Brakes

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish Brakes

A recognised weakness of both variants of the Vanquish are the brakes.

• On the original Vanquish the brakes are a simple design with the discs mounted solidly to the hub and the calipers fixed to the suspension uprights. Accuracy of alignment is essential with this design to avoid vibration and judder. On the Vanquish these brakes are simply overworked as they are no larger than the DB7 and are under-cooled with no fresh air venting to either front or rear brakes. Read more ...Read less ...
  If the brakes are used hard say on a track day, from numerous fast motorway stops or simply on a spirited drive down an Alpine pass then the heat build-up may cause warping of the disc and in extreme cases they may overheat completely and the pedal may go straight to the floor when applied.
  This heat build-up leads to warping and delamination of the materials used in the centre of the disc (*see picture) which can be identified visually and by judder and vibration when applying the brakes.  The discs also wear quickly which reduces their thickness and therefore their ability to absorb as much heat.
• On the ‘S’, the braking performance was much improved with the fitment of larger diameter ‘floating ‘ discs which can move to correct their alignment and reduce vibration. The larger diameter also gives a greater friction area and also a greater ability to absorb heat which improves the day to day braking performance. But these discs bring their own problems where the springs that hold the disc in place become weak and the discs then rattle.Read more ...Read less ...
  This wear of the original anti-rattle springs and the bobbins that hold the disc in place is almost inevitable and in some cases afflicted cars from the day they first drove out of the factory. Replacement bobbins and springs may only last a matter of weeks in many cases and replacement original items from Aston Martin are very expensive and offer no upgrade or improvement for prevention of the recurrence of the problem.

To address this David has worked with an experienced manufacturer of road and racing aftermarket brakes and developed the following exclusive solutions:

• For the early cars,
  new manufactured brake bells in aircraft grade anodised aluminium are attached, using stainless steel mounting bolts, to AP Racing discs of the same original diameter cut with the Vanquish ‘S’ groove pattern to improve bite and brake feel. The discs have greater thermal capacity and are resistant to the delamination and distortion of the original items. They have been track tested and proven. There is an option to use a fast road pad or an outright racing brake pad option from one of the most respected brake pad manufacturers at a fraction of the cost of original parts. In addition the discs can be replaced independently of the bells – not an option with the original discs – further reducing the overall cost of running the cars.
• For the ‘S’,
  an equivalent AP Racing disc is used to the original groove pattern attached to new high grade anodised aluminium bells. The bells carry a different bobbin design and much improved anti-rattle springs to eliminate the brake rattle issues. This is an upgraded version of the original AP design and in addition a more economical pad option is available both in road and road/race specification. Again the discs can be replaced independently of the bells significantly reducing replacement cost.

David is also in the early stages of developing an unobtrusive ducting system for both Vanquish variants to provide cooling air to both sets of brakes and significantly improve their use in more challenging driving conditions such as track days.

Contact us for prices.