RE: Jaguar XFR Vs. Aston Martin Rapide

[ZOLLAR]

Oooo i do like a good comparison! thank you ph tower's!

[Danny S]

So, why's the Aston LHD?

[Dagnut]

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

[ewenm]

Dagnut said:

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

Occasional usage I'd guess. Bit like why would you buy a Mini over a MX-5 when the back seats of the Mini are so cramped?

[monthefish]

ewenm said:

Dagnut said:

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

Occasional usage I'd guess. Bit like why would you buy a Mini over a MX-5 when the back seats of the Mini are so cramped?

But a Mini has 4 seats whereas MX-5 only has 2.
Both Rapide and DB9 have 4 seats.

[Zod]

Dagnut said:

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

For two kids under 12, it would be ideal. The DB9 is tight even with two much smaller kids.

[ewenm]

monthefish said:

ewenm said:

Dagnut said:

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

Occasional usage I'd guess. Bit like why would you buy a Mini over a MX-5 when the back seats of the Mini are so cramped?

But a Mini has 4 seats whereas MX-5 only has 2.
Both Rapide and DB9 have 4 seats.

DB9 barely has 4 seats. DB9 for when the kids are young, Rapide for when the kids are a older.

[Dagnut]

Zod said:

Dagnut said:

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

Totally agree, but why would you have this over a DB9 when the rear seats are so cramped?

For two kids under 12, it would be ideal. The DB9 is tight even with two much smaller kids.

From your profile your pretty much the target customer, existing BD9 owner who may need a real 4 seater, but you also have a large saloon which is just as fast and far more practical, so question is why would any one need this?
No one is going to buy this for ferrying kids about so what's the appeal of it? Very few people who own an Aston run 1 car...for me these cars are just creating a niche that doesn't exist.
Porsche press promo's for the Panmera showed 4 business travelling cross continent....how likely is this? It's all boll0x as far as I can see.

[Stuart]

Danny S said:

So, why's the Aston LHD?

The early press car we had was LHD.

I had the pleasure of a day in the Aston while we had it and I'm one of the biggest fans of the XFR. So I went into it very much with a hostile view of the Rapide and why on earth it could justify the additional cost over the Jag.

It does have some major inconsistencies, but I found myself falling for it hopelessly in under an hour. It is a very special place to be, particularly for the driver, and I'm not convinced that it feels any slower than the Jag despite the on paper times. If money were no object, I'd have the rapide in my garage. Possibly over and above the Panamera.

[TheRoadWarrior]

Stuart said:

Danny S said:

So, why's the Aston LHD?

The early press car we had was LHD.

I had the pleasure of a day in the Aston while we had it and I'm one of the biggest fans of the XFR. So I went into it very much with a hostile view of the Rapide and why on earth it could justify the additional cost over the Jag.

It does have some major inconsistencies, but I found myself falling for it hopelessly in under an hour. It is a very special place to be, particularly for the driver, and I'm not convinced that it feels any slower than the Jag despite the on paper times. If money were no object, I'd have the rapide in my garage. Possibly over and above the Panamera.

Thats interesting. I guess Astons are always 'heart' purchases afterall.

One thing that bugs me with the XFR is steering feel, or lack of. Is the Aston any better?

[samwise]

monthefish said:

I always thought the new Jag XJ might give the Rapide a bit of a 'doing' in a comparison test, but didn't expect the XF to give it such a hard time - good article.

I suppose it's back to the old situation - most of us would rather spend our £150k on an Jag XFR AND a 911/Vantage, but I suppose the potential market for the Rapide could probably afford both anyway.

I agree, the new XJ will certainly give the Rapide a run for its money, especially the upcoming XJR.

[cathalm]

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

(Aside from the noise of course.. which thinking about it could be all the reason you need)

Well there is a small matter of a supercharger in the Jag. Remember the non supercharged Jag motor produces 385bhp to the Astons 470.

[LuS1fer]

On the cost point, I imagine the Aston will depreciate a lot less than the Jag by being more exclusive. How much less is the question.

[johnhenry]

is it just me, but does the aston look abit odd? like not good looking, it looks all distorted and wrong. jag looks far nicer

[Thankyou4calling]

I think Aston have made a big mistake with the Rapide. The rear seats aren't big enough for regular adult use and even if they were, how often do we use all four seats anyway? There are plenty of real 4 seat super saloons for well under half the Rapide price eg Jag XJ, 7 series, S class, A8 even a Phaeton which compare in many respects other than the emotional or Heart question. Ultimately even the wealthy look at the numbers and I dont feel there is a big enough market for the Rapide. Would like to have seen an Aston 4x4 instead, now that would make sense to me and give the Range Rover some real competition.

[Stuart]

johnhenry said:

is it just me, but does the aston look abit odd? like not good looking, it looks all distorted and wrong. jag looks far nicer

Again, I thought this from the images, but felt differently in the flesh. The challenge for cars in this class is the conflict between the need to provide sufficient rear passenger headroom whilst maintaining an elegant front to back exterior silhoutte. I don't think that you can have both - the Aston's roofline is (IMHO of course) very elegant in the flesh, but it is at the compromise of rear passenger room. The Panamera is a very nice place indeed to be for a rear passenger, but it is a bit of a fat arsed munter from the outside as a result.

I guess Aston chose exterior aesthetics over interior comfort, and a buyer would need to make a similar choice. I think that package is well resolved though, and it is a super looking car in the flesh - long and low, and with a very long front door length compared to the rear to accentuate the length of the front 3/4s. Unfortunately it means that the car just doesn't work for a normal sized adult, however as a car for someone with two kids up to the age of about 12, it'd be great.

All of course my own views, and not necessarily those of Chris or the website as a whole

[vintageracer01]

Why versus ?

I' ll take both!

These both sedans are by far the nicest on earth.

[don4l]

Zod said:

soad said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Granted I've not driven the rapide, but what is the point of having 4 more cylinders and an extra litre of engine displacement when its 40bhp down on the V8 Jag?

I was thinking that too, plus it's more than twice the cost of buying a Jag!

Nice motor though.

You don't buy Astons with your head, believe me. I thought the same way for years, but then I had one for a week.

That is soooo true.

I was never particularily interested in cars - until I took a test drive in a DB9. It took all of 20 seconds to decide that I had to have one.


Don
--

[Luca Brasi]

Thankyou4calling said:

Would like to have seen an Aston 4x4 instead

The horror.

[sdmurray]

I was in a Rapide the other day. The points have been well made . . . price, looks, comfort . . . head vs heart.

The Rapide looks absolutely stunning . . . I would want one but could not justify it as my four seater car as it really isn't. Once I got myself into the rear seat, I was cramped but comfy although I wouldn't want to go for long in the one position as there was no room to fidget. I am 6ft and it was very tight. But that wasn't the worst part . . . try getting out of it! The sill is so high you have to really be flexible to get your knee up and then you have the problem of having to snap your ankle to get your foot out of the small gap between the pillar and the seat. REALLY hard and uncomfortable.

Add to that the incredible price and the head really takes over as it is just not viable.

Sad, but there's my conclusion (but I still think the Rapide is a stunning car!)