Jay’s Super Sleeper 2006 V8 Vantage
I first met Jay in 2019 in Victoria, BC, when I'd hopped up to Canada for an Aston Martin Owners Club event where I'd been invited to speak. It wasn't the type of first encounter I usually have with people, though, which typically consists of someone coming up to me, introducing themselves, shaking my hand, and saying something about my work and how it's helped them. No, my first encounter with Jay was quite different.
I was walking along the driveway leading into the venue. An Aston Martin was passing by on its way in when it came to a sudden and abrupt stop. The passenger window rolled down and the driver leaned over the lovely woman in the passenger seat.
“Hey, I recognize those Redpants!”
We chatted for a couple minutes until a parking attendant asked the driver to move on because he was blocking traffic. After he parked his car, Jay introduced himself and his wife, Lu. I quickly remembered his name when he said he was the guy that orders two of everything - and I mean everything. Not just maintenance items, where plenty of people order extras, but also things like exhaust systems and engine tunes. He explained that he and his best friend, Jeff, both have V8 Vantages and they basically do all the same things to their cars.
Some time later, Jay sent me some pictures of his car that his detailer had taken for him and I immediately stopped what I was doing to admire them. What I was looking at was one of the most absurdly clean Aston Martin V8 Vantages on the planet. Not only that, it was also one of the fastest.
Written by Richard Seidlitz
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The Basics
The Basics
2006 Aston martin V8 Vantage
4.3L V8 engine
6-speed manual transmission
Meteorite Silver paint
Phantom Grey leather with silver stitching
Current Modifications
Redpants oil catch can
GMR supercharger kit
GMR carbon fiber supercharger cover
GMR carbon fiber slam panel
VelocityAP cat-delete pipes
VelocityAP twin-plate clutch and lightweight flywheel
Hawk HPS 5.0 front and rear brake pads
Wilwood 2-piece brake rotors
BC Racing coilovers with Swift springs
BC Forged RS43 19” Widepants fitment wheels
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires (265/305)
Custom door sill and slam panel plaques
Redpants clear corner markers
Aston Martin clear tail lamps with grey trim
LED map lights
Shorty antenna
The Big Picture
Originally planning to buy a car in the Spring to use for some events through the summer and later flip in the Fall, Jay ended up falling in love with the car and keeping it. Instead of short-term ownership, he’s kept and evolved this 2006 V8 Vantage into something quite spectacular.
Jay’s approach to modifying his Aston Martin was simple: clean up the factory concessions and enhance it to suit his expectations. That simple approach is why the modifications list is relatively short compared to how different his V8 Vantage is compared to any other. At first glance, his car does look somewhat similar to a standard one straight off the factory floor. The multi-colored exterior lighting is all uniform now, and the wheels are brighter and fit better, but otherwise… well, that’s all that can be seen.
Underneath the hood, however, is a different story. A very very different story. And that’s because underneath the hood is a supercharger and nothing would give that fact away until Jay steps on the gas.
“It’s “hair on fire” courtesy of GMR, Redpants, and VelocityAP.”
This build is an interesting one because the modifications are so subtle and understated in so many ways, and yet it also has one of the biggest modifications available for these cars. The modifications list is minimal compared to many others, but it still managed to stand apart by how well every choice works together.
Keep reading to hear more about Jay’s Super Sleeper 2006 V8 Vantage.
Key Modifications
It’s no secret that the early V8 Vantage was a bit slow despite having a rev-happy 4.3L V8 engine. Its liveliness in the upper half of the RPM band was somewhat unappreciated by many, as many Aston Martin owners don’t really push their cars so hard that they’d be able to appreciate what the car actually has to offer. But that then leads to the next problem the V8 Vantage has faced - by modern standards, it doesn’t have much to offer on paper. Stat-for-stat, the early (and even later) V8 Vantage wasn’t impressive from a performance standpoint… or amenities… or technology... Honestly, it was lacking in a lot of ways. It was, however, a perfectly beautiful car that was wonderful to drive, and that’s what drew people like myself to these cars.
Many of us love the ways these cars look and sound, but we want more of it, which leads to the pursuit of modifications that make the most difference while also keeping the car as factory-like as possible. We all have different thresholds for what qualifies as “factory-like” but Jay’s car shows how specific it can be.
“I wanted every cosmetic modification to be mostly subtle to maintain the elegance of the Vantage.”
The outside of the car has been addressed by fixing the most glaring offense: the corner markers and side repeaters. From the factory, these are amber in the front, white on the sides, and red in the back. A set Redpants corner markers and side repeaters with light smoked lenses unified the look while also adding to the overall silvery demeanor of the car.
Around back, Jay replaced the standard red tail lights with clear ones with grey trim, completing the monochromatic theme.
The virtually perfect paint is protected by ceramic coating and Suntech PPF, with the work being performed by Divine Shine (who were also kind enough to supply the pictures used in this Build page - so a thank you to them).
These tail lights first debuted on the limited-edition V8 Vantage N400 and suited his car perfectly. To make sure he didn’t taint the silvers and greys with color, Jay opted for the Bright Clear finish when he ordered his BC Forged RS43 wheels. Bright Clear shows the brushed texture of the wheels’ forged aluminum but protects it from the elements with a clear coating. The wheels are spec’d with 19” Widepants fitment to allow a super-meaty set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires to be used. They’re sized 265/35 in front and 305/30 in rear, which provides enough traction to put the supercharger’s power to the ground.
“I never realized how much wheel arch space there was in the factory setup until I was Widepants’d. Really transformed the car, making it squat and muscular.”
The cherry on top for the exterior is the shorty antenna that replaced the long whip that Aston Martin originally used.
Seeing this car on the road could lead a casual observer to believe it was just another slow and sluggish V8 Vantage - it’s too pretty and clean to be anything else, right? Heckin’ wrong.
Jay swapped out the standard 600-cell catalytic converters for a set of VelocityAP cat-delete pipes. These free up power and make the car louder, but they cause emissions warnings and a Check Engine Light as they’re monitored with o2 sensors by the car’s engine control systems. An engine tune from VelocityAP corrected for the cat-deletes while also improving throttle response and power delivery.
And then came the supercharger.
The cat-delete pipes stayed in place but the engine tune had to be removed so GMR’s own could take over control of the engine - a requirement to run the GMR supercharger kit.
“The subtlety stops when you cold start it. Once it warms, it quiets down and can be driven relatively stealthily as long as the rpm is managed. Put your foot into it and the cat delete assaults you. It really has created a raucous beast. It’s beautiful. ”
The “Dry” supercharger kit was chosen to mitigate any concerns Jay had for cold weather. It gets extremely cold during the winter months in his part of Canada, and he didn’t want to worry about potential damage caused by a water injection system freezing in sub-zero temperatures. Although it doesn’t give any thermal advantage, the carbon fiber supercharger cover acts as an accent blanket to dress up the supercharger. It was provided by GMR, as was the carbon fiber slam panel.
Making sure the intake air supply isn’t contaminated with oil vapors is a Redpants oil catch can kit. The brushed stainless steel canister adds a splash of brightness to the engine bay in addition to the added protection it provides for the engine.
Having over 550 bhp and 430 ft/lbs would be useless without a clutch capable of holding it. That job is handled by a VelocityAP twin-plate clutch. Included in the clutch package is a lightweight flywheel that both improves power transmission efficiency and improves throttle response. The clutch is designed for V12 engines with far more power than the original V8 would ever be able to produce on its own, and is fully capable of handling the power from the supercharger.
With the tires spinning and the car flying, suspension is needed that can keep the car planted. For this, Jay went with a set of BC Racing coilovers. His goal was to only lower the car a small amount so he could reduce fender gap but maintain a useable ride height. The adjustability of these coilovers let him set the ride height where he wanted it plus gave him a wide range for the strut valving. Jay keeps the valving at a reasonably comfortable setting so neither he nor his wife has to worry about bruised kidneys. Peaking through the wheels can also give a glimpse of the pale gold powder coating on the upgraded Swift springs that further improve the ride and handling.
Also inside the wheels are a set of Wilwood two-piece brake rotors. These maintain the factory 355mm front and and 330mm rear diameters, but offer better internal cooling and slightly reduced weight. An additional benefit of two-piece rotors is that they can be rebuilt when the discs are worn out. Rebuilds cost less than an entirely new set of rotors as the aluminum center hats are reused.
Working with the Wilwood rotors are a set of Hawk HPS 5.0 front and rear brake pads. These pads produce more dust than the incredibly popular Porterfield R4-S pads, but I recommended the Hawks to Jay because they’re far better at handling hard, high-speed breaking - something that can come in handy when dealing with a supercharged V8 Vantage.
Inside the cabin is relatively untouched. The only changes of note are the replacement of the dim yellow factory map lights with LED replacements. The clean, white light these emit make the interior feel more premium while also better illuminating the custom door sill scuff plate plaques that let everyone know that car was carefully crafted to Jay’s exacting specifications.
“I believe the supercharger makes this car what it was meant to be from its inception. Immediate, ridiculous torque and power. The wheels/tires, suspension, brake and clutch work gives me confidence in the upgrade.”
The modification list for Jay’s 2006 V8 Vantage may not be long, but the results are beyond what many have been able to achieve with these cars.
About the Owner
Jay originally worked in the telecommunications industry, working for a company in Canada that took him to the US and back to Canada again. Although the tech boom treated him well, the following crash left his company looking to downsize. He was offered a golden handshake to depart and he happily accepted so he could strike out on his own. He started an oilfield trucking company that has since diversified beyond that.
His story makes me chuckle a bit because we both came from tech-based careers and found ourselves doing something completely different (him with specialized trucking, me selling car parts online), and…. we both have wives named Lu.
