Hey Guys.

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I think I may have figured out the perfect braking solution for the V8 Vantages

It turns out the Ford GT, actually uses the front Aston Brakes. At first I didn't believe this, but then a Ford GT buddy of mine said his front brakes actually have the Aston Martin Logo stamped on them (makes sense with all the parts bin sharing and cross platform sharing Ford did with Aston).

So I do more research into it and turns out they are the same rotors (355x32mm, just like our V8Vs). So with that said now it should be a piece of cake to find 2-piece rotors for the front brakes (which means you can now run 2-piece rotors on all 4s and drastically reduce unsprung weight to help out handling).

The front 2-piece rotors cost roughly the same as the rears $1500. SO... for those looking to replace the stock rotors with OEM stock rotors, don't. Just upgrade to the Ford GT 2-piece aftermarket units for fronts, and the brembo Aston units for the rears.

EDIT: I even found the part number or the ford GT 2piece front rotors in their USA catalogue. Even the caliper specs are virtually identical confirming they are in fact a perfect fit:

Front Ford GT Part #: 102.8005A (slotted only, just like the rears).
Aston Rear Part #: 202.6001A (slotted)

http://www.brembo.com/en/car/Racing/...PPLICATION.pdf


I KNEW something fishy was about ... there is no way brembo would not have the front rotors if they already made the rear 2-piece rotors (afterall our brakes use monoblock Brembo calipers from the factory), it made zero sense.

Now it makes perfect sense, They wanted to force the aston owners to upgrade to the larger more expensive Big Brake Kit (which the BBK GT kit upgrade for the V8Vs is actually the OEM Vantage S front brakes). Basically Aston is just parts bin diving in Brembos catalogue for their brake upgrades.

So there you have it... there already ARE two piece slotted front rotors for our Vantage V8s, and judging by the weight saving from the rears, the fronts should be even better weight reduction thereby eliminating the need to get any lightweight wheels & etc should an owner prefer not to go that route but still want lighter rotating mass).

I would highly recommend every V8V owner doing both front & rear 2-piece direct replacement rotors from Brembo, it will totally transform the way the car accelerates, handles, brakes, and shock absorption (compression & rebound). It should also smoothen out the ride as well due to less rotating mass.


Hope that helps,
007

 

EDIT: Cheapest Rotors I have seen have been for $1699 for the Ford GT (aka Aston) Fronts from TopBrakes, and they also sell the rear astons at the cheapest price as well at $1,449 for the rears. I would assume you might be able to get free shipping possibly and combined cheaper rate if you emailed them. ...


Perhaps Stuart @ RSC can price match the competitors and provide a full Gran Turismo brake package for both front & rear Brembo Rotors at a combined discount price for the 6speedonline Aston owners (just a suggestion Stu)...


Here are the example of the fronts:

 

Shouldn't you be out driving your Lambo?? LOL.

Once again, nice investigative work! When are you coming back to the AM side?

 

Haha, I am driving it ... tracked it this weekend and set a new personal record. The Lambo is chewing up all the exotic competition at the track, it is truly an engineering marvel when it comes to the track. I even took down an Ariel Atom with ease (granted the driver wasn't the best lol). I have yet to be passed on the track once in the 3 track days I have done. Almost had the opportunity to run F40 on the track but the owner "claims" he was having boost issues (I think he was secretly worried he'd get beaten as I was the fastest car out there). Either way enjoying the car immensely, but I still want a V12 (never had a V12 so its on my automotive "bucket-list")

But I am still itching to get back into the AM world ... trying to decide which type of V12 I want (carbon black or standard V12 in a color other than black).

007

 

Umm, this is not shocking news, pretty well known stuff and not a conspiracy! From memory, the Gallardo uses the same Brembos as the DB9/Vantage as well... Very, very few companies make brakes. Bulk from suppliers such as Continental, PBR or Ferodo for shopping cars, then for performance; well since Brembo bought AP it just leaves them, Alcon and a few very small outfits (like Hi-Spec in the UK).

My car already has the Brembo Grand Turismo kit, but drilled 380mm and 6-pot calipers. Even though they are larger, the discs are much lighter and the calipers only slightly heavier. Performance is stunning, the maths have been done and they exceed the performance of the CCM system - will they cook before the CCMs... sure, but on a road car with the odd track session? Never going to happen!

 

This is good info ... Upgrading to 2 pc rotors is ok for some weight savings and looks cool but on the street shouldn't really matter ESP for a GT car like db9 but good info to know. I am assuming this brembo ford GT swap works for db9 as well? And a set of rear 2 pc can also be sourced similarly?

On the street ur not gonna see any brake fade w these modern brakes doesn't matter the rotor... If you want some serious braking performance get a set of carbon rotors and pound out laps on track, I've been instructing for years for porsche, Ferrari, BMW and various other car groups and when I'd taken students out in a carbon brake equipped car be it a Porsche gt2 or gt3 or Ferrari challenge or 430 scud... Their eyes bug out at how far and hard we go into the braking zones each lap after lap each time just as consistent as the last... Brake duty and heat cycle on the street is trivial in comparison

 

Last November I attended SEMA, Las Vegas and had the opportunity to address the rotor issue in the posts above with a knowledgeable rep in the Brembo exhibit.

I asked why Brembo didn't offer light weight 2 piece rotors for the Vantage. He said they did in their BBK. I said I was not interested in $4-$5K front brake system change, just wanted the weight save like the rear 2 piece rotor they already offer.

He was familiar with the issue. He quoted mm dia. difference in their rear alts., then indicated their 2 piece fronts had an interference problem with the Vantage OE calipers. The word he used to define the interference location was "annulus", essentially the inner diameter of the iron outer ring's attachment to the aluminum hub. He said it was incompatible with the geometry of the Vantage OE system.

He said he would look into the market opportunity/engineering and manufacturing costs but showed no enthusiasm. Disappointed, I walked away without getting his name.

 

I guess this is good news, are you sure that the new ford gt rotors are compatible with the aston pads?

 

Don't know about this theory..a 2005 GT has a bolt pattern of 5x114.3 and the VH Astons have 5x120.7 ..might wanna look into front discs for a ..oh I dunno..a 2000-2005 XKR ..aftermarket 2-piece ..

 

INCORRECT, Ford GT is 5x114.3 ... check again more carefully next time . It users the Vantage/DB9 brakes.

Even the V12 vantage also has 5x114.2 rotors (but you cannot swap over carbon rotors to non carbon caliper of course, you would have to use the full system (way too $$$).

It IS the same exact rotor

 

380mm Brembo drilled aluminium belled discs, Brembo Grand Turismo 6-piston calipers (painted magnum silver with red ASTON MARTIN S lettering.

They fit just fine

 

Guide I have here from Hunter states 5x120.7 for all 2006+ AM's .. checked the finger flange I use to balance, I have it set at 4x115..tried 5x120.65, it fit but not that great ..the pattern you have sounds much better, 2006+ Am's are 5x114.x..I checked the AM workshop manuals..there's no spec what so ever to go on..we're only supplied with aftermarket guides

 

So does any one have the Brembo part number for the pads to save me paying Aston prices when my fronts need doing?

 

Hey guys,

Did even more research, turns out Ford GT used the DB9 front and rear rotors (same as the v8v rotors of course) , and they also used the steering rack out of the v12 Vanquish. They also use the Aston brake calipers as well (which are of course just Brembo monobloc calipers as well)

Supposedly there are other parts Ford used out of astons part bin as well but these are ones that relate to this discussion.

I highly recommend the 2-piece rotor full set as it will transform the way the car handles more so than any other modification. Removing over 35lbs of unsparing rotating mass will transform braking, cornering, accelerating and shock absorbtion immensely.

Hope that helps

 

Actually..Ford took parts out of there own Ford Bin and the Jaguar Bin ..aka foundation of DB7 and Vanquish ..and good amount of parts on VH series they were created ...For GT started in 2005 and so did DB9

Know I messed up my last most, swear I remember a client driving with XKR wheels on a DB9 for the winter..

Checked further ..all stats I have on file here are wrong for Jaguar XK and AM VH series ..printing error in book I guess, dunno don't care..googled everything and the 2005 XKR is actually 5x4.5 not 5x120 like I previously stated.. which 5x4.5=5x114 ... sorry but Jaguar ran the XK series way before the remodel of Ford GT and the AM DB9 ..not ranting but you might want to look more into the Jaguar XKR, you might notice a larger amount of options to braking for even cheaper pricing