Aston Martin Rapide

The world’s most elegant four-door sports car - the Aston Martin Rapide: elegant, functional yet luxurious, provides space for up to four adults combined with an engaging driving experience synonymous with all Aston Martins.

Instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin, the Rapide assumes its extra doors gracefully to visually remain every bit a sporting coupe as its sister models. The four ‘swan wing’ doors open up and out at 12 degrees avoiding scuffs and scratches when parked next to a raised walkway, while serving the dual purpose of allowing easier access to the front and rear cabin. The opening angle of the doors has been increased to 70 degrees to allow easy ingress and egress. Front on, the new polished alloy upper and lower grill adorn the Rapide to give it presence on the road while the new front lights house a single lens bi-xenon headlight with innovative light tube sidelights subtly distinguishing the Rapide to other road users.

Specification

As the culmination of the Aston Martin range, Aston Martin’s engineers have gained much experience and learning from the development of the DBS, DB9 and Vantage range of sports cars – this wealth and breadth of experience has all been channelled into Rapide to produce a four door with unrivalled sports car characteristics. The basic ingredients have already been proven: the powerful engine, the lightweight yet stiff understructure, the honing in the toughest environments around the world and the exhaust note which is always evocative no matter which model. Applying these characteristics to Rapide alongside a car which is a practical four-door, was the engineers’ greatest challenge to date. The result is a car that feels every bit a sports car as its siblings, yet provides versatility in a beautiful package.

With the six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic gearbox mounted to the rear of the car on the transaxle, the Rapide’s weight balance is near perfect at: 51:49, contributing to its outstanding dynamics. This provides the driver with an engaging drive on twisty roads, and a refined, relaxed and effortless drive on motorways and main roads. The 20” wheels are clad with Bridgestone Potenza S001 (Front: 245/40 R20, Rear: 295/35 R20) but specifically for Rapide feature a taller side wall to help dial out vibration and contribute to a quieter cabin.

Technical Specification

Body

• Four door body style with 4 individual seats
• Extruded bonded aluminium VH body structure
• Aluminium, magnesium alloy and composite body
• Extruded aluminium door side impact beams
• Single bi-xenon headlamps with integrated LED side lights and direction indicators
• LED rear lamps and side repeaters

Engine

• All alloy quad overhead cam 48 valve 5935cc V12
• Front mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive
• Fully catalysed stainless steel exhaust system with active bypass valves
• Compression ratio 10.9:1

Performance

• Max Power 350 kW (470 bhp / 477 PS) at 6000 rpm
• Max Torque 600 Nm (443 lb ft) at 5000 rpm
• Acceleration 0-60 mph in 5.0 seconds; 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 5.2 seconds
• Max Speed 184 mph (296 km/h)

Transmission

• Rear mid-mounted ‘Touchtronic 2’ six-speed gearbox with electronic shift-by-wire control system
• Alloy torque tube with carbon fibre propeller shaft
• Limited slip differential
• Final Drive Ratio 3.46:1

Steering

• Rack and pinion, Servotronic speed-sensitive power-assisted steering, 3.0 turns lock-to-lock
• Column tilt and reach adjustment

Suspension

• Front Independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
• Rear Independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
• Adaptive Damping System (ADS)