2010 Aston Martin Rapide

Aston Martin’s Rapide is everything to everybody. A four-door coupe: check. A V12-powered sports car: check. The best-looking sedan, ever produced: check-check. But then again how long has it been since Aston Martin hasn’t produced an absolutely stunning product out of sheet metal? Quite some time, for sure.

Built to compete with the likes of Porsche’s Panamera, Mercedes’s CLS the upcoming Audi A7 and Lamborghini’s Estoque concept the Aston Martin Rapide had much leeway to create a “beautiful 4-place sports car” after the Panamera’s grilling by the press for its styling and the CLS’s redesign. Under the hood of the Rapide lays the naturally-aspirated 6L V12 found in the DB9 (essentially a carry-over) but pushing out 470HP through a standard 6-speed slushbox with electronic paddles making mere suggestions to the Touchtronic. Performance figures aren’t impressive (see the HP figure) and they’ll continue to disappoint those who shop-by-numbers; 0-60MPH takes just over five seconds (the same as a 2011 V6 Ford Mustang) and on to a top speed of 184MPH (less than all competitors lest electronic nannies).

But none of that’s important right now because the Aston Martin Rapide is a DB9 with two more doors and that’s just flat-out impressive. Today’s eBay find is the first Rapide available on eBay and is finished in Tungsten Silver (a carry-over corporate color for the Ford-era) with black leather and over 600 miles on the clock already. Located in Miami and listed for a smidge under 200K at $199,000 this fine piece of British engineering, er… an elongated DB9 built in Austia… can be in your driveway to proudly claim your position as the first one on the block.

2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo

A German sedan with 500 horsepower is nothing new; nor is a twin turbo or controversial Porsche new to the automotive landscape. But what happens when all those traits combine? You get the Porsche Panamera Turbo, a 500 horsepower twin-turbo V8, 4-door Porsche controversy not-withstanding. Porsche purists cried and moaned when the car was released hoping Porsche wouldn’t follow the same route they took with the Cayenne. Well, after releasing an SUV some say a sedan was the next logical step to compete with Porsche’s other German rivals from Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

And compete they will with the quickest 4-door production sedan accelerating from 0-60MPH in 3.4 seconds. That’s quicker than any AMG Mercedes sedan, BMW M sedan, and even the venerable Cadillac CTS-V sedan, the quickest American-made 4-door sedan, which is powered by the supercharged V8 from the Corvette ZR1.

Reviewers all found something to complain about with the Porsche Panamera Turbo but no one claimed it was underpowered. U.K.’s CAR Magazine claims Porsche missed an opportunity by claiming the car’s design focus oriented it too much towards comfort and not enough on lightness. Road & Track magazine attempts to explain the styling  as the “elephant in the room” referring to the “ungainly roof and awkward slope of its hatch,” neglecting to mention the Panamera’s “elongated 911″ appearance the Porsche styling designers were aiming for. Overall, however, the reviews were generally positive complementing the speed and the cocooning interior most of all. Check out the reviews, videos and gallery below and decide for yourself before you buy!

Reviews:

Autoweek (an AutoWeek Drivers Log)
Car and Driver (Review)
Popular Mechanics (Test Drive)
Road & Track (Road Test)
Motor Trend (First Drive)
Edmunds.com (Road Test)
National Post (Canada, Road Test)
Times Online (UK, Jeremy Clarkson Drive)
AutoBlog (blog, First Drive)
AutoGuide (First Drive)

Video Reviews:

iMotorMag (UK, YouTube)
Fifth Gear (UK, YouTube)
AutoCar (UK, YouTube)
Drive Time (Review, YouTube)

2010 Mercedes-Benz E63

When a 4-door sedan has an optional “performance Package” you know it means business. The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 is the mid-level rocket-ship performance sedan in the Mercedes portfolio slotting slightly above the C63 entry-level sedan and slightly below S63 top-of-the-line sedan. All share the same door count, sub-4.5 second 0-60 acceleration time, similar AMG refreshes and the same AMG 6.2L V8. When installed in an E63 the 6.2L’s specific output is pegged at 518 HP or a 10 HP increase over the outgoing 2009 model.

AMG breathes new life into each E63 with an emphasis on improving the overall driving dynamics, and it shows. Each sedan retains the air suspension but only in the rear while replacing the front bags with steel springs in increasing the track to improve overall handling. The transmission is still a slush-box 7-speed but features a wet-disc clutch in lieu of a torque converter and a mighty switch on the center console with options for Controlled Efficiency, Sport, Sport+ and Manual, very un-Mercedes-like words.

Even more unbecoming of a Mercedes is the Performance Package which raises the speed-limiter to 186 MPH (up from 155) as well as the ceramic brakes option (cleaning your wallet of another $8800) but they’re squeal and fade free. Reviewers find this car to be the “end of horsepower wars” since its so powerful and enjoy the spectacular chassis dynamics. Read on to find out how the E63 compares to the rest of the 4-door uber-sedans.

• Automobile (First Drive)
• Car and Driver (First Drive)
• Motor Trend (First Drive)
• MBWorld.org (Review)
• AutoGuide.com (First Drive)
• Jalopnik (blog, First Drive)
• Inside Line (Full Test)