Is the Aston Martin Rapide getting more power and a facelift?

The rumours are growing that Aston Martin are giving the Rapide a makeover for 2013 with more power and cosmetic tweaks.

The rumours have been bubbling around for a while that Aston Martin are planning a more powerful Rapide for 2013, perhaps the Rapide S.

But that rumour seems to be only partly true, as it looks like the Rapide is going to get more power – and a bit of a cosmetic tweak – but as a facelift and upgrade for the existing Rapide rather than a new Rapide S.

The Aston Martin Rapide doesn’t appear to be exactly flying out of showrooms, so AML do need to do something to give their four-door saloon a bit more showroom appeal.

There’s no arguing that the Rapide isn’t a glorious-looking creation, but it’s a glorious-looking Aston Martin that’s relying heavily on badge to garner sales, rather than performance or power.

The Rapide starts at £150k (and it’s £162k if you want the Luxe version), has 470bhp and can hit 62mph in 5.3 seconds. Proper supercar pricing, but hardly supercar performance.

In contrast, the Porsche Panamera Turbo costs £122k and hits 62mph in 3.8 seconds, the new CLS 63 AMG costs £81k and hits 62mph in 4.4 seconds and the soon to arrive BMW M6 Gran Coupe will be a similar price with similar performance.

So the only area the Rapide scores on is looks, and that’s just not enough at this level. So Aston look set to offer the Rapide with something approaching the power of the new Vanquish, which should at least endow the Rapide with performance in striking distance of the offerings from Mercedes and BMW.

But will that be enough to make the still very expensive Rapide sell?