Just wondering, if you had 15 grand or so to burn in mods for an '07 Vantage, what would you spend it on?

I know most of you would say supercharge, or new exhaust, maybe even modified side skirts and front bumper, etc. I'm not sure I want to supercharge or get the performance package from AM purely because I do alot of city driving and I'm not sure I'd ever really fully take advantage of the increase in HP. Maybe someone who's done it can tell me if it's worth the money.

I was thinking of getting the suspension package that AM offers with new wheels (or buying new wheels from a third party vendor), adding an iPod hookup to the stereo system, spending a grand or two buffing out the scratches and rock damage from the past 3 years. Also purchasing an extended warranty. I also know it seems a little outlandish but I'm wondering how much it would be to completely strip the black paintjob and repaint the car the dark gray color I've always liked. What do you guys think?

 

Painting your car will devalue it badly. Get you scratches buffed out. If you want new wheels and tires you can do well for 5-6K. More power, send your module to paramount for a little over a thousand and the ecu flash will give you about 35HP . If you want better sound, get a sports exhaust. For 15K, you can do a lot. My car has a carbon front, rear, mirrors and tail light inserts as well as clear tail lights. I have a quicksilver exhaust, gt4 side skirts, K&N air filters and have had my ECU and sportshift reprogrammed. All of this barely cost me 15K.

 

How much of a difference did you notice with the Paramount reflash? I think last time we talked you hadn't done that yet.

 

Thanks Jaymoney - so you would do all the things you mentioned before you considered the supercharger? I tend to agree. Plus if I go for a sport exhaust and some cell cats I'll get the sound I've been looking for - but how well does that investment translate into resale value? Can you give me a little more detail about how to go about reflashing my ECU through Paramount? I noticed RSC also offers something similar - any opinions on which is better? If I'm going to buy cell cats through RSC anyways does it make sense to use the RSC remap?

Having a jet black paintjob I'd rather smoke out the taillights but I haven't seen anyone offer it for the Vantage - only the clear. How much did the side skirts run you?

 

Going through Paramounts site what do you think about their side skirts and front bumper?

 

I just got them in today and drove the car for 10 minutes before going back to work. The car seems quicker and the shifting is definately better. My installer works on Astons and tells me that my car seems similar to the 4.7. I didn't feel a turbo/supercharger thrust but I noticed that 60Mph came at the end of second gear. That seemed alot faster. Unfortunately, I am killed with obligations this week and will have little time to take the car out until the weekend. Having said that, I paid $1800 for both the ECU and Sportshift mod. So far, It's half the price of a sport exhaust and the difference at a glance seems to be much more significant than when I got the quicksilver. I would love to drive a stock 4.3 and 4.7 next to my car to really gague the difference. I will continue to update as I get time in the car.

 

Thanks for the update...looking forward to hearing more. Curious though what you mean by this statement. Top speed in 2nd for the 6-speed is around 74 mph. I don't think the sport shift is that much different. You just had the software changed, right? You didn't have your final drive ratio changed as far as I know...I don't think there's a kit out there for that.

 

I haven't really paid attention before. May be I always hit 60 before shifting to third but it definately felt faster than before. The problem is that I drove if for 10 minutes and was really just looking for a first impression which was improved for sure. For the pice and having my car out of use for 5 days it was worth the money.

 

Paramount was great to deal with. They sell RSC carbon parts and RSC sends their ECU flashes to ENGLAND. I put 1 and 1 together and figured that they were silent tech partners. I paid a little over $1800 for both ECU ans Sports Shift upgrades which is less than RSC. Also, I wasn't crazy about sending my Modules through the mail twice. Paramount sells cats and exhausts as well. I think they have a deal price for everything. If you get both the cats and sports exhaust, you will get the best punch, but get the quietest exhaust because the sound of cats and exhaust can be very loud if you get the loudest version. I got the middle quicksilver and have a roadster. I think the sound is perfect. If I didn't have a roadster, I would have gotten the cats.

I am waiting for the supercharger until Paramount and PES get their products to market so that I can compare. From what I have heard, the Twin-Screw is the most efficient with the best low-end gain, where the car needs the most help.

The side skirts and clear tail lights are OEM and came from Silicon Valley Autogroup. They are costly,($4500 for skirts and $1900 for lights). I think that clear tails look better with dark cars and the smoked look is better with light cars for what it is worth. If you're interested, call Brett in parts. He is a good guy.

 

Ok...looking forward to hearing more impressions as time goes on. I'm still going to wait and see what happens with the SC kits...should be soon.

FYI, max speed in a gear is really a function of gear ratios and redline, not power...as long as there is enough power to get to the redline in that particular gear. Not a problem in gears 1-5, but in gear 6 this car (as most do) hits its max speed before redline. In other words, you were always able to get to 60 in 2nd gear, but you are just getting there faster now.

Even if you were to add 1000 hp, you would still only be able to go 74 in 2nd gear with the 6-spd manual if you kept the 7300rpm redline, but you would get there faster. The only difference you would see as far as speed in gears would be in 6th, where the car would be able to hit the 7300rpm redline instead of running out of steam at 6800 as it does when stock. You can calculate this out...the fastest the car could go with current gearing and redline at 7300rpm is 188mph, no matter how much power you have. If you were to increase redline, then that's a different story. For every hundred rpms you extend out the redline, you would add about 2.5 mph.

Theoretically, if you were hell-bent on having a 200 mph car for example, with stock gearing you would need a 7800 rpm redline and enough power to get you there (probably at least 550hp)...assuming the aerodynamics are good enough.

 

GameTheory - Jaymoney, Tahoe and I have chatted in the past and prettty much agree on stuff w/ our Vantages. I do not have a lot to add other than my car has RSC springs (I believe made by H&R for RSC) 200 cell cats and quiet exhaust (all RSC) and yes 200 cell cats make it louder than stock 600. I also bolted Quicksilvers exhausts to my car to see how loud w/ 200 cell cats. Have K&N air filters, drilled air boxs, also tried the AM "flapper" box. Have loaded RSC SW and AM Power Kit SW. Also have some cool LED lights inside the car that replace dimmer stock bulbs for a bit of Blue color and a little brighter when the doors open. Stock 19" wheels. I think that is all ... all under $15k.

 

Tahoe - do you need a "bra" set for your E46 M3 ?

 

No I'm good thanks...I have one but never use it...that's why I need to have the front end repainted again to get rid of the rock chips.

 

Michael 996TT - if you don't mind me asking - what is your final configuration for you AM out of all you tried? Also - do you have the F1 or stick?

 

I have a manual so without the sportshift remap and just the ECU it'll be ~1000? That includes shipping to England and back?

Seems like everyone went RSC exhaust and cats over Quicksilver - but I would also consider the Paramount package for all three items if they gave me a good deal. Side skirts, front bumper and lights would be the last things on my priority list, but will look into that later this year probably. As for the lights, I want to go the smoked looked with dark rims and just make the car all dark, but that's a preference of mine. Especially since I have red brake calipers and think the dark rims will make that stand out. Also, for the side skirts - did Silicon Valley paint the skirts for you?

Michael - who made your interior lights? That is actually something I think would be very practical as the stock cabin lights are very dim.

And as a final general question since I am a relatively new AM owner - I'm assuming all these parts you had shipped to and installed by the dealer? Any warranty issues with the ECU remap or aftermarket exhaust that I should be aware of? Thanks guys!