Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The 2011 Aston Martin Rapide Specs and photos

 The 2011 Aston Martin Rapide

The 2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide
2011 Aston Martin Rapide

h2011 Aston Martin Rapide

The 2011 Aston Martin Rapide features a hand-built 6.0-liter V12 engine producing 470 horsepower with peak power being delivered at 6,000 rpm and 443 pound-feet of peak torque at 5,000 rpm. A specifically tuned six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission allows the driver to change gears automatically or manually via the steering column-mounted magnesium paddles.

As one can see, the production version is very similar to the concept car, but does swap out quad-air intakes for upper and lower grilles. The rear of the car has strong family ties to other Aston Martin models, and sports 'smoked' rear taillights.

Continuing its series of firsts and oddities for the brand, the Rapide is the first ever Aston Martin built outside of the United Kingdom, thanks to a partnership up with Magna Steyr. Given a strong interest in the Rapide, Aston Martin says it will build between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year, up from an original estimate of 500 or less.

Like Aston's other models, the Rapide is built on the company's VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture -- the same that underpins the DB9. The Rapide will also borrow its twelve-cylinder powerplant from the DBS, DB9 and Vantage models -- although power will be increased from 450 horsepower to 470.

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