Aston Martin, the iconic British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers founded in 1913, recently announced that it will be making a number of performance upgrades to its Vanquish and Rapide S models for the 2015 model year in an attempt to compete with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Ferrari. Designed to enhance performance, efficiency, and comfort, an all-new Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic gearbox is the largest performance upgrade, which will provide quicker and smoother shifts as well as a three horsepower boost for the Vanquish and a two horsepower boost for the Rapide S, while the torque will be upped to 465 ft lbs for both the Vanquish and Rapide S models.
Due to these minor performance upgrades, the 2015 Aston Martin Rapide S is able to maintain a placid luxury atmosphere even when reaching its top speed of 203 miles per hour (13 miles per hour faster than last year’s model) or hitting zero-to-60 in 4.2 seconds (half a second quicker than the 2014 Rapide S). The car’s sleek exterior has been tweaked for the 2015 model year as well, featuring new colors–“Divine Red” and “Sea Storm Green”–and new 20-inch wheel options that include diamond and graphite finishes. The 2015 Rapide S also features upgraded cabin materials, an all-new rear-mounted ZF transaxle, retuned springs and dampers, larger front brakes stiffer anti-roll bars, upgraded Bridgestone Potenza tires, and a new, more advanced Bosch engine management system that allows the 6.0-liter V12 to peak at 560 horsepower while cutting emissions by 10 percent and boosting highway fuel economy by 11 percent. The luxury sports sedan’s starting price is $207,820.
The 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish–including both the coupe and Volante models–also benefits greatly from the small performance upgrades for the upcoming model year. The sleek luxury sports car certainly doesn’t disappoint in the looks department, while its improved 6.0-liter V12 engine and all-new eight-speed transmission helps bring its performance capabilities to a whole new level. The 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish has a top speed of 201 miles per hour, peaks at 568 horsepower, and has the capacity to go from zero-to-60 in 3.6 seconds (half a second quicker than last year’s Vanquish) with a newfound immediacy to throttle response. The 2015 Vanquish also features a new, rear-mounted ZF eight-speed transaxle, an aluminum torque tube, revised chassis, stiffer front and rear dampers, a stronger rear anti-roll bar, updated camber and toe settings, lighter 10-spoke wheels on upgraded Pirelli PZero tires, new interior trim color options (“Dark Knight” and “Fandango Pink”), a new exterior paint option (“Diavalo Red”), and superior fuel efficiency. The Vanquish’s starting price is $287,820.
Scroll down to watch a video featuring the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish and a technical overview of the two upgraded luxury models, courtesy of Aston Martin’s YouTube channel. Visit astonmartin.com for more information.
Videos by Aston Martin/YouTube.com
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
