Steve’s Widebody 2012 V8 Vantage
It’s rare to find someone in the Aston Martin world that is so naturally prone to take chances as Steve. I mean that in the total sense of it: he’s an avid skydiver that’s done some BASE jumps as well. Take one look at his car and there’s no doubt his sense of adventure extends to every facet of his life.
Written by Richard Seidlitz
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The Basics
The Basics
2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Custom “BADASTON Blend” black cherry paint
Obsidian Black leather with red stitching
4.7L V8 with 6-speed manual transmission
Current Modifications
VelocityAP Custom engine tune
VelocityAP Equal-length headers
VelocityAP Secondary cat delete pipes
Quicksilver SuperSport+ Rear Box
AirREX Air Struts
AccuAir CT 5 Gallon Compressor/Tank
Airlift Performance 3H
ACR Performance Widebody Kit
ACR Performance Trunk lid spoiler
Carbon Fibre GT4 Dive Planes
Carbon Fibre V12 Grill
BC Forged EH309 20x11” front wheels
BC Forged EH309 20x12.5” rear wheels
Nitto Invo 285/25R20 front tires
Nitto Invo 345/25R20 rear tires
Acer Titanium Lug Nuts
Redpants Oil Catch Can
Redpants Smoked side repeaters
Aston Installations Infotainment Upgrade Kit
Halotron Fire Extinguisher (x2)
AeroCatch Hood Pins
Custom-formulated 3 layer paint
The Big Picture
Knowing that Steve’s a bit of a wild child, it wasn’t much of a surprise when he told me his plans for his 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. He wanted a widebody, air suspension, and some bold wheels. Steve got the widebody kit directly from ACR and came to Redpants for the suspension and wheels.
But the car isn’t just for show - there’s plenty of performance to be had from it and even more in the works. He sourced parts from VelocityAP to increase power and has plans for a GMR supercharger kit to push his widebody car to its limits. Given all he’s done and continues to do, I think his license plate is well warranted.
Key Modifications
The most defining characteristic of Steve’s 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage is the ACR widebody kit. I mean, how could you focus on anything else when you see this car?
The widebody kit from ACR is a wild thing that completely transforms the car. I wrote about my first encounter with ACR (the company and the product) for Redpants Unzipped so I was already familiar with the body kit when Steve told me he was getting one for his car. What I wasn’t ready for was the extent to which Steve would push this build.
While the installation of the ACR widebody kit is pretty intimidating - the rear quarter panels need to be irreversibly cut - Steve was going a step further. He’d be eliminating as many seams in the body as possible. Check out the picture below to see how all the seams were filled in between the body panels.
I didn’t see that coming at all and it blew me away when he sent me pics of it in its half-finished state. The extra work did take a toll on the project, however, and the build took months longer than expected. This wasn’t because of the widebody kit or the extra work itself, but the shop did fall woefully behind and missed their delivery date by a pretty extreme margin.
Steve was relieved to have it back once finally finished, but there was still one major issue: The car was the wrong color.
Sure, it does look really good and the color is interesting and eye-catching, but it’s exactly the color he told them not to do. Having waiting for so long to get his car back, he decided to enjoy it a bit before sending it back to have the paint redone. It was during this time that he went out and took some pictures, and once the car has gotten the correct paint, I’ll update this article with them to show the true end result of the project.
Fly High, Sit Low
Prior to the ACR widebody build, Steve had a set of VelocityAP lowering springs on the car. Those springs and the factory struts were completely replaced when the bodywork was done.
Steve’s passion for skydiving is in complete contrast to his car when the air suspension is set to its lowest position. With the AirREX air suspension vented, the car sits so low that the BC Forged EH309 wheels actually tuck up inside the fenders. The wheels, sourced from Redpants in custom sizing and offsets to fit the widebody, are 20 x 11” wide in the front with 285-width Nitto Invo tires and 20 x 12.5” wide in the rear with 345-width tires. Being able to tuck these up so far into the finders demonstrate just how much wider the car is with the ACR body kit.
When it’s time to drive, the AccuAir compressor and 5-gallon tank mounted in the trunk will pressurize the AirREX suspension and bring the car up to a useable height.
There’s plenty of commentary from people about cars on air suspension that don’t understand how the car is drivable when they see pictures of cars slammed to the ground. But this height adjustability is a major draw for owners of these systems. This one not only lets the car sit extremely low, it also allows the car to be raised up quite a bit, acting as a lift to manage steep slopes or aggressive speed bumps. Take a look at the fender gap at the front in this picture and you can see how useful air suspension can be.
The Low Does Go
Steve’s car isn’t all show and no go - it’s got a few key upgrades to bring out the best of the 4.7L V8 engine. These upgrades include a set of equal-length headers and cat delete pipes from VelocityAP and an engine tune to keep the car happy despite these changes. A Redpants oil catch can helps keep the intake air clean before going through the VelocityAP exhaust components and out the car from the rather loud Quicksilver SuperSport+ muffler.
Testing by VelocityAP with similar setups have shown nearly 50 bhp and about 35 ft/lbs of torque, so the engine has plenty more power than the original 420 bhp Aston Martin originally gave it.
Wanting to get the power bumped up to match the looks, Steve plans to supercharge the engine at some point and is going to get a twin-plate clutch and lightweight flywheel to manage the huge torque increase when he does. Between the ACR widebody kit and the eventual supercharging, Steve’s 2012 V8 Vantage is set to be one of the most aggressive Aston Martins on the road.
About the Owner
Steve is an avid skydiver and BASE jumper. He manages a family business and lives in the Toronto area.
Here he is falling out of the sky like a madman.
