The interaction you have with the transmission is one of the key elements through which you experience your Aston Martin. It is unfortunate then that this is one of the areas somewhat compromised during the Vantage’s development process.
Fortunately Bamford Rose has the solution: A set of highly developed upgrades that make your Manual or Sport-Shift drive the way you always wanted it to.
Developed for both manual and sport-shift transmissions the Bamford Rose lightweight flywheel and twin-plate clutch upgrade is a transformative upgrade in the Vantage driving experience. Compared to the OEM single plate clutch/flywheel our upgrade significantly improves engine responsiveness and facilitates smoother yet much faster gear changes.
This upgrade stems from our desire to tackle some of the compromises made during the original Vantage development programme at the factory. To save money the Vantage re-used a flywheel of Jaguar design. This flywheel was designed for luxury saloons and had those characteristics inherent in its design – slow, smooth ramp-up of power and a smooth drive-down on deceleration which are luxury saloon traits. Ideally, a sports car flywheel should facilitate energetic acceleration and deceleration.
The impeccably engineered Bamford Rose flywheel is lightweight, but the correct weight for a sports car. This has the benefit of reducing rotational inertia allowing the engine to spool-up/rev-up faster. Our upgraded twin-plate clutch is a smaller diameter than the OEM single-plate clutch and also enables much quicker disengagement from the engine resulting in smoother shifts. Another added advantage of the smoother changes a twin-plate clutch provides is better longevity for the part. So not only do you get a much-improved transmission you won’t need to change the clutch as often either.
This upgrade includes a short shift modification for manual cars if desired (see adjacent Accordion for details) and is available for £3,000 (excluding VAT)..
Available for manual Vantage, the Bamford Rose short shift modification changes the gearshift level fulcrum point improving the mechanical advantage you have when changing gear.
This facilitates better interaction with the transmission and provides better purchase – a more positive shift which is particularly useful for engaging first and second gears when the transmission is cold.
This upgrade is only available as part of the lightweight flywheel and twin-plate clutch upgrade.