Wednesday 23rd January 2013

Aston Martin Rapide S revealed

Facelifted 558hp Rapide S puts some added spring into Aston's fastback four-door's step

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With a power hike to a healthy 558hp the new Aston Martin Rapide S has gained more than a new suffix to its badge and gobby new grille. Enough to transform sales from a trickle to a flood and sock it to the latest crop of turbocharged German muscle like the recently revealed BMW M6 Gran Coupe and Audi RS7? Aston Martin will sincerely be hoping so, not least with a new Maserati Quattroporte also looming.

As elegant as ever and now much faster too

Of course, the BMW, Audi and their Panamera and AMG CLS equivalents weigh in significantly less than the £150K asked for the existing Rapide. Unless you fancy going used, where a quick glance at the PH classifieds reveals plenty of Rapides for under £80K. Or pretty much half price after just two years and, in many cases, well under 10,000 miles under their belt.

Amid speculation about sluggish sales the press release announcing the new Rapide S asserts the Aston's beauty, which has never been in question. It is, according to boss Ulrich Bez, "the power of luxury in action" whatever that means.

Saying that the new grille is rather more in your face than the one it replaces, the Gen4 AM11 6.0-litre V12 (a version of that in the new Vanquish) behind it significantly more potent than before. The 558hp it develops is on a par with the turbocharged Germans and a healthy 81hp up on the 477hp of the outgoing car. It's still peaky compared with those forced-induction rivals though, peak torque up to 457lb ft at 5,000rpm from 442lb ft with 37lb ft more at 2,500rpm than before. Enough to dip below five seconds 0-62mph (4.9 against 5.2) and hit 190mph.

Pedestrian crash regs required new grille

That'll be the rapid into Rapide then. Though slightly improved it's still murdered by the Germans on CO2 and mpg - respectively 332 and 19.9 against 232g/km and 28.5mpg from the new M6 Gran Coupe. It's easy to say those able to afford such cars don't care but, like the rest of us, they probably do.

Moving on, the Gen4 tag is also applied to the three-way adjustable ADS dampers, together with further tweaks to the steering and controls to deal with the extra power. And, as you'd expect, there are lots of detail changes and upgrades to the interior packages, trim and extras including a new Carbon Exterior Pack.

Orders open next month with prices to be confirmed. If you want more there's a teaser video from Aston you can see here.

 

[Sources: Aston Martin, LeftLaneNews]

 

 

[legalknievel]

Looks big and mean....

[davepoth]

Looks like the 2014 Mondeo...

[Visionist]

What the HELL's going on with that Sh*t eating grille?!

Abominable.

[JDFR]

Whilst I love the Aston Martin grill, this is taking it a step too far. Otherwise, looks very nice.

[timothymcn]

Would the existing grill be grandfather in an exempt from these pedestrian safety regulations? As in, if there was no facelift, could they have kept producing the old handsome fascia, instead of <i>that</i>.

[Amirhussain]

Boring

[HAB]

Could do with a bigger grille.

[IDrinkPetrol]

Styled by Pixar?

[TAHodgson]

"Aston Martin's all look the same!"

Aston Martin changes appearance slightly (and I think well!)

"They've ruined it"

PH will never be happy...

[10 Pence Short]

Amirhussain said:

Boring

This.

I pass an Aston garage several times a week and I always find my eye drawn to the Maserati parked next door.

[405dogvan]

I don't hate the grille but we have things called Numberplates - where......

[Funk]

Good:



Bad:



They've actually made it uglier.

[Justices]

Feed it number plates! Or buy one in Florida and let it feast on pedestrians.

[simonrockman]

Yup. Much preferred the old one. It looks like a 'king Audi

[r11co]

TAHodgson said:

"Aston Martin's all look the same!"

Aston Martin changes appearance slightly (and I think well!)

"They've ruined it"

PH will never be happy...

This just looks like the same Aston (flanks, rear lights) with a crap facelift. Utterly awful. Aston really are chucking it away, aren't they.

[gumsie]

They had a winning formula with the looks at one time, but AM now have the same disease as Porsche.

Same old, same old. I'll take the Benz, the Maser or the BM thanks.

[jamieduff1981]

I wouldn't take any anonymous German stuff over this and I don't accept that CO2 figures and MPG should really factor in to the purchase of a car like this. Infact, I'd go as far as to brand anyone who tries to save money by looking for a more economical super-saloon an absolute moron, since the very act of buying the car is an expense which will eclipse anything else you spend on it.

Saying all that, I don't like the revised front end much. I still am surprised that someone thinks a f***ing Audi or a BMW is a sensible comparison to an Aston Martin. Why not compare it to a Mitsubishi Evo since they're quite fast too? Life will be over the day 007 drives a f***ing Audi.

[Dan Trent]

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."

So that's the official line on it at least.

Cheers,

Dan

[robinessex]

I drive past an Aston Martin dealer almoset every day, and I have no idea what the models are on display. I still think the original Vanquish was sensational, still the best looker, ( or maybe the one 77 ), all the rest are clones.

[redroadster]

Basking whale eating new focus st machine.