Tag Archives: v8 vantage

Vantage Turbo: V8 Camshaft timing

Building the turbo Aston Martin V8 engine: Some reverse engineering. Previously we found out the Aston Martin V8 engine ‘breaths’ pretty well even in the high RPM. We determined this by dynoing the car. The torque was constant up until the rev limit. All aspects in an engine determine the general performance of the engine, but there is one main item in the whole engine that has the most influence on the characteristics of the engine and that is the valve opening and closing timing.

Vantage Turbo – project goals : 800hp!

We started this project with a horsepower goal of 800HP. This figure is pretty arbitrary. The Vantage with 4.3 engine has 380 HP from factory (400hp with the Aston power upgrade).  Buying a Vantage V12 would get you say another 150 HP. We would like to have a much bigger step on top of the V12 power, and the next power level would be something like doubled the V8 horsepower: 800HP.

Delivery of my silver V8 Vantage

A few weeks ago, I purchased my new project car. And today, I could finally pick up at Kroymans, with several cosmetic upgrades already implemented. Here it is, waiting for me in the showroom: (just ignore that red german thingie in the background, not sure who put that there 🙂 )

Special edition : V8 Vantage N430

I was already wondering what Aston Martin would bring to the upcoming Geneva Motorshow. Again the Vanquish Volante, V12 Vantage S and Rapide S? Nope, they came up with a cunning plan: they created 3 special editions, one of the V8 Vantage and two of the DB9. This is the special Vantage: the V8 Vantage N430. Looks great, right? But, how “special” is it really?

The Aston Martins at Cars & Coffee in Wassenaar, the Netherlands

This year’s second Cars & Coffee meeting of the Dutch Cars & Business club was held on Sunday May 5. The weather was amazing, so this time over 50 members (and their cars) gathered in Wassenaar, at the “de Wittenburg” castle. Many exotic cars were present, including six Aston Martins: a DBS, a DBS Volante, three different V8 Vantages and one V8 Vantage Roadster. What? No red V12 Vantage in Fire Red or blue V12 Roadster? Nope, not this time. For this meeting I decided to bring my Black and Yellow italian beauty, front left in this photo:

The Astons at the Spring Event 2013

Last Saturday, on April 13, the 2013 edition of the Spring Event was held at the Weeze Airport in Germany. My wife and I were there, the misses driving our yellow italian thingy, while I took the red V12 Vantage. Several other Aston Martins were present at the event, including a V8 Vantage, a V8 Vantage Roadster (in Vicks Blue!), a DB9 Volante and a very nice DBS Volante. Sadly, or maybe not, I was too busy enjoying my cars on the tarmac to take pictures (stay tuned for a video of my attempts at drifting the V12 Vantage!). But luckily hundreds of other photographers were present, so here’s a selection of their photos of the Aston Martins at the Spring Event.

17 Aston Martins gather at Dutch “Power Beauty Soulmates” meeting

The “Power Beauty Soulmates” (or PBSM) is a Dutch Aston club that meets every first Sunday of the even months. So last Sunday, April 7, PBSM members were invited to meet at the GeoFort in Herwijnen. The weather was great, so a lot of Aston Martins turned up, 17 in total. The owners of the GeoFort let us park our cars on the fort area itself, resulting in a nice row of shiny Astons. Here’s a selection of the pics I took.