2014 Aston Martin Rapide S

Specifications

1. A 6.0-liter V12 sends 550 HP and 457 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. 2. One transmission offered: a six-speed push-button automatic. 3. The Rapide S has room for four passengers but the rear seats are cramped. 4. The model provided for AutoGuide’s evaluation cost $217,449.

Preview

Arguably, Aston Martin is most famous for its two-door and drop-top cars, products like the DB9 or Vanquish Volante. In fact they only build one sedan, the Rapide S, but just because this car has twice as many access portals as other Astons doesn’t mean it’s a disappointment. It’s still a design masterpiece with performance that’s difficult to beat.

The Rapide’s body is tremendously sculpted, with wide hips, a tapering roofline and long hood that seems to stretch outward to the horizon and beyond. Its bodywork is simply gorgeous. This is a car that doesn’t just get looks from passersby, it commands attention from pedestrians and other motorists. It’s a wonder there aren’t more crashes near it because of distracted drivers trying to snap pictures with their cell phones.

Like other Aston Martins, the Rapide’s exterior door handles are flush mounted with the body skin. They require a light push of the finger in order to pop out the graspable portion of the lever. It’s an exceedingly cool touch that makes the car feel that much more special and probably aids in aerodynamics as well.

Of course all of this loveliness hasn’t escaped the eyes of people at Aston Martin. Their consumer website boldly proclaims the Rapide S to be “The World’s Most Beautiful 4-Door Sports Car.” Is that an overstatement? Perhaps, but walk around it a few times and you might be inclined to agree with them.

The Rapide S is built atop the company’s bonded aluminium VH architecture, which stands for “vertical horizontal.” It’s a nice, stiff structure that rewards the driver in many ways.

Interior

The Skyfall Silver Rapide S provided for evaluation was dressed to kill, as was its interior. The cabin was trimmed in buttery soft leather; just about every surface was covered in the fragrant material, from the dashboard, to the seats to the door panels. The vivid crimson hue splashed throughout is called Chancellor Red (it’s one of more than 30 available colors) and it’s accented with contrast stitching.

For all of the interior’s opulence there are a few curious missteps. The radio and climate-control display for instance is pixilated and grainy. It would look more appropriate in a decade-old Toyota Camry than in this six-figure supersedan. The same is true of the small screen in the instrument cluster, which is reminiscent of a graphing calculator, though the 220 mile-an-hour speedometer proves this car means business!

The key slots into a mortise located at the top of the center stack; you push it in and hold it to start the engine. This slot is flanked by a series of push-buttons that control the transmission.

Though not quite claustrophobic, the driving position is narrow and confined. Similarly, the view out is obscured by large blind spots. The windows are small and looking through them is like holding a hand in front of your eyes and peering through the gaps between your fingers. A backup camera and ultrasonic parking sensors do make things a little easier.

While far from a machine designed to haul cargo the Rapide S does offer a surprising amount of room for luggage, given how tight its passenger accommodations are. The rear seatbacks fold down as does the cargo divider, which provides a nice, flat storage space that’s probably generous enough for a pair of golf bags. Still, this car is designed to haul ass, not junk.

Under The Hood

And if posterior could be packaged into uniform-sized parcels the Rapide S would be able to transport a lot more than many other road-going vehicles. It’s powered by 6.0-liters of naturally aspirated displacement spread across a dozen cylinders.

This powerplant is extraordinary; it’s one of my favorite engines EVER built by any manufacturer. It’s so unbelievably smooth and linear. No matter where the tachometer needle is pointing there are absolutely no lumps, bumps or jerks; it’s almost completely free of vibration and harshness. Best of all it sings like a choir of angels, with a melodious exhaust snarl that forces you to rev it up just to hear the glorious cry.

Hyperbole aside this machine delivers an advertised 550 brake horsepower with 457 lb-ft of torque. All of those goodies are routed to the Rapide’s rear wheels through a well-mannered six-speed “Touchtronic 2” automatic transmission.

Other manufacturers have moved beyond gearboxes with only half a dozen ratios but this unit is hard to fault. It’s silky smooth when you need it to be, but can bang off rapid-fire up-shifts when you want it to.The transmission conspires with the car’s V12 to deliver a zero to 100 km/h sprint in just 4.9 seconds.