"My Word, What A Big Mouth You Have" - New Aston Martin Rapide S

If you haven't already, watch this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-pJ2XaKu2o

I don’t think anyone has ever accused the Aston Martin Rapide of being a particularly unpleasant looking car. Ok, perhaps if a Porsche Panamera were to block the view of the Rapide you might accuse it of being a bit ugly and a bit fat. So it’s a good looking car, that bit is pretty clear, which begs the question; why has Aston gone and given it an enormous, almost Peugeot-esque grille for the updated 2014 model? Perhaps Aston Martin were excited about their 100^th birthday and so decided that their cars should look equally excited too. Or maybe the front was modeled on the Dubai-ian’s faces as they watched the new Vanquish make its way to the top of that famous ‘sail’ shaped building via helicopter – all wide mouthed and excited. Who knows what they were thinking. I personally don’t like the look, but who am I to judge what looks good and doesn’t. 

See? There's actually FOUR doors!

But, the update is much more than some mild, slightly gone wrong, cosmetic surgery. The 6.0 liter V12 has been updated so that it now produces 555hp and 457lb ft of torque for starters, and it’s been sunk deeper into the chassis, lowering the cars center of gravity and helping it turn in more sharply and more, er, Rapidely – Ha, see what I did there? A dad joke. The new Rapide is hence faster than before both through the bends and on the straight, it’ll hit 62mph in 4.9 seconds and top out at 190mph, which means it’s pretty fast, but not quite as fast as it’s less expensive and more roomy rivals. 

There it is in all it's glory. It is enormous. 

Despite the increase in power and gob area, this new Rapide is more efficient than the previous car. It’s now capable of delivering 19.9 mpg and polluting the environment at the rate of just 332g per kilometer, it truly is a hippies worst nightmare. To make things worse – or better, depending if you like tie dye clothing, or you’re normal – the Rapide has the requisite ‘normal’, ‘sport’ and ‘track’ driving modes. Even better is the fact that the modes designed for more exuberant driving turn up the exhaust noise to eleven, and what that does, essentially, is turn more carbon dioxide into more noise! What a brilliant idea. 

Aston reckon that by tweaking the transmission, upping the power, and improving the braking capability they’ve created “a sports car of unerring quality and excitement”. And the previous Rapide was already brilliant t drive so I don’t doubt for a second that this new version will be absolutely spectacular.

Among the mechanical changes to the Rapide are a few minor tweaks inside which bring a new ‘Piano Black’ trim package which includes darker instrument surrounds and finer headlining. The new Rapide should now be slightly more comfortable as well thanks to reduced noise and vibration levels.

The classic Aston interior still remains. Gorgeous. 

There are some small new styling details around the rear of the car, as well as new paint and wheel options but you don’t care about those, you’ll be too busy trying to figure out that front end. Has the Rapide lost some class and some elegance with this new agro excitable face? 

Pricing details are yet to be announced, however we can expect it to be priced very similarly to the current model.

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