Disappointed - AM Rapide

SUNSHINE said:

My brother and I recently saw and tried the Aston Martin Rapide. So excited to do it, but....I am disappointed at the end. I believe the Maserati Quattroporte (my brother owns one) is better in many ways.

First, it was difficult to look thru the front windshield when you drive and have a large view of what's ahead because the roof panel goes so far ahead of you. The rear seats are small and it is difficult to get in and out (and I am not tall...). The look/design of the Rapide does not show well in many colors (light blue/grey included).

The interior is of course magnificent (better than the QP). Great engine too but the difference in performances is not that significant (and is eliminated with the 4.7 and more powerful QP on its way).

Bottomline: for that kind of money, the Rapide is really not that superior. I was disappointed, I was expected something extraordinary.

Click to expand...

Certainly agree there are visibility issues with these cars
Also it is true that Rapide is not a proper sedan... the rear seats are pretty poor for adults...

The engine nature Rapide to Quattroporte is a bit different though.
I'd say the Rapide's is a bit more responsive, you get more immediacy and you dont really need to work the gearbox to get the torque out of the car (in the Rapide). I think it is great for a sedan to have a torquier engine, but the quattorporte has plenty of torque.

Maserati-Ferrari engines are very strong, and I am sure the Tipo 136 is, but i believe it would be more expensive to service the Masers' engine (the 136) than the Aston's V12.

To performance, I believe the Rapide would slightly edge out the quattroporte 4.7 (I remember seeing a vid of a side by side drag race). It would probably be good to have quite a bit of seat time in both cars before going into these details, because again, the engines are different in nature, and so should be the driving styles.

Also the chassis on the Rapide is relatively stiffer than on the Quattroporte (this is part of the reason why you get so little rear seat room). It benefits the handling of the car at the limit quite a lot, however i doubt that you intents were to fling the car around.

Looks, both look relatively well (the maserati being in 4.7 GTS trim, that is)

If i was to pick right now, it would be the Rapide, primarily because of the engine and the chassis setup. Aston coupes are quicker and more nimble, but one can see that when they added the two doors, Aston wanted to have as little compromise as possible (and made it a poor sedan instead).

In my opinion, the quattroporte makes a better sedan though, in almost every aspect (except for the engine).

EDIT:
Moneywise, Rapide is on the loss as well. The DB9 was an old car, which needed a lower price, by the time the Rapide went out, however, they could not have priced the Rapide lower.