The 6.0-litre, naturally aspirated V12 has had its power upped to 552 bhp, and it now delivers 630 Nm of torque, much of which is available from 2,500 rpm. There\u2019s a new, 8-speed automatic gearbox and adaptive damping system as well. All of which means that this long, four-door saloon will do the 0-100 km\/h dash in 4.4 seconds, and go on to a top speed of 327 km\/h.<\/p>\n
![\"Aston](\"https:\/\/cdn.yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/2018\/03\/aston-martin-rapide-s-red-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nHow does it drive?<\/h3>\n
Before we get to the drive, can we just take a moment to appreciate the stunning exterior of the Rapide S? We know that Aston Martin has since moved on from this overall design with the DB11 and new Vantage, but this is modelled after one of the all-time-great looking cars, the Aston Martin DBS. Because it has to accommodate four doors, the Rapide is quite a bit longer than the DBS, but Aston has done an incredible job of making the door and panel gaps flush against the rest of the body, meaning you can\u2019t really tell it\u2019s a four-door. And at the front, you still get that big, Aston grille and those angry, pointy headlights. It\u2019s sensational to look at, this thing.<\/p>\n
And that gets at one of the big plus points when it comes to driving the Rapide. People in the street literally stop and stare as you drive past. Because it\u2019s such a thing of beauty, the Rapide just laps up constant\u2026 well, adoration wouldn\u2019t be too strong a word. This makes it feel like you\u2019re doing the world a service by driving it about \u2013 because you make people happy when they see it. It makes the dull, grey world of BMWs, Audis and Mercedes just that little bit brighter.<\/p>\n
But quite apart from being a feel-good thing to drive, the Rapide S is genuinely exciting. That naturally aspirated V12 is star of the show. Even with the settings turned to \u2018normal\u2019, the exhaust snorts and bellows as you make your way about town, waiting to pounce. And when it does, the aural pleasure provided by this thing beggars belief. The engine simply roars. But it isn\u2019t a meaningless bellow \u2013 it\u2019s angry, for sure, but it\u2019s totally tuneful. Think of the engine as the lead singer of Metallica and you\u2019re about there. Except it\u2019s wonderful in just about every way.<\/p>\n
And the engine note isn\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s aggressive about the Rapide S. Looking at it, you think it\u2019ll be a gentleman\u2019s express \u2013 a comfortable, soft, long-distance tourer. But drive it for five minutes, and you realise that this is something much more sporting. Even with the \u2018sport\u2019 mode switched off, the suspension feels reasonably stiff, meaning you can take corners at speed and you\u2019ll stay flat and true.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the grip is monumental, given you\u2019ve got 552 bhp being fed to the rear wheels. Sure, there\u2019s some amount of electronic wizardry that keeps you planted, but even so, it\u2019s astonishing just how well this thing will devour corners at speed. Switch it over to sport mode, and you\u2019ll be allowed a little bit of slip, but in the real world, anything more than that is just inconvenient.<\/p>\n
The steering is pointy and responsive. It feels old-school compared to the electronic set-ups that you get from the likes of Porsche \u2013 in a good way. There\u2019s loads of feel through the wheel, meaning you\u2019ve got a good sense of where the fronts are pointing, and the kind of forces that they\u2019re battling against. All of which combines to make the Rapide S a much easier car to handle than its size would suggest.<\/p>\n
There is a price to be paid for all of this aggressiveness, though \u2013 a stiff ride. On the smooth roads of Dubai, this isn\u2019t too much of a problem, but you do notice it when you\u2019re navigating car parks or the cobbled streets of Jumeirah Beach Residence. Happily, things improve at speed, and the new 8-speed gearbox, developed with ZF, is beautifully smooth when you\u2019re not hooning about, so you could very conceivably use the Rapide S as a GT car.<\/p>\n
![\"Aston](\"https:\/\/cdn.yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/2018\/03\/rapide_s_7-v2-1024x685.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nInterior quality and tech<\/h3>\n
The design of the Rapide\u2019s interior is beautiful. Which is a good thing, because, if we\u2019re honest, it\u2019s getting on a bit. The luxury German carmakers update their interiors every few years, but the Rapide has had to make do with the same overall cabin layout as it\u2019s had since its launch. A good thing that the initial effort was so solid, then.<\/p>\n
The seats are stunning \u2013 front and back. Perfectly stitched and made out of wonderfully supple leather, they\u2019re both supportive and comfortable. In the back, there\u2019s plenty of leg room for an adult, and because there\u2019s no bench seat in the middle, you get the same sense of being cocooned as you do in the front. And the middle arm rest that sits in place of the bench seat is fabulous.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the are a couple of materials on the dash that rightly shouldn\u2019t be included on an AED 900,000 car \u2013 a few plastic switches here and there. But otherwise, if you spec the interior in the right colour (hint: beige), the Rapide S makes for a lovely place in which to spend time.<\/p>\n
On the tech front, the Rapide S really does show its age. Newer Aston Martins borrow tech from Mercedes, meaning they\u2019re bang up to date. But because the Rapide is part of the last generation of cars, it doesn\u2019t come with all of the technological bells and whistles. There\u2019s a new infotainment system (with a screen that rises out of the dash) that offers slick animations and the basics you\u2019d expect of a luxury car, but little in the way of stand-out functionality.<\/p>\n
For example, because the Rapide is so long, it could really do with a 360-degree, top-down-view parking camera, but it\u2019s only equipped with a standard reversing camera. Likewise, the dials in front of the driver are analogue affairs, while the likes of Audi give you fully configurable TFT displays. Don\u2019t get us wrong, they look great, and perhaps Aston Martin buyers prefer the old-school way of doing things, but if you\u2019re looking for the last word in modern tech, this isn\u2019t the Aston Martin for you.<\/p>\n
![\"Aston](\"https:\/\/cdn.yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/2018\/03\/2014-aston-martin-rapide_100437371_h-1024x614.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n![\"Aston](\"https:\/\/cdn.yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/2018\/03\/aston-martin-rapide-red-3-1024x576.jpg\")
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