Review of the new Aston Martin Rapide

Rear seat backs that fold flat at the touch of a button, ISOFIX child seat mountings, a 750-litre boot capacity - we're talking about an ordinary family car right? Wrong. Or at least, it's wrong unless your idea of an ordinary family car has a 6.0-litre V12 engine and a £150,000 price tag. The Aston Martin Rapide is a long, long way from ordinary but will the iconic British brand's take on the four-door sports car prove a hit or a miss with the demanding clientele who have the cash to buy it?

The trend for differentiation has spread through the upper echelons of the global car market like wildfire over recent years. We've seen BMW, Audi and Mercedes branch out into 4x4s, MPVs and various small car markets but top end prestige brands have been at it too. Porsche brought us a 4x4 then the Panamera four-door, Bentley has enjoyed success with sportscars and Aston Martin has developed the Rapide, its first production four-door.

It seems that one or two model lines in a manufacturer's traditional market sectors is not longer enough. These leading manufacturers are looking to exploit the powerful brand identities they've worked for decades to build by branching out with more products targeted at different customer groups.

Platform-sharing technologies have been crucial in allowing the expansion of these luxury brands. We're used to mainstream manufacturers using the same chassis as a basis for numerous different models but the Rapide uses a similar formula. It's based on the same V/H Architecture platform that brought us the DB9, DBS and the Vantage.

"The figures confirm that this is a four-door of the sporting variety."

Being an Aston Martin, the Rapide was going to have to go like stink, handle like no other four-door car and, perhaps most importantly, sound to its drivers like they're trapped in a mahogany wardrobe with a thunderstorm. Supplying the famous Aston soundtrack is the famous Aston V12, a six-litre unit that is mounted at the front but edged as far rearward as it would go in the interests of weight distribution - a near perfect 51:49 if you're interested. .

The figures confirm that this is a four-door of the sporting variety. There's 600Nm of torque at 5,000rpm and 470bhp at 6,000 which should be plenty. Give the throttle a prolonged stomping and the car will see 188mph before too long. With some nimble use of the magnesium alloy paddle shifters that control the six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic gearbox, 60mph can come up after just 5.1s.

The Rapide is rear-wheel-drive in the best traditions of the brand and the basic suspension is also that of a sportscar with double wishbones all round. Providing some concession to the car's long range cruising abilities is the Adaptive Damping System which adjusts the suspension settings according to the way the car is being driven. Ease off and it relaxes to improve comfort but press on and everything gets taut and more responsive. The dual cast brake discs are fashioned from aluminium and cast iron, combining the former's light weight with the durability and heat resistant qualities of the latter. They're big ones too, 390mm at the front and 360mm at the rear.

The Rapide sticks very much to the established Aston Martin design themes as seen on the Vanquish, DB9 and DBS but you could probably count the people who looked at those models and felt underwhelmed on the fingers of one foot, so why change?. The key challenge (that of adapting the Aston design language to the proportions necessary for a four-door, four-seater) has been gracefully overcome. The detailing too catches the eye, from the light tube sidelights that line the edge of the headlight clusters to the dramatic vent behind the front wheelarch.

All four doors open upwards as well as outwards to protect the nine coats of paint applied to the Rapide's metalwork from high kerbs or verges. They stop at 70-degree angles to the car's flank, providing a wide opening for dignified exits. The boot is accessed through the hatchbacked rear and measures 301-litres with the back seats in use. At the touch of a button, the seatbacks fold down electronically to give a 750-litre luggage bay.

Inside, a high centre console runs through the cabin, splitting it into four separate cockpits. There's a figure-hugging sports seat for each occupant and although space will be tight in the rear for the very tall, most adults will fit comfortably. The detailing is exquisite with hand-stitched leather, walnut and Iridium Silver detailing. At high speeds, the windows automatically move further up into their frames to improve refinement and each rear-seat passenger has an individual air-conditioning system to enhance comfort further.

You'd expect quite a bit of standard equipment for £150K and the Rapide supplies it. Electric heated seats, a hard disc satellite navigation system and a stunning Bang & Olufsen BeoSound stereo are amongst the highlights. There's even an Aston Martin umbrella mounted in the boot. If you're spending all this money though, why not go the whole nine yards? On the options list is a rear seat entertainment system with a 6-disc DVD player and screens in the front seat backs. There are also a number of different wood finishes for the interior trim and some 20" wheels to replace the standard 19" items.

Looking after the safety side of things, there are seatbelt pretensioners and eight airbags including individual head protection airbags for those in the rear seats. There's also the usual array of electronic aids you'd expect in a car of this complexity and price.

Running costs almost become an irrelevance at this aristocratic end of the car market. The V12 will have a thirst with few equals if asked to continually move 1,950kg of Rapide around at mach ten. Owners are likely to be more worried whether the next service station stocks Beluga caviar. If it doesn't, the 90.5-litre tank provides a theoretical 300-mile range so they'll have every chance of making it somewhere that does.

Aston Martin didn't try to be too clever when creating its first four-door car. The Rapide turns out to be basically how you imagine a four-door Aston might be. Thunderous V12, hand crafted cabin, elegant but sporting looks. It's a sports car with space for the family rather than an attempt to muscle in on the luxury saloon market and as such, it looks nailed on for success.

If a growing family or the advancing years are starting to make your supercar look like more and more of an extravagance, The Aston Martin Rapide is the sensible alternative. It isn't much more sensible mind, and that's its charm.