New Cars Review

Aston Martin Rapide has moved into the final stages of its development programme, on course for a public debut in late 2009, with the first customer cars due to be delivered in early 2010.Aston Martin Rapide will offer performance purity and the same level of sporting ability as all modern Aston Martins. Powered by a version of Aston Martin’s 6.0 litre V12 engine producing 470bhp and 600Nm of torque and, hand built at the company’s engine facility in Cologne, the Rapide’s rear wheels are driven through a highly responsive Touchtronic gearbox. Performance figures have yet to be revealed, although early indications are that the Rapide will offer class-leading performance and dynamics, alongside new levels of refinement and luxury.

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2010 Aston Martin Rapide price has been given at £110,000 in the U.K.. It’s supposedly 40 horsepower down on the Vantage V12 — 470 hp versus 510 hp — but if that price is right, the Rapide costs £25,000 less than the Vantage V12. While we’re fans of the brutish Vantage, that’s enough change for us to notice. So we’ll simply have to put the two side-by-side in Frankfurt to compare.

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