Aston Martin Rapide driven

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Possibly for the first time ever, our review of a new V12 engined supercar starts with the back seats. But what else would you expect? As the firm’s first saloon in more than 30 years, Aston Martin’s Rapide marks many new milestones, but the first question to answer concerns the leather-trimmed chairs in the rear.

 

Accessed through trademark “scissor” hinged doors – they lift up slightly as they swing open – the seats are mounted low to the floor, and when viewed in profile, are no more than two inches thick.Getting in is not without its challenges, and if you are more than six feet tall you will struggle to swing gracefully through the narrow door aperture and down into the bucket shaped squab.

 

Once settled, however, the Aston springs its first genuine surprise. The seats are comfortable, and spacious. At six foot three inches tall, I comfortably fitted behind our Aston test car’s chauffer.

 

There’s no doubting that there’s plenty of luxury on offer too. A large transmission tunnel in the rear also provides a control panel from which drivers can adjust the heated and cooled seats, and control the £139,500 car’s only optional extra – rear DVD screens.

 

On the road, the ride feels firm but is never harsh. Body roll is well controlled, and thanks to those race style front seats, which taper toward the headrest, you get an incredible view of the road ahead.

 

Things promise to get even better behind the wheel. With an update of the firm’s bonded aluminum chassis, a new rear-subframe and revised suspension and brakes, the car’s 6.0-litre V12 engine offers 470bhp and a 0-62mph sprint of 5.3 seconds. Adaptive dampers, like those fitted to the DB9 coupé offer standard and stiffer sport settings, and 20 inch alloy wheels at the front and rear promise masses of grip.

 

But on top of the new chassis – and radical interior layout, there’s a third Rapide revelation… In that the car is actually built in a factory in Austria – and not at the firm’s Gaydon HQ in the UK. Based on our test car, we would argue that this is the best quality car Aston Martin has ever built.

 

But despite all of these radical changes Aston is keen to point out that the Rapide, like all of the makers other cars in at its heart a sportscar.

 

The engine is started by pushing a sapphire tipped “key” into the dashboard. The V12 engine spins quickly and smoothly before bursting into life. Power delivery is smooth and even, with power building smoothly as the revs climb to the near 7,000rpm redline.

 

Power is fed to the rear wheels and there’s a limited slip differential to improve traction in tight turns. Impressively the steering is pin point accurate, and there is bags of feedback through the hydraulic power steering system. But perhaps most impressive of all is the car’s refinement. Whisper quiet while crusing on the motorway, the car rides smoothly over even the roughest road surfaces.

 

Brakes – weight saving dual cast aluminium and iron items – offer impressive stopping power, as well as consistent performance under heavy use.

 

Added together, all of this doesn’t just create a saloon that drives like a sportscar, but helps set a new benchmark for Aston Martin’s cars. The new Rapide isn’t just a great four-seater, it’s the best car the company builds.

FIVE STARS

First opinion

After the V12 Vantage, we didn’t think Aston could build a more exciting car to drive, but in the refined Rapide, the firm has scored a direct hit. Easily the most accomplished driver’s car in the makers range it also delivers impressive refinement and performance. We were impressed by the practicality too, but this car’s knockout punch is the way in which it combines these two very different characteristics in such a seamless fashion. Aston’s small but expert band of engineers should be proud of themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Car Freak]

Hmmm, that comment about rear seat space is rather contradictory to what Autocar said...

 

What is it?

 

It’s the first four-door Aston Martin since the Lagonda of the mid-1970s.

 

Although when we say four-door, bear in mind that the new Aston Martin Rapide comes with a recommended technique for getting in and out of it. Aston advises that on both entry and exit you employ a foot-bum-foot routine that threatens serious inelegance for skirt-wearers. If you never see a Rapide decanting guests onto the end of a red carpet, this is why.

 

So don’t confuse it with a Mercedes S-class. I'm sure you can tell by the way it looks that the Rapide is based on other Astons, using the same VH architecture that underpins them, comprising aluminium components bonded to form a monocoque.

 

Even though its engine is Aston’s 6.0-litre V12 in its torquiest 470bhp and 443lb ft output, and the gearbox is a six-speed automatic gearbox, think of it more as a sports car with rear doors and a hatch, rather than a limousine. And a £140,000 one at that.

 

What’s it like?

 

The Rapide is built in Austria by Magna rather than at Aston’s Gaydon factory and, if a static walk-around is anything to go by, is none the worse for it. Much of the Rapide’s interior is newly designed and it feels beautifully crafted.

 

Things still happen gradually and on a budget, though; the dashboard is carried over from existing Astons and it wouldn’t hurt to be updated, particularly the dreadful Volvo-sourced sat-nav. But progress is slowly being made; where there are new switches or trimmings they’re neatly designed and feel solidly built.

 

Aluminium is extremely stiff, but building a car out of it isn’t without compromise. For a given stiffness it’s lighter than steel but it also occupies more volume, so the holes in the Aston’s body have to be quite small to retain torsional stiffness. Opening the Rapide's doors or boot is like opening a safe door; you're greeted not by a gaping aperture but by structural aluminium, framing a far smaller hole than you'd been expecting.

 

Nevertheless, the Rapide is far and away a more spacious car than the DB9 on which it is ostensibly based. It's a foot longer than a DB9, measuring a full five metres front to rear, and, truth be told, at 5ft 10in I could fit in the rear seats behind my own driving position with about an inch and a half of head room but precious little knee room.

 

The seats, four individual chairs, are new to the Rapide and to be truly comfortable in the back you need to keep a knee either side of the front seat's back. Toes, though not enough of your foot, can slide underneath the front seat. Aston says it's pleased with the Rapide's spaciousness, given that its aim was to provide short-distance comfort for airport or restaurant hops. I'd say it's just about acceptable.

 

Even a short drive is enough to discern that the Rapide rides genuinely well. It's supple yet tightly damped, with a comfort level that no current Aston can match. That comes as no suprise, but what might be is that there are also hints of a poise that you won't find in too many other Astons either.

 

It also steers very pleasingly. Hydraulically assisted, the rack has been quickened to offset the Rapide’s longer wheelbase and, like other Astons, it's middling weighted, consistent and smooth. Better, though, is that it has a new-found freedom from kickback. Aston has found a way to isolate what is a feelsome, accurate system from the unwanted knocks that an unyielding aluminium structure usually transmits through a rack like this.

 

It's a smoothness that seems to be matched by other elements of the Aston's demeanour. When an automatic is as good as this ZF-sourced six-speeder, you wonder if it's worth the bother of robotising a manual or fitting a dual-clutcher. In Drive it makes bright decisions, but far more often than not I found myself making the choices myself via the sweet column-mounted paddles.

 

Foibles? I wouldn't mind if an extended pull on the right-hand lever reselected drive, rather than having to reach for the dash-mounted buttons, but other than that it's spot on.

 

The Rapide has magnetically controlled dampers (best left out of Sport mode on the road), while springs are steel all round. Go for a strop and you’ll find the Rapide is a communicative, engaging car to drive. The stiffness of its shell and lack of complication in the drivetrain – the V12 is as big-hearted as it is big-cylindered – mean you genuinely understand what is going on mechanically. It flows along A and B-roads with a poise you'll not find in many five-metre-long cars.

 

In extremes it does the obvious: understeers unless you trail its brakes to keep the nose settled, and it'll push its tail on the power. Possibly it could feel quicker. It's funny to think that a car with the same power as a Lamborghini Diablo doesn’t feel brutally rapid, but because it weighs virtually two tonnes, the Aston could use a bit more shove.

 

Should I buy one?

 

The real mark of a car like this is how happy you are to climb into it at 7pm on a Friday evening in the centre of town, and how you feel climbing out again 150 miles away three hours later.

 

The Rapide is absolutely first class at that sort of thing. What's most impressive is that there's an absence of niggles. It’s positively engaging on any journey and, on a long haul, there are few better cars to be in.

 

Yes, it’s small in the back and expensive to buy, but the Rapide is a triumph.

Matt Prior

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Aston-Martin-Rapide-6.0-V12/247339/

[t.]

Rapide S in the next couple of years? Yes please.

[gingervette]

See Porsche? This is how you're supposed to do 4-door vehicles.

 

You might want to start taking notes...

[The Queen]

Absolutely stunning looking car from the front but I think they have mucked up on the rear, looks too...flat. It looks far too similar to the V8 Vantage which isn't really a good thing seeing as this car is closer to the DB9 in terms of performance.

 

Maybe it's just the angle of the rear shot. Just my opinion though. ;)

[zo6dude]

Personally I think it looks like an extended DB9..

[Penfold]

I have to agree with zo6dude, it does look like a stretched DB9... but i don't dislike it...