On the road in the Aston Rapide
19 August 2009
Autocar's Steve Cropley has been given exclusive access to the Aston Martin Rapide, joining the development team during hot weather testing in Kuwait.
Riding in Aston's DB9-based £150,000 four-door, which is due to go on sale next year, Cropley had an unrivalled opportunity to learn about the new car as it was pounded in temperatures beyond 50 degrees centigrade.
"It was remarkable how good the development car was," says Cropley. "It had a discreet engine note, an absence of rattles,, Alcantara headlining, double-stitched leather and a general aura of luxury.
"From the front passenger's seat the car reminded me a lot of a DB9, mainly because its fascia is so familiar. So are the mechanical bits; the 6.0-litre V12 engine has the same 470bhp output, though the torque and throttle curves are being tweaked to suit saloon users."
Cropley says of his ride in the back of the car: "The Rapide is not the easiest rear compartment I've ever climbed into, but once installed I was comfortable. There was enough knee and head room to be snug and comfortable, and the rear seat was a little higher than the front so there was a decent view ahead, which I prefer.
"Though cautioned not to take much notice of ride quality - Aston will do more work here - I found the Rapide impressively flat and controlled, more sensitive to coarse surfaces than an S-class but less so than a DB9. It seemed a promising compromise."
OK, mogoče sem bil malo preoster in moram reči, da sploh nisem šel niti gledat kaj je bilo napisano, ko sem zagledal tisto sliko.
OK, tip je napisal oz. dobil vtis, da je potem, ko se je namestil, da je bil v udobnem položaju. Seveda se je on peljal, jaz pa ne in tako gledano vsak lahko reče, da ima njegovo mnenje večjo težo kot moje in ga ima - no argument there.
Ja, ampak, tudi udobje je relativna stvar, res je , da ne moremo pričakovati udobja Citroena C6 od tega Aston Martina, ker sta seveda filozofija in cilj te znamke drugačna od Citroenove, zgolj za primer. Da bi seveda lahko podal boljšo oceno "udobja" bi se seveda moral peljati s tem avtom - žal to še ni mogoče in glede na videno in ker sem mogoče vsaj tu malce več skeptika in tudi svojim očem zaupam in ne verjamem kar za vsako stvar ampak se tudi rad prepričam.
Drugič: zelo rad bi verjel temu vtisu, ampak tokrat bi se rad sam prepričal. Do takrat se mi zdi tole vse prej kot udobno. Tudi Porsche Panamera verjetno ni in tudi ne poskuša biti najbolj udoben avtomobil na svetu, vendar pa ima tudi zadaj dovolj placa, da ravno ne grizeš svojih kolen - nisem se še vozil v njej ampak je to razvidno že iz slik.
Ja, appearance can be deciving, but not this time in my oppinion.
Zaključek: Da pa ne bo izpalo kot da sem kritičen do konca moram povedati, da se mi oblikovno avtomobil izredno dopade in v tem pogledu je Panamera (pa ne da je ravno grda - but it could be better) en dimček v primerjavi s Rapidom. Zanimiva so mi tudi vrata, namreč kako se odpirajo - sodeč po videnem, v Aston Martin tehnologijo sploh ne dvomim, s tem tudi vozno dinamiko,...
Super avtomobil, sam zadaj bi si pa želel več placa, konec koncev je to le govora o ne ravno majhni športni
limuzini.
Bomo videli.
Lp
), škoda.
, kaj se jim je skisalo, saj niso resni, še C1 ima verjetno več placa. To so me pa globoko razočarali 
Sam bolj zaupam Porschu.
