Aston Martin Rapid

The Aston Martin Rapide is a 4-door, high-performance sports saloon, which British luxury marque Aston Martin introduced in early 2010. It was first presented as a concept car at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in 2006 and the production version of the Rapide was shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.^[1]

The Rapide name is a reference to the Lagonda Rapide, a saloon car produced by Lagonda, now part of Aston Martin. The new Rapide is the company's first 4-door saloon since the Aston Martin Lagonda was discontinued in 1989.^[2] It is based on the Aston Martin DB9 and shares the same VH platform.^[3]

The first cars were rolled out in May 2010,^[4] initially built at a dedicated plant at the Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria. The factory initially planned to build 2,000 per year,^[5] but relocated to England in 2012 after sales did not meet production targets.^[6]

Rapide (2010–2013)

Specifications

The Rapide is powered by a 5,935 cc (362 cu in) V12 engine, producing 470 bhp (350 kW; 477 PS) and torque of 443 lbf·ft (601 N·m). It is rear-wheel drive and has a six-speed Touchtronic automatic.

The Rapide can reach a top speed of 188.5 mph (303 km/h),^[5] and accelerate 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.3 seconds, or 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.0 seconds.

Equipment

The Rapide's standard features include a tilt-telescoping steering wheel, bi-xenon headlamps and LED taillamps. Leather and walnut trim are standard, with metallic accents; power front seats with memory, cooling and heating; Bluetooth; satellite radio (US version only); and USB and iPod connectivity.^[7] The Rapide comes, as standard, with a Bang & Olufsen 16 speaker sound system with two tweeters that rise from the dashboard on activation of the system.

Rapide S (2013–)

Specification

As part of the 2014 facelift and revisions to the Rapide, the V12 engine is upgraded to now produce 550 bhp (410 kW; 558 PS).^[8] Performance improvements include a top speed of 190 mph (306 km/h) and acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) reduced to 4.9 seconds. CO₂ emissions are cut by 23g/km to 332g/km.

The Rapide S received further revisions in 2015, with a new 8-speed automatic transmission, a small power increase to 552 bhp (412 kW; 560 PS), and acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) now 4.4 seconds. And a new top speed of 203 mph (327 km/h). ^[9]

Production

Aston Martin opted to end production by sub-contractor Magna Steyr in the middle of 2012, six years earlier than expected. Production of the car was also halted temporarily in May 2011. In the face of a diminishing market for luxury saloons, and to match output to shrinking sales, Aston Martin has to cut annual production from 2,000 to 1,250 in June 2011 - and may go as low as 500 annually.^[10]

Motorsports

A Rapide S was entered in the 2010 24 Hours Nürburgring. Drivers included Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez. It finished second in the SP 8 class.^[11] This Rapide S was powered a new technology introduced by Alset GmbH, Hybrid Hydrogen system that enables to use hydrogen and petrol individually or at the same time in an internal combustion engine. Aston Rapide S was the first car to race the 24 Hours Nürburgring with hydrogen fuel.^[12]