences can ensue, altering the rear track can enhance handling but also make the car deadly not only for the driver but other road users , this is not something that is generally done on the V8 Vantage , the weight balance front to rear and the grip are very well balanced, in most cases only replicated by purpose built track cars,

So is it purely an aesthetic improvement or from your experience this would alter improve the driveability or driver experience ,

I am always interested in options, improvements etc, as well as ideas on improvements,

regards Rick

[3rtt]

rick-derby- said:

sorry my apologies, many changes are carried out without there respective coincidences, with prior knowledge and understanding and dangerous consequences can ensue, altering the rear track can enhance handling but also make the car deadly not only for the driver but other road users , this is not something that is generally done on the V8 Vantage , the weight balance front to rear and the grip are very well balanced, in most cases only replicated by purpose built track cars,

So is it purely an aesthetic improvement or from your experience this would alter improve the driveability or driver experience ,

I am always interested in options, improvements etc, as well as ideas on improvements,

regards Rick

No need for the apology Rick, I understand what you are saying.

What I would like to achieve is more of an aesthetic improvement, (to bring the rear wheel / tyre further closer to the rear wheel arch) without upsetting / compromising the balance and handling of the car.

Cheers,
Ian.

[bogie]

safest option then is to go with the factory optional rubber, that is wider, and have a geometry check whilst your at it, as rarely are they spot on......