Discussion
jonby said:
official section on website now
http://www.astonmartin.com/en/cars/rapide-s/rapide...
Well I like it; particularly in the volcano red (to my eyes the MF one is rather questionable).http://www.astonmartin.com/en/cars/rapide-s/rapide...
Think the rear quarters are a particular improvement over the previous model... it seems to have lost all of the apparent weight there that to my eyes seriously upset the styling.
I wait to see it in the flesh but the duotone leather also looks interesting.
You have to wonder how much the application of the front plate is going to ruin the aesthetics.
yeti said:
To be fair you aren't alone... It's a challenging look, but since Ford stole Aston's grille design I guess they had to do something special / different.
It's certainly different (although I await comments on the PH article saying how all Astons look identical 
). It seems to have lost one of the Aston trademark design features. I really wish they would stop with the Halfords carbon rear lights too. They are awful and ruin the back of every car I've seen with them. Perhaps they should try using carbon for something useful (I.e a carbon tub, or further weight reduction) for a change instead of using it for bling to try and make a new model seem more different.
Aston Martin's press release said:
"The lowered engine, new bonnet, new front bumper construction and new grille combine to deliver a uniquely innovative approach to pedestrian impact protection.
"The patent-pending design – which features a unique ‘keystone’ construction – enables the grille to move rearwards on impact, whilst the central and outboard chin stiffeners give rigidity to the lower structure and support achievement of the leg impact regulations. Cut-outs on the front wing catwalks contribute to the achievement of the headform regulation."
"The patent-pending design – which features a unique ‘keystone’ construction – enables the grille to move rearwards on impact, whilst the central and outboard chin stiffeners give rigidity to the lower structure and support achievement of the leg impact regulations. Cut-outs on the front wing catwalks contribute to the achievement of the headform regulation."
When I went up in October to see my V12VR being built I saw one of the new Rapide's in the quality control area and it had great presence which I think will make it look fantastic when you see it. The one I saw was in something similar to Lightening Silver with a bright finish grill - so perhaps a little less showy than the launch car.
I really like it and wonder if the grill shape will carry through to an AM SUV (if they build it
) so you would have different shaped grill for the sports cars and for four door cars? Just a thought 
I really like it and wonder if the grill shape will carry through to an AM SUV (if they build it
) so you would have different shaped grill for the sports cars and for four door cars? Just a thought IanV12VR said:
When I went up in October to see my V12VR being built I saw one of the new Rapide's in the quality control area and it had great presence which I think will make it look fantastic when you see it. The one I saw was in something similar to Lightening Silver with a bright finish grill - so perhaps a little less showy than the launch car.
I really like it and wonder if the grill shape will carry through to an AM SUV (if they build it ) so you would have different shaped grill for the sports cars and for four door cars? Just a thought
I really like it and wonder if the grill shape will carry through to an AM SUV (if they build it
) so you would have different shaped grill for the sports cars and for four door cars? Just a thought 
speech said:
What is this sudden obsession with gaping front grilles? First Audi, then Lexus, now Aston??
Neil1300R said:
Aston Martin's press release said:
"The lowered engine, new bonnet, new front bumper construction and new grille combine to deliver a uniquely innovative approach to pedestrian impact protection.
"The patent-pending design – which features a unique ‘keystone’ construction – enables the grille to move rearwards on impact, whilst the central and outboard chin stiffeners give rigidity to the lower structure and support achievement of the leg impact regulations. Cut-outs on the front wing catwalks contribute to the achievement of the headform regulation."
"The patent-pending design – which features a unique ‘keystone’ construction – enables the grille to move rearwards on impact, whilst the central and outboard chin stiffeners give rigidity to the lower structure and support achievement of the leg impact regulations. Cut-outs on the front wing catwalks contribute to the achievement of the headform regulation."
yeti said:
speech said:
What is this sudden obsession with gaping front grilles? First Audi, then Lexus, now Aston??
Neil1300R said:
Aston Martin's press release said:
"The lowered engine, new bonnet, new front bumper construction and new grille combine to deliver a uniquely innovative approach to pedestrian impact protection.
btw I'm all for pedestrian safety but not when it's turned a beautiful car into an ugly one. IMO.
speech said:
I did. But you're telling me the only way to make these cars safer for pedestrians is to have these awful gaping grilles?
quite the opposite - aston today proudly announced this car has the largest grille to meet current pedestrian impact regs............implication being that first they wanted the large grille, then they found a way to make it meet current standardsspeech said:
I did. But you're telling me the only way to make these cars safer for pedestrians is to have these awful gaping grilles?
btw I'm all for pedestrian safety but not when it's turned a beautiful car into an ugly one. IMO.
Probably not the only way... but probably the cheapest way, it's an instant deformable structure.btw I'm all for pedestrian safety but not when it's turned a beautiful car into an ugly one. IMO.
The Vanquish lines aren;t quite right because of the raised bonnet height as well, same reasons.
Surely people should just kook where they are going? If they promise to do that, I promise to look where I am driving and then no-one gets hit. Simple.
There are some nice revisions to this car and I hope it sells well. It has to do batlle with a few strong 4 door contenders which together command around 70% of the 4 door market share. Most Of these cars were around when the rapide had around 6% of the market share and the question is, will these revisions really change the perception of the car to improve on market share by winning over buyers from the other mainstream 4 door cars?
At first launch, common feedback from some markets that had poor sales performance was that the car was just too darn 'bling', I'm not sure if the direction of the car has gone in is in the way the likely buyers of this car would have liked it to have gone?
Perhaps I'm just too much of a purist and this is strange to only me, but, shouldn't the multi person heavier GT cruiser have more torque and less power that the other V12 models in the range to counteract all that extra weight?? Also, the strategy of the 4 door GT cruiser having more power in the same production year as V12Vzagato and V12VR is either puzzling or something too subtle for the likes of me to understand is going on??
I would love to own Rapide but the whole concept of 4 door sports is still flawed and always will be IMO. Whenever I loaded the family into Rapide and hit the loud pedal I just got complained at meaning I might as well have a V12V for me and a Range Rover sport and change to lug others around in, instaed of the 4 door sports, This is another reason why in reality the extra 50 horses is surely pointless in this car?
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