[Chris_ar]

Hello everyone my name is Christian, I'm new on the forum.

I've been living in Long Island temporarily and it seems that in a couple of weeks I will be moving here permanently, so I've been car shopping for the last weeks.

I'm looking for a DB7 to use as a grand tourer on weekends and on special occasions but I have no idea on what to look for. Are there any particular things I should check on the car besides the obvious?

I'm still trying to choose between the v12 and six cylinder variants, I'm looking for reliability and I don't care much about running costs at this point.

Are there any manual cars in the US?

Any help and advice would be appreciated and sorry for my english.

Christian

 

[Serega91]

Hello everyone my name is Christian, I'm new on the forum.

I've been living in Long Island temporarily and it seems that in a couple of weeks I will be moving here permanently, so I've been car shopping for the last weeks.

I'm looking for a DB7 to use as a grand tourer on weekends and on special occasions but I have no idea on what to look for. Are there any particular things I should check on the car besides the obvious?

I'm still trying to choose between the v12 and six cylinder variants, I'm looking for reliability and I don't care much about running costs at this point.

Are there any manual cars in the US?

Any help and advice would be appreciated and sorry for my english.

Christian

The manual versions of the Vantage (V12) (420 bhp) and the GT (435 bhp) V12 are available in the US but are very rare. not sure about the i6 supercharged.

I think that it would be better to go for manual over automatic, especially if you are an enthusiastic driver. So far all the literature I have read indicated that there is a fairly large disparity in the performance between the two different transmissions on both the 6 and 12 cylinder varieties. By getting the manual I feel you will get much more car for the money.

On the 6 vs the 12 cylinder version... Each has own small advantages over the other. I believe that the 6 is not subject to rust as much as the 12, but the 12 has a somewhat better build quality being the latter car. The 6 also has a supercharger, something that would require additional care. Given your choice I would probably go for a 2000-2001 Vantage coupe (manual) or the later DB7 GT (not GTA).

There was a recent Autocar (magazine) article on the seven and I suggest you take a look at that.

Good luck

 

[Andrew]

I couldn't agree more with Serega's comments, well said. There is also something to be said for the torque of a V12 that you won't get with the supercharged 6.

 

[RoadTripper]

Welcome to the site Christian. If you haven't already narrowed it down and found your beauty, be sure to have her inspected to ensure you aren't getting a basket of problems.

A pre-purchase inspection by a knowledgeable mechanic will help sort out the issues. I know you say you aren't worried about running costs, but it is also the frustration of not having her running properly that is often the bigger deal than the dent on the wallet.

Good luck. Let us know where you are in the process.

 

[Squid]

V12 Manual !!

Obvious items to check for are:

Air Conditioning
Tyre Wear (indicating geometry out of alignment, which might indicate a past crash)
Steering and suspension bushes, double check the front subframe bushes, two large round ones at front and two V shaped ones towards rear.

Ensure no warning light remains on after ignition has been on for 20 seconds, fire it up and take note of any noises and warning lights.

Ensure the blower motors run as expected on all speed settings.

If it passes all these then go to the next stage as above and have it inspected, no point paying for an inspection if it has too many obvious faults already, unless the seller is prepared to fix or reduce price

 

[Serega91]

V12 Manual !!

Obvious items to check for are:

Air Conditioning
Tyre Wear (indicating geometry out of alignment, which might indicate a past crash)
Steering and suspension bushes, double check the front subframe bushes, two large round ones at front and two V shaped ones towards rear.

Ensure no warning light remains on after ignition has been on for 20 seconds, fire it up and take note of any noises and warning lights.

Ensure the blower motors run as expected on all speed settings.

If it passes all these then go to the next stage as above and have it inspected, no point paying for an inspection if it has too many obvious faults already, unless the seller is prepared to fix or reduce price

This is some great information, although I am not sure about the blower, for the V12 is naturally aspirated... but you could have meant a different thing under the term blower...

I can confirm on the tyre wear/accident look out. I beleive the cars have a steel chassis, so it could be very difficult to mend...

Other things to watch out for are cracks on the windows, and snapped off seat folding mechanisms (in general)
And snapped/loose manual shifters and loose rivets (in the V12 manual model specific).

Just to back up the V12 seven, the engine is much less strained on the Vantage than on the i6. The AJ-6 in the i6 (with the supercharger) goes north of 100 bhp per liter, an unwelcome territory for a GT car, and the supercharger accounts for a ~70% addition in the power over the N/A AJ6 . So for every two capital service room visits on the Vantage, you must make 3 visits on the i6 modles.

And about the torque, the DB7 i6 would make a great cruiser, however the Vantage's 6 liter does not get choked at high revs, so the Vantage makes a very good performance car relative to the i6, not only because it has more torque, but in the way the torque is arranged throughout the RPM range. The five speed box in the i6 with little high end torque is the reason why the actual performance for the i6 was much lower than the manufacturer expected.

Cheers

 

[Squid]

You were correct the term Blower also describes the Air con blowers, some might call them fans however these are in fact centrifugal blowers ;-)

Two of them, one behind each side of the dash and rather expensive and awkward to replace.

It's often easier to add a little home made circuit to the car to bypass faulty blower circuits which then operate through the normal console controls.

 

[Serega91]

You were correct the term Blower also describes the Air con blowers, some might call them fans however these are in fact centrifugal blowers ;-)

Two of them, one behind each side of the dash and rather expensive and awkward to replace.

It's often easier to add a little home made circuit to the car to bypass faulty blower circuits which then operate through the normal console controls.

Thank you, Squid, for explaining the issue, I really like to learn new facts about the seven, and I was wondering if you, or anyone on the board has a dyno sheet for the seven whether it would be the i6 or the Vantage/GT?
(I have a general idea of what the torque/power curve looks like for each car, but I would really like to see a detailed sheet)

The more I learn about the sevens, the more I think the Vantage is the better choice.

 

[Squid]

I do have Dyno info for a DB7 GT.

This was taken on a Dyno Dynamics 450 using their Shootout mode.

The curves are pretty much exactly the same as those which appear in the GT Technical manual, although a few HP lower as AM give out Flywheel / Crank figures, whereas in the real world we tend to measure Wheel Power.

Engine output on the GT is 435HP, at the wheels the one I have measured 400.4HP

So this would indicate a nicely efficient drivetrain or the engine itself is closer to producing 444HP at the flywheel, which is probably more likely due to tolerances etc, No two engines will be the same.

The 444HP Fylwheel figure is extrapolated from the Transmission using 10% of the power.

 

[Pudelspringer]

One argument for the 6 cyl. option is weight. The DB7 is much more nimble, changes direction ala MX5/Miata. Vantage more cruisy. Auto 6 cyl. not as much fun as manual, but if you spend too many hours in traffic jams, then imho, auto is the only realistic alternative. If auto is the preferred option, then V12 wins hands down.