ASTON MARTIN vANQUISH S - The Seen

FEATURE : RAPIDE TRANSIT
apparent that the Rapide is no mushy luxury barge, but a
committed and dedicated sports machine. Being 309mm longer
and 230kgs heavier than a DB9 of similar vintage, Aston Martin
was keen to sacrifice as little as possible of the DB9’s agility and
fine driving dynamics, and in that they certainly succeeded. (For
the engineers among you, to twist the Rapide’s chassis through
just one degree would require a force of 28,000Nm, which is
about 47 times more torque than its V12 engine produces.)
So, pretty much any driver would soon realise that the
Rapide is a fully-fledged sportster, and that’s without leaving
town, or leaning on the throttle in the slightest, or blitzing
through the 6-speed paddle-shift Touchtronic transmission, or
experimenting with the suspension and sport mode buttons.
And as further confirmation, and for those leaving London
on the A40, there’s the Hangar Lane underpass – a short but
not too short tunnel that bypasses the frequently congested
gyratory system above, but equally importantly serves as a
splendid acoustic chamber for chaps like me who like to drop
down a couple of gears while driving though in anything with a
fruity exhaust. ‘Brrrrrwaaaaaaahh’ really doesn’t do this
car justice.
24
Once out of town I’ve time for a quick listen to the car’s bespoke,
standard fitment, 1,000-watt Bang & Olufsen Besound Rapide
audio system, but soon have to accept that my knackered
old ears simply aren’t refined enough to fully appreciate the
tremendous sound that the system provides.
There’s also the occasional and carefully chosen opportunity to
see what happens when you do lean on the Rapide’s throttle,
and boy am I NOT disappointed. This car, in Sport mode, is
impressively responsive and very quick, but the public road isn’t
the place to access precisely how quick so you’ll have to make
do with its maker’s quoted figures, which are: 0-60 in 5 secs with
a 183mph top speed – pretty speedy for a 5-door hatch!
All of which leaves me wondering why one sees so few Rapides
on the road, even in the most affluent parts of London. One
reason, perhaps the only reason, has to be that £139,950 price,
now upped to £149,995. But with Nicholas Mee & Co offering
this one-owner, 5,000-mile Rapide at a greatly reduced £86,950,
what’s stopping you? Apart from the curious fact that cars
featured in FullBore editorials tend to find new owners before
the issue is released. But you never know…
Click here to see full description of this car »
READERS’
COMPETITION
In FullBore 14 we asked for which birthday did Prince Charles
receive his DB6 Volante as a gift from his mother, Queen
Elizabeth. The answer – his 21st, if you didn’t know already –
could be found on page 8 of the same issue.
The first name drawn with the correct answer was Nathan
Eaton-Baudains, who also informed us that he got an Allegro
for his 21st birthday, although whether it was new or previously
owned we’ve yet to discover! Anyway, Nathan has won himself a
DBS computer mouse.
FULLBORE
The prize for this issue’s competition is a remote controlled
‘Skyfall’ DB5 model (see p.21), and to be in with a (good)
chance of winning you only have to provide a slightly witty or
otherwise vaguely clever caption to the photo here.
Your entries on an email please to info@nicholasmee.co.uk,
(or call 01243 755055). As usual, the first name to be drawn with
what we deem to be the best caption will be the winner.