Our Ed. spent time with the exclusive Aston Martin Rapide back in March 2011. Endowed with a 6.0-litre V12 that produces 350 kW and 600 Nm of torque, the rear-wheel drive four-door coupe was deemed not as fast or spacious as it’s closest rival, the Porsche Panamera, but undoubtedly beautiful, charismatic and worthy of Aston’s claim as “the world’s most elegant four-door sports car.”
It was two years later at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, however, that the British marque announced a more powerful and sportier replacement: the Aston Martin Rapide S. The same 6.0-litre V12 was massaged to deliver 410 kW and 620 Nm of torque, but also cut fuel consumption and emissions from 355 g/km to 332 g/km and 14.1 l/100km. The Rapide S is 0.3 seconds faster to 100 km/h than the previous Rapide at 4.9 seconds, and its top speed is up by 5 km/h tp 306 km/h.
The 10-year old VH (vertical/horizontal) platform still forms the car’s foundation, but tailored specifically to the Rapide S are a new dynamic stability control and adaptive damping system, with the later being adjustable between Normal, Sport and Track.
Of course the Rapide S also features a few nip and tuck details over its predecessor, the most obvious being the gaping grille. A more pronounced boot lid ‘flip’ features at the rear, while the alloy wheels are available in a new design too.
The team at Cars.co.za had a chance to drive the Aston Martin Rapide S earlier this year and produced the following video review.
