The Bosses Car #2 - Aston Martin Rapide

Regular readers may remember a couple of months ago when i visited the Morgan factory I happened across Charles Morgan's limited edition Aeromax.



A couple of weeks ago I happened across Dave Richards, personal transport this fabulous 'large and in charge' Aston Martin Rapide while visiting Prodrive.



The Rapide is Aston Martin's top of the range 4 door saloon, a successor to the Aston Martin V8 based Series 1 Aston Martin Lagonda of 1974/74 of which just 7 were built.



The 2010 Rapide is powered by a 470 hp 5935cc / 362 cui V12 ...



that is shared in common with both the DB9 and V12 Vanquish.



This is only the second Rapide I have ever seen and it still surprises me how graceful this four dour DB9 looks.



Surprisingly this range topping model of of a well known British Marque is actually assembled at a dedicated Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria.



The standstill to 62mph performance time of 5.2 seconds and top speed of 184 mph will undoubtedly helped a near standard Rapide take second in class during the 24 hour race at the Nurburgring in 2010.

More on Aston Martin and the Rapide Luxe can be seen up the Drive Channel.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Austrian built edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres, and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Sick Bag Not Included - Prodrive P2

In 2006 David Richards tasked every department in the Prodrive Group with developing the Prodrive P2 into a fully functional concept car in order to demonstrate " the perfect manifestation of what happens when our inspirational ideas combine with our innovative approach.”



Development from designs by Peter Stevens, whose portfolio includes the Jaguar XJR 15 and McLaren F1, to fully functioning vehicle took just 9 (nine) months.



Prodrive started by using a much modified All Wheel Drive Subaru R1 platform around which to build the P2.



Under the hood lurks a 345 hp turbocharged Subaru flat four taken from the Subaru World Rally Championship (WRC) programme complete with Prodrives Anti Lag System (ALS) tuned for the road that minimises turbo lag by burning fuel in the exhaust system at low rpm which keeps the turbo turbine spinning at high speed. Such systems which increase the throttle response of turbocharged vehicles were banned from Formula One in 1981.



The P2 also uses a modified version of the Subaru (WRC) drive train which features Prodrives ATD™ system which compares what the driver is expecting with what the vehicle is providing. The system modulates torque to individual wheels using a differential control system.

In a four wheel drive application such as the P2, if the car is understeering / pushing, then the system will deliver more torque to the back wheels, making it behave more like a rear wheel drive car; if the car is oversteering / loose then more torque will be delivered to the front wheels. ATD™ enables the car to be driven through corners at much higher speeds.



When a well known large presenter of a well known motoring programme tried the P2 with the ATD™ switched on he apparently drove the P2 in such a tight circle at such high speeds he made himself ill and had to stop the car and open the door to spill his diced carrots and peas on the tarmac.



With a power to weight ratio of 350 hp per tonne the P2 can reach 62 mph in 4 seconds and a top speed of 174 mph.

Prodrive estimated that it would have been able to retail the P2 for around £40,000 / $ 65,000 in 2006, but declined to manufacture the vehicle themselves.

Hope you have enjoyed the ride in today's ATD™ edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Inspiration and Innovation - Prodrive Factory Visit

I was privileged to join fellow members of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club and Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams on a factory tour of the Prodrive Factory over the weekend.



David Richards a qualified chartered accountant and 1981 World Championship Winning Rally co-driver who started his business as a motor sport consultant in the middle east, says of his company that it's purpose is to 'inject excitement'.



That injection of excitement is backed with 25 years of Championship winning motor sports success that includes rallying



and racing ...



to the very highest levels including two spells in which David Richards ran teams in Formula One.



In 2006 Prodrive built a fully working concept car, but declined to put it into production,



After numerous successes running Aston Martin racing teams ...



David Richards led a consortium of investors in a $925 million take over of Aston Martin in 2007,



a company of which he is now the Chairman.

It was uplifting to see British engineering is alive and well in Banbury, Oxfordshire with a fascinating range of activity including the assembly of a range of competition vehicles, computer operated machining of a huge variety of items from solid blocks of material, and truly mind boggling assembly of competition spec wiring looms, if your into engineering and or motor sport the Prodrive tour run by the effervescent Jackie Irwin, who has petrol running through her veins, is an absolute must.

My thanks to everyone at the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club who organised the tour including Andy who kindly did the driving honours.

Hope you have enjoyed today's excitement injected edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !