Four-door Aston Martin Rapide S has received a considerable power hike as part of a comprehensive mid-life refresh ahead of its debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

The attractive four-door saloon has received the "S" moniker to match a 5.9-liter V12 engine that churns out 550 horsepower and 457 lb-ft, representing an 81 HP (59 kW) increase over the pre-facelift variant.

As a result the 2014 Aston Martin Rapide S goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, onto a top speed of 190 mph. To keep the extra power in check, the S packs the latest generation of Aston Martin's Adaptive Damping System. The system now offers three distinct settings: 'Normal', 'Sport' and 'Track'.

Exterior styling changes are minimal, with a more imposing front grille. There's also a few other exterior styling tweaks throughout, including the rear decklid and an optional Carbon Exterior Pack.

On the inside it gets new piano black trim, Duotone perforated red and black leather seats. The rear seats can be folded flat to almost treble the load volume to just shy of 900 litres.

The Aston Martin Rapide S will be heading to North American dealerships in mid-2013 and official pricing hasn't been announced but expect a starting price of around £150,000.

[alert style="white"] Hi-Res Gallery: 2014 Aston Martin Rapide S (17 pictures) [/alert]

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Aston Martin owner Investment Dar Co. has received competing bids from Investindustrial and Mahindra & Mahindra for half of the sports car maker, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

According to reports, Toyota and Mahindra & Mahindra want to acquire Aston Martin, and has sought $800 million for its 64-percent share in the English automaker.

The winning bidder will get 40 percent equity and 50 percent of the voting rights, while the rest will be retained by Investment Dar, other Kuwaiti investors and AM management.

Aston Martin's adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization last year fell 18 percent to 76.2 million pounds, with deliveries steady at about 4,200 vehicles.

British luxury brand has revealed the latest model, with a mission to replace Aston Martin Vanquish production ceased in 2007.

We caught interesting projects from a first year Automotive and Transport Design student at the Coventry University. With stylish design lines of the One-77 supercar, The alias 'Mcflurry1992' has been sketches make it look so "cute".

Add some information, the fourth generation of Aston Martin Vanish architecture wrapped in a full body of carbon fiber. The car a capacity of 565 hp at 6750 rpm / minute (up 55 horsepower from DBS), capable of 4.1-second 0-60 mph runs, a top speed of 183 mph.

Slide down to take a look at the rest of the images and tell us what you thin in the comments.

[alert style="green"] Aston Martin Vanish photos [/alert]

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