Aston Martin Rapide

The Rapide is the first four-door car from Aston Martin and the critics think it's great, it gets very impressive reviews.The Aston Martin Rapide looks beautiful, seats four in luxury, crosses continents with aplomb and dispatches your favourite B-road blast with genuine driving involvement.

Some suggest that this is the most refined and useful Aston Martin ever made – and all the experts absolutely loved it!

Interior

The Rapide’s interior is beautifully designed and will leave the driver feeling cosseted and special. There are acres of leather and the driving position is excellent. It’s cool to look at and to touch in one tester’s view, although it retains its Ford Fiesta column stalks.

The problems start because the Rapide is marketed as a full four-seater and it isn’t, not really. It’s OK once you’re in there (although you’ll start to feel a bit cramped after an hour or so), but getting in and out is tricky thanks to the small door openings. It’s so bad that Aston Martin even tell you how to do it. One reviewer said “think of it more as a sports car with rear doors and a hatch, rather than a limousine.”

Driving

The Rapide rides much better than any other Aston Martin, and some think that the steering is the best of the range too. Most comment on how communicative it feels, and the simple engineering allows good driver feedback and a sense of being involved.

The extra size hasn’t damaged the cars poise or sporting credentials, with most forgetting how long it is when they were driving it.

Engine

The big 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine is normally aspirated and produces 470bhp and 443lb ft. It pushes this to the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox; this is old-school stuff but beautifully executed.

The engine provides a “stirring soundtrack” and “howls” through the rev range as you change up and down the ‘box using the flappy paddles. The big car can hit 60mph in 5 seconds when you drive it hard and is flat out at 184mph.

It’s not about the figures, though; overtaking is extremely easy and rarely requires a down change. This makes the Rapide a crushingly effective long distance touring car, which is effortless to drive.

Value for money

It does cost an awful lot of money, more than most of its rivals. You’ll do the maths and the calculator will tell you to buy something else – but you’ll by the Rapide anyway, because it’s a honey of a car.

Worth noting

You can only buy the Rapide with one engine, one gearbox and only the rear wheels are driven. This doesn’t matter because Aston’s engineers are the most thorough and competent in the world - and they’ve done a fine job of joining it all together.

Conclusion

One tester said that it was the absence of niggles that impressed him most and all agree that the Rapide is the most accomplished and polished Aston of them all.

The Porsche Panamera is the sensible choice for the hard-nosed accountant but the Aston Martin Rapide is the one that the enthusiast buys with their heart.