Cars produced by british producer Aston Martin have always been fascinating and breath taking sports vehicles. Owning one of these cars is a fantastic experience. But now Aston Martin is going to give us something very special and different. The new concept car Aston Martin Rapide. This vehicle is a pure sports car, but with four door. It also comes with high performance and remarkable poise and grace.
The Rapide is actually more of a Grand Tourer to drive than a thoroughbred sports car and the steering feels correspondingly light. However unlike high-end luxury sedans such as the BMW 7-Series or the Mercedes S-Class there are none of the meandering side to side motions that you might experience whilst cornering. In the Rapide the suspension can be tightened up even further to give a very firm ride. Engage sport mode and you can increase throttle response and the six speed transmission holds the revs even higher making acceleration sharper.
The last production outing for the famous marque, which was purchased by David Brown in 1947 together with Aston Martin and merged into one company, was the futuristic 1970s Aston Martin Lagonda.
While the car itself was beset by problems with its advanced electronics and did not earn a good reputation, the technical ambition it demonstrated as well as income generated from advance orders was credited with saving Aston Martin from bankruptcy.
The main purpose of the Rapide, however, is to allow for two extra passengers to sit comfortably in the rear seats. The rear seats can fold down for a massive trunk or you can leave them up to fit two adults comfortably for an average trip. And with the DVD system for the rear seats they won’t get bored, or you could decide to listen to the amazing Bang & Olufsen stereo system.
Though your Martin is a high performance car, you have the option to make performance modifications by replacing its super charger with a turbocharger. Super charger or the turbo charger is the part of the engine that provides the oxygen necessary for the combustion of fuel by forcing air into the engine. If you want the optimum performance from your car, your super charger or the turbo charger should pump the correct volume of air into the engine.
A 4-seater sports saloon has been in production for a few years now. It’s called the Rapide and most likely we will see it on the road in 2008. The Aston Martin DBS is another cool model presented to the public with the occasion of the last James Bond movie. Other concept cars have been presented this year, but there are no definitive plans to turn any of them into production vehicles.
Upon arrival, you will be ushered into a safety briefing that will inform you that the car you are about to handle is very powerful (but then that’s why you are there!) and general rules of the track will be explained. Then you will be taught the tricks of the trade: how to stay in control when driving forcefully, a rather useful skill to acquire.
Your instructor will then drive you around the track in a small sports car of some sort to familiarise you with the sensation of belting around the track, as well as showing you the racing lines and circuit driving techniques. Then the car is upgraded to something with a little bit more of a kick, such as a Porsche, so that you can show the instructor how it’s done and get your first sample of the power you are about to witness.
However the poorly executed, badly acted videos have come under criticism for devaluing the luxury brand, with comparisons to the very successful short films created by BMW in 2001/02 not going unnoticed.
