| Built | April 2014 |
| Purchased | February 2020 with 27,000 mls |
| Exterior | Grey Bull metallic |
| Interior | Chancellor Red Leather |
| Engine | 4.7l V8 |
| Power | 420 hp / 313 kw at 7,300 rpm |
| Torque | 346 lb-ft / 470 Nm at 5,000 rpm |
| Transmission | Graziano 7-speed Sportshift II |
| Brakes front | Brembo 6 Piston calipers, 15″ Rotors |
| Brakes rear | Brembo 4 Piston caliper, 13″ Rotors |
| Wheels front | 8,5 x 19″ V-Spoked Diamond Turned |
| Wheels rear | 10 x 19″ V-Spoked Diamond Turned |
| Tires front | 245/40 ZR19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4s |
| Tires rear | 285/35 ZR19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4s |
| Curb Weight | 3,726 lbs / 1,485 kg |
UPGRADES AND ALTERATIONS
ENGINE, DRIVETRAIN
Exhaust sound switch
In order to comply with (sound) emission laws, newer V8 Vantage models carry a
vacuum operated system which routes the exhaust gas flow on different paths through
the muffler.
In short, this system limits sound emissions at lower rpms and opens up at higher rpms.
In order to switch the exhaust sound at my discretion (vs. the engine ECUs), I designed
a system which allows me to switch between the two modes with a small remote control.
EXTERIOR
Front license plate holder
The license plate holder is made from two black painted aluminum bars which are
attached to the original mounting points behind the grille and do not require drilling the
front bumper.
The holder is “invisible” and the front license plate does not obstruct the grille.
Black Grille
The Grille is made out of polished Aluminum bars. To give the front a more aggressive
I painted the grille in high gloss black.
Carbon fiber tonneau covers
The original tonneau covers were covered with (faux) leather and showed some minor
misalignment around the roll-over protection bar openings. I replaced the tonneau
covers with carbon fiber, and kept the original leather “head” frames’.
Stainless steel covers for roll-over bars
The original covers for the roll-over protection bars are made from plastic, covered with
(faux) leather and for some reason did not exactly match the curvature of the tonneau
covers. I replaced the top of these covers with thin (lightweight) stainless steel plates
and aligned them with the curvature of the (surrounding) tonneau covers.
Carbon Fiber covers for roll-over bars
In order to simplify the appearance I replace the stainless steel covers of the roll-over
bars with carbon fiber parts, matching the tonneau covers
WHEELS
Wheel spacers
In order to improve the appearance (“stand”) of the car I installed H&R DR-style 11mm
wheel spacers at the front and front axle. These spacers just slip on the existing hub and
do not require any alterations to the existing setup (studs, wheels). But they do require
different wheel nuts which were supplied with my spacers.
I tried H&R DRM-style 23mm spacers at the rear, but since my wheels did not have the
necessary “pockets” to accommodate the spacer studs, it would have required cutting or
replacing the original studs which I did not feel like doing.
Tires
Switched from original tires Bridgestone Potenza to Michelin Pilot Sport 4s
BRAKES
Brake pads
My car came with OEM brake pads from PAGID. These pads do one thing very well, and
that is braking. Regarding the amount of brake dust and noise they produce they’re not
that great. I pretty much tried everything to reduce the squeaking (chamfering, Teflon,
rubber paste etc.) but did not succeed. Eventually I replaced the PAGID pads with R4-S
pads from PORTERFIELD which a; significantly improved the brake dust issue and b;
eliminated squeaking. (These pads are chamfered already and I applied CRC 05016
Disk Quite on all pads).
In every day driving the pads perform very well, I have not tried them on the track yet.
The only (very minor) drawback in comparison to the OEM Pads is a little less
“crisp” pedal feedback. But that’s unhappiness on a very high level, most drivers might
not even feel a difference. (My job for many years is prototype car testing. – which
means I make a living noticing these things.)
INTERIOR
Carbon fiber center stack (“Ski Slope”)
My car came with a piano black slope which always looked dusty regardless how often it was cleaned (especially in a roadster) and also appeared a bit outdated.
Carbon fiber dash panels
The dash panels (in front of the dash board, right underneath the windshield) in my car were covered with black (faux) leather which showed a few “bumps” and misalignments
around the edges – perhaps a result of unevenly applied glue and exposure to direct
sunlight and heat.
Carbon fiber door sills
My car came with – actually quite beautiful – dark purple anodized metal door sills.
In order to limit the number of different surface materials and complete the “carbon
theme” I replaced those with carbon fiber.
Floor- and trunk mats with embraided Aston Martin Logo
I wanted AM logos on my floor carpet but did not want to add additional floor mats
because
a; the OEM floor carpet in my car includes some nice red stitching around the edges
which matches the interior leather color,
b; I did not want to add unnecessary stuff and weight and
c; OEM floor mats with AM logos cost several hundred dollars
Instead, I cut a small (negative) template of the AM logo, used it to cut down the floor
carpets in the shape of the logo and glued embraided AM logos (which I purchased on
ebay) into the cut-out area to make them flush with the floor carpet surface.
iPhone 11 Holder
In order to hold my iPhone accessible and secure I 3D printed a holder in PLA which
locks into the open storage compartment in front of the middle console.
Pen
The V8 Vantage carries the same center stack (“ski slope”) as the DB9 model.
At the right side and bottom of the slope, the V12 has a button for active damping, while
the V8 Vantage has a little pen made by LAMY which slides in the opening left by the
DB9 button. The pen was missing in my car but I was able to purchase one from
Scuderia.
ELECTRIC/ELECTRONICS
Battery float charger
In order to to keep the battery charged and prolong it’s lifetime I connect the car to a
load charger (not a trickle charger) trough a cigarette lighter plug in the trunk
whenever it’s parked in my garage.
Sat/Nav map
My vehicle is equipped with a GARMIN Navigation system and still had the original OEM
map data from 2013 installed. An upgrade with OEM data is quite expensive, but after
some research I found and installed a GARMIN MicroSD/SD card map data upgrade
which costs about 1/4 quarter of the dealer price and works perfectly fine (I even believe
this to be exactly the upgrade one would receive from a dealership).
Sportshift II Transmission: Oil Change
