Now this is a debut that’s long overdue. Aston Martin has been hyping on their own version of a hyper four-door saloon for almost a year now so it must be as satisfying as a poop after a bout of constipation for these guys.

Not much surprise with the car’s debuted version versus the images Aston has previously released. Minor differences include the loss of the small side air intakes on the front bumper and slightly modified side contour. The car still looks as an Aston should though and that’s a good thing.

Powering the car is a 6.0L V2 revised from the old DB9 that now dishes out 470 bhp which is mated to a six-speed ZF automatic transmission. Good thing Aston finally fixed their flappy paddles since those come with the Rapide. It’s a bit slower than the fleet-topping DBS but a four-door that can go 0-62 in 5.3 seconds and top 188 mph is still something.

Aston will be positioning this to compete with other performance four-doors like the Maserati Quattroporte and the Lamborghini Estoque. With the announcement of the impending doom for the Porsche Panamera, that’s more opportunity for the Aston. Quite honestly, why even bother with the butt-ugly Panamera if you can go for the Rapide.