+1 to Cats. Best bang (pop, burble, grumble, HOWL) for the buck on that car.

 

This is good stuff, and exactly what I needed to know. I'll start the search for some replacement cats and see what's out there, or ya'll can point me to some links of ones that work if you like. Thanks!

Duane

 

I believe most of the guys with 200 cell cats on the forum are using RSC. Some of us also shared the pre and post cats dyno. Stu @ RSC will be more than happy to help with any questions you might have.

Here's the link to RSC 200 cell cats: http://www.rsctuning.com/product_inf...roducts_id/483

 

Not trying to trying to butt in or hijack, but I too have some interest in this subject.

I have two questions:

1)My friend with the Porsche had cats installed. Loved the sound as long as he was not in the ****pit. It made too much noise for a comfortable ride. In fact he had them removed after a short period of time. Have any of you found the same issue with the AM?

2)This is probably going to sound stupid, but....if noise is a concern has anyone just had their ECU retuned and then stopped at that? Is there enough gain to justify?

Any issues?

 

The driving school is Thursday, Nov 8th at Main Track, Summit Point. It's being put on by The Aston Martin Club East Coast Chapter and Aston Martin of Washington DC. I believe you contact the dealership to sign up, I was talking to Matt (organizer for the event) last night as I plan to help out with Instructing and he indicated there are at least 15 confirmed signups and possibly as many as 30. Honorary Chief Instructor and Dutch GT4 Champion Phil Bastianns will be there. No idea of the cost....sorry!

http://astonmartinwashingtondc.com/

Duane Collie

 

Wow Duane what a small world man!!! Welcome to the AM forum and the 6! You are local and have seen the new AM dealer, I was just at an event chatting with Pieter as well, they seem like a good group over there, and are looking forward to more events and doing some big things at that location, good to see we have a few AM guys in the area!

I remmember you from way back in the day at Pizzafest event at VIR back in like 2003 or so with Rob (UUC) and a bunch of other track guys I was like 25 or 26 then and just got my E36 M3 lightweight/CSL ...since then I've raced for a few seasons and am also instructing for several years now, in fact I was going to come help out with the Aston Day at Summit also.

Congrats on the Aston Martin, she's a gorgeous car! I've got a DB9 and like you I'm a Porsche guy as well...and that car I had back at Pizzafest is my race car, yup still have it after a decade of racing it and now using it when I'm at the track instructing...

here she is, you remember this one...looks a little different since being campaigned in 2003 - 2007 then it did at the VIR Pizzafest


here's the beast...As a fellow porsche guy I'm glad you had an open mind and looked into Astons they are special cars and I took a few brow beats from our local PCA bunch too on mine, but I do love driving this one, my GT2



here's my Aston DB9... never been in this one on the track though, it's got a manual 6speed gearbox and sport pack so I think it'd be fun to have out there

 

Excellent story! Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if the ending would be different if you drove the 991S, instead of the base model.

Just throwing this out there (given the cost range) - in hindsight, did you ever consider a Cayman S?

 

I love that you wrote the last part, because I was reading through all of this thinking quite the opposite of his experiences. I test drove a 2006 Vantage a few years back, and was a little underwhelmed. Now, it drove great, but not substantially better than my Cayman S...which I kept and have enjoyed for over 6 years. I still have an interest in owning an Aston someday, but dang this Cayman is just SO engaging! I actually get a little frustrated sometimes because as much as I love cars, I just can't seem to get rid of this freaking Cayman and move onto something else.

And as a side note, I had the same impression when I drove a 2009 V8 R8 a year ago. In fact, when I posted in the Audi section about making the change, many of the Audi guys thought it wouldn't be worth it from a financial standpoint. I simply decided to add it to the list with the Aston of "someday cars".

Sorry to stray off topic. Your first post was a great read. Actually sounds like something most people would go through at some point. And it looks like you got a fantastic deal on a beautiful car. Congrats!! Be safe.

 

Porsche cayman is a great handling car, in many ways more balanced then a 911, I drove a student's brand new spyder on track at vir the week he took delivery of it and ran that car thru it's paces, the car is sublime. Absolutely wonderful to drive and just a pure topless roadster thrill on track!

 

Hey Sunir...wow..that was the way-back machine, the old Pizzafests I put on (we did 5, total). I got waylaid for a few years with a near-terminal cancer and had to kind of give up the car thing & doing Pizzafests - then the Recession came along and that took out all the fun money. But all is good now and this Aston is going to be fun.

I just found a lightly used pair of RSC Cats for $ 500 and a brand new Mansory Sport Exhaust for $ 1,300, so those are going on the car once they get here. Guess I'll find out if they are to loud - or not!

Your DB9 looks fantastic - and that's a great photo, too. Good to hear from you!

Duane

 

Well, a 991S is about $ 45K beyond what I paid for the '07 Vantage, so that wasn't happening! And I had a Boxster S which is really the same car as the Cayman S so I wasn't interested in doing an even swap type of thing. I wanted to try something new after owning a lot of Porsches and BMW's, and I'm all about handmade things - and that's what really gets my heart going on the Aston's moreso than outright performance. If I just wanted a maximum performance car, I'd get a plastic ZR-1 with the cruddy interiors and go zip around in that.

But the Art of the Car - that's an Aston. The paint, the leather, the trim of metal instead of plastic, that all appeals to be hugely. For example, the door sills are aluminum held on with two stainless steel hex head screws. On a BMW or Porsche, they're held on with one-way plastic clips. The mirror on the Aston is an aluminum bracket installed to the headliner - not plastic glued to the windshield. The rear hinge on the hatchback of an Aston is like what aircraft use on the flaps. Things of art and beauty - that's why I bought the Aston!

And the fact it goes fast and is fun to drive doesn't hurt.

Duane

 

Hi George,

I am clearly biased as I sell the stuff, but I'm happy to provide some honest & straightforward info on both cats & ECU tuning. Give me a call on 786-325-7529 when you have a second.

 

Nice car Duane, owned 6 different Porsches before I got mine. It's the overall experience with an Aston that grabs you. I've had mine for three years and I'm still smiling.

 

Man great to see that you are in the clear now from some hard times and are doing better and enjoying a nice hand crafted V8 vantage! Looks like you're still active at the track too hopefully I'll make it out to help with the track day this week there are a few instructors out there but more students that need instructors so I'm happy to help out...I'm trying to sort it so I can take that day off.

We should get everyone (or at least the local enthusiast community) back sometime, it's been a while...heck maybe you can throw another pizzafest! Those were great events

talk soon my friend and enjoy the sweet ride!

Sunir

 

Will do. Thanks.