Aston Martin V8 Vantage Prodrive Upgrade. Is it worth a premium | QOTW
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage Prodrive Upgrade.
Is it worth a premium?? | QOTW #138
The Aston Martin V8 Vantage 4.3L manual built in 2005 was upgraded by Prodrive. Is the Prodrive upgraded car worth a premium today compared to something like an Aston Martin N400?? and do the Prodrive upgrades deliver a better driving experience compared to other upgrade options in the marketplace?
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QOTW #138
For full disclosure the video includes my wife’s Prodrive car (without permission)
Mike clearly has a ‘bag-on’ with Prodrive and was pretty anti when I turned up for a minor issue with the car, basically saying Prodrive are a ‘piece of crap’ in comparison to his upgrades. He tried pretty hard to foist a ‘Bamford solution’ and seemed put out that I wanted the car to stay as a Prodrive car.
Micheal is missing the point. Prodrive cars were made over 15 years ago, so its erroneous to compare with today’s tech - it’s a bit like stating the DB9 Gen 1 is rubbish compared with DB11. He is, somewhat tediously, also a bit on the spectrum on this, pushing his own products and denigrating other service providers as rubbish (which I think is pretty unprofessional). Maintenance on someone’s pride and joy (what ever the Mick’s opinion) doesn’t give you free rein to use it in self -promotional videos to reinforce negative personal opinions that reinforce your current business model (in this case flogging after-market ‘upgrades’).
So a little history lesson Mickster, Prodrive at the time of this car’s manufacture were the part of the consortium that owned Aston Martin. The upgrades were semi-OEM and designed to mitigate the lack of power in the 4.3 engine. That’s why they have a wiki page and a page in the Definitive Guide. I’m sure BR’s are to follow…..
Prodrive are a globally respected automotive engineering company with an amazing rallying and racing pedigree. They have been brought in by numerous manufacturers to fettle perceived weaknesses in cars. Alfa Romeo Brera is an example. A bit ‘meh’ as stock, but the Prodrive is pretty awesome. To say no one has heard of Prodrive? Maybe in Sturton-on-Stour …
Ultimately its down to choice, if you are into after market upgrading your cars (and generally I’m not), then Bamford Rose may be for you. Personally I have always thought its all a bit adolescent and I would rather than chav my car up wait and buy the next-gen model. Is a Prodrive worth a premium? Maybe/maybe not - I didn’t pay a premium for mine and didn’t pay for the upgrades personally, so buyers choice. If I had the money at the time would I have gone for a 4.7 rather than a 4.3 - yes - but I didn’t.
Ultimately comparing Bamford Rose and Prodrive: well Mikey there is a difference: one is ‘some spanners in a shed max-powering your Aston’ and one is Sir Dave Richard’s world class automotive company. I’ll stick with Prodrive thanks.
Oh and I will also take my Astons elsewhere.
You came to Bamford Rose after recently having a service from a sales outlet garage.
You tasked us to fix a problem which presumably the sales / service garage could not, which was an easy engineering fix of the exhaust bypass valve.
Whilst doing that job I noted how poor / badly corroded your brakes were, how bad the engine leaked out oil and that the clutch was close to being completely worn out.
It was at that point you told me the car had just been “serviced” and the sales outlet had not alerted you to any of the issues I pointed out now.
Feeling that you’d really benefit from a proper inspection report and analysis, I offered a completely free of charge inspection report and a summary commentary of the findings.
The conclusion of that report was that the car needs some considerable and ‘proper’ TLC.
The engine front cover is leaking oil badly, the brakes need renewing because of corrosion which is bordering on making the brakes unroadworthy, the clutch needs replacing, the rear wheel nuts were under the specified torque setting, the radiator drain plug seal was perished, the engine auxiliary drive belt shows age deterioration and there were a number of suspension bushes which needed replacing soon.
I explained in detail all those findings and sent you pictures of the poor state of upkeep.
So, for the princely sum of £100 (cost to fix the broken exhaust valve), your car left here in a fixed state compared to when it drove in, and you now know, for free, more about your car than what you were informed at your last service, which you likely paid a nice premium for.
At not one point in that process did any correspondence relate to or include fitting any BR upgrade kit, in fact, I only ever highlighted the issues your car has, and I did not offer any resolution options, OEM or aftermarket.
If alerting the customer that their car is bordering on being unroadworthy is perceived as being “criticised from the moment you walk in the door”, I’m happily, guilty as charged.
I wish all the best to you returning your car to a roadworthy condition, but it’s probably best to avoid that sales outlet!
And you then used the car in your self promotion without asking the owner. This is highly unprofessional and crass. What owner in their right mind would now trust you with their car, if you feature it in a detrimental video with no consider to them. I am surprised you have not apologised yet.
The Prodrive engine mods add a genuine 40bhp.
Trouble is, Aston lied about the OE power output, which in reality was only c.360bhp.
And that's why no-one's seen a car dyno'd at the claimed 425bhp.
But you know that, don't you? (And if you don't, you should.)
Did you really say the Prodrive branding doesn't carry enough heritage or kudos? In 2020 alone Prodrive Aston Martins won 26 race titles, they are quite frankly in a totally different league to AMR.
Great video again Mike. I was initially looking for a Prodrive. Mainly because of those wheels. I wouldnt have been able to live with the older interior so went for a later 4.7 amazing car.
Always look forward to your uploads. Hugely informative and make Aston ownership much less daunting than I expected. Cheers Mike
I'm with you on the wheels. A beautiful design.
As always very informative and with the facts presented, destined to rub someone the wrong way. Keep them coming and see you sometime for a clutch upgrade of my N430
I would tend to agree with this assessment. I'm no fan either of the Prodrive wheels but this is subjective.
Getting your car remapped with high flow cats surely makes more sense with the fitment of the lightened flywheel also. This will bring with it the twin plate clutch which is way better in my view for weight of pedal and feel. Then you may as well have all this tied in with the GT4 filters.
Thereafter, the only upgrade left to release a little more power would be fitment of the headers.....yes you can go the supercharger route but this is stupidly expensive and from what I can tell there are differing views as to how much power increases by.
I very nearly purchased a full and genuine pro drive at auction last year. Rare car.
But I wouldn’t have one over a 4.7.
Good points well presented as usual Mike! 👍
Looks like we might get an indication of any increase over standard tonight when the one on that well known online auction site finishes 👍
This is interesting as there is a 2006 Prodrive for sale currently at 31k which is about the same as a 2007 facelift 4.3 which is 8 to 10k cheaper than an N400 so surely your rational doesn’t work out at that price. Plus if add the 10k for aftermarket upgrades you speak about then it will still cost you 10k more than the current ProDrive for sale. Surely now that is the better option price wise as it also looks like it has had the 19k full conversion. Now the one you saw at 50k is just stupid money and they would have to be mad to spend that on one but at 30k surely that’s a more viable proposition ?
Here's a question.......I own a 2005 DB9 with its beautiful 5.9 V12. The question is, what is the mechanical difference between my engine and the engine in the 2007 db9 and the later DBS
It's a bit unfair to compare a car which has 14-year-old modifications on to the mods that are out now, but I can see where you got the ideas for yours from.
I fail to understand why you are comparing (and using someone’s car without their permission - see comments on other social platforms) a manufacturer approved modifications that occurred to a car before your company existed. You are comparing the modifications by the well known company that owned Aston Martin at the time with a company most people have never heard of.
Thanks for your comments. If I’ve helped someone or make a potential buyer think twice if it’s right to plough what could be the same money as a Vantage S into an older 4.3L car, the feature is a success. Also, if the true critique that the tangible driving dynamics don’t really offer a much better drive over a stock 4.3 and I’ve informed potential buyers new to the brand that the drive from a Vantage S is way better, that’s yet more info to help someone decide if it’s right for them to buy the Prodrive edition.
One minor point of correction, Prodrive didn’t ever own Aston as you say, why do you think that? Their CEO happened to lead the consortium of private equity firms who did own Aston - a completely different scenario to the actual entity that is Prodrive owning Aston!
@@BamfordRose Mike, thank you for the information you have provided in this video- it's highly relevant and important to potential V8 Vantage buyers. I'm contemplating selling two classic cars I own, in order to buy a Vantage. Your input here re Prodrive is informative to somebody in my position- so a BIG thumbs up to you!
You fail to say you used the Prodrive car in your video without asking the owner of the car or any due consideration to them. I call that inconsiderate and unprofessional of you. You should remove the video and apologise.