Aston’s naturally aspirated V12 will always be one of the best-sounding engines on planet Earth, says Jake Groves in Car, so when it’s piped through a stainless-steel, quad-pipe sports exhaust system, the “aural delights are biblical”. It might drink petrol “at a similar rate to a cargo ship burning bunker fuel while sat in the docks” says Stuart Gallagher on Evo, but not a single drop of super-unleaded is wasted in the creation of its soundtrack and forward momentum.
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Visually, the Rapide’s svelte look has also been worked over, says Gallagher. This model comes with a new carbon fibre bonnet with additional cooling vents for the V12, a front spoiler, rear diffuser and side sills, and a lip spoiler for the boot. Unfortunately, there’s still not a lot of space in the back: “if you have been blessed with the gift of a head and/or are more than four feet tall, this will be a no-go zone”, says Groves. Overall, “it’s big, has the outward visibility of a submarine and is a bit OTT”. However, “this old dog still has some new tricks to show the sniggering, digital-obsessed, emissions-regulated millennial sports cars out there”.
Price: £194,950 Engine: 5,935cc V12 Power: 595bhp at 7,000rpm Torque: 465lb ft Top speed: 205mph 0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
This article was originally published in MoneyWeek