Aston Martin Rapide Revives
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. 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.
Although it鈥檚 not much, the small size decrease does show Porsche鈥檚 commitment to keeping the model as fun-to-drive as possible. Check it out in the table below. Stepping into the compact Boxster cabin, Porsche kept things simple and performance-oriented. In addition to the exterior bits Porsche carried over from the 996-era 911, the Boxster 986 also had a similar interior design. The steering wheel is a three-spoke affair decked out in soft touch materials and high-quality stitching, while the gauge cluster includes a trio of rounded dials. The tachometer is placed centrally in the cluster, while the speedometer is on the left and an ancillary readout is on the right. The central stack is also a carryover for the 911, with a smattering of hard buttons and knobs looking like they鈥檙e straight out of the 鈥?0s. The central tunnel houses additional switches as well, while the dash is a smooth compilation of solid shapes and other simple design components.
The seats get decent side bolsters and once again get soft-touch materials for the upholstery. Along with updates for the exterior, the Boxster鈥檚 facelift for the 2003 model year also brought a number of interior enhancements as well, such as the addition of a glove compartment - a popular feature for the entry-level sports machine. The update also threw in an electro-mechanical hood and trunk release, plus a new steering wheel design as well. In its day, the Porsche Boxster 986 was noteworthy for a number of things, including its drivetrain configuration. Power is routed exclusively to the rear wheels. This setup offered all kinds of good stuff for drivers. Now only does it provide a low center of gravity, but the weight distribution is also nearly perfectly distributed from front to back. Combined with Porsche鈥檚 legendary chassis and suspension turning, the Boxster came with supremely neutral handling characteristics, making for loads of fun in the twisties. Indeed, the sound that the Boxster made was part of the formula.
The Boxster also got the first water-cooled engine Porsche had ever offered in a non-front-engine vehicle. Although it sounds like a successful bit of kit, the early Boxster models unfortunately saw a number of engine failures over the years due to faulty cylinder liners. The liners would either slip or crack with use, which would eventually result in a number of coolant and oil issues. Also known as a 鈥減orous鈥?block, Porsche ended up redesigning the Boxster engine in 1999, implementing an improved casting process. The company also ended up repairing the faulty engine blocks by boring out the cast sleeves and inserting new sleeves, rather than replacing the blocks entirely. Throughout its production cycle, the Boxster鈥檚 engine configuration evolved a bit. Between 1996 and 1999, the configuration included a 2.5-liter flat six-cylinder, after which it got additional displacement, up to 2.7 liters, for the 1999 to 2004 model years. Finally, Porsche introduced an even-more-powerful 3.2-liter flat six-cylinder for the 1999 to 2004 model years. Dubbed the Boxster S, the 3.2-liter cars got a significant speed boost, while the face-lifted 2003 cars were updated with a new intake and exhaust for extra go as well.