Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf 2016 Review

Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf
First Drive
Newport Pagnell, UK

There are two ways to guarantee the exclusivity of a car – either produce very few, or charge a great deal. Aston Martin has opted to do both with the Lagonda Taraf, a saloon that is set to make the Bentley Mulsanne look commonplace and the Rolls-Royce Phantom positively mass-produced.

When the company showed the vast, Aston Martin Rapide-based Lagonda Taraf saloon last year, the official line was that it was only going to be sold in the Middle East.

Obviously times are tough out there at the moment, with the collapsing oil price turning many potential customers from billionaires into mere multi-millionaires, hence the decision to broaden ordering to other territories.

Aston Martin has since confirmed, however, that the Taraf won't be homologated for Australia and therefore won't be sold here – where various taxes would likely see its price push $2 million – despite at least one well-heeled Aston enthusiast expressing interest.

Around 50 have been built so far, but production must end by the close of this year, limiting potential production to around 150 cars. Both left and right-hand drive versions are available, with the ex-works price in the UK being a mere £685,000 ($A1.39m).

Or, in short, an amount of money that in pretty much any territory would enable you to buy every one of the Taraf’s obvious rivals simultaneously, while leaving enough change for the sort of week in Las Vegas that inspires movies.

But rational sense isn’t high on the list of reasons to buy this car, which is clearly aimed at those who put exclusivity above practically everything else.

Our invite to drive the prototype was in the UK in January, on some cold and rain-slicked roads near Aston’s ancestral home of Newport Pagnell, a world away from where this very car made its debut at the Dubai motor show last year.

But even the misery of the English winter can’t stop the Taraf from looking as exotic as a conga line in a snowstorm. License plates and a sheen of road grime can’t hide the swagger of what’s basically a concept car, and a palpable air of menace from its substantial dimensions (at 5396mm in length it’s almost as long as the Mercedes-Maybach S600.

Climbing inside is a bit of an anti-climax, at least it is if you get into the driver’s seat and find yourself facing the same dashboard and switchgear that’s fitted to the Rapide S – Aston’s oddball saloon-coupe. Indeed, the two cars even share the same front door mouldings. Sitting further back puts the B-pillars in uncomfortably close proximity to my shoulders, with the high glass line making it feel like I’m in a vast coupe.

That’s because, under the surface, the Taraf sits on a stretched version of Aston’s familiar VH bonded aluminium architecture, although with carbon-fibre body panels enabling the company to claim an identical 1995 kg kerb weight for the larger Lagonda. As with all Aston’s bigger models, power comes from the company’s familiar 6.0-litre V12 engine, here in 402kW tune, and sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed torque converter transaxle.

The back is where it’s at — the typical Taraf owner is only marginally more likely to drive themselves than they are to take the wheel of their luxury yacht.

Things are far more plush back here, with major engineering effort having gone into maximising space and trimming every surface with leather or something more expensive. Pretty much all of the 200mm wheelbase stretch over the Rapide has gone into extra legroom, and although the rear seats lack any power adjustment, they are comfortable.

Not that there are many toys in this example, beyond a fridge accessed through a flap between the rear seats. An iPad entertainment system is an option, but wasn’t fitted to the prototype. Of course, if sir or madam wants other goodies, it’s merely a matter of ticking boxes — and writing a rather large cheque…

Right, back into the driver’s seat and it’s time to put the Lagonda’s limo aspirations to the test. Although the Taraf has been retuned to deliver comfort, it’s fair to say that the fundamental Aston-ness that lies beneath has not really been disguised very convincingly.

Like every modern Aston the Lagonda has double wishbones at each corner, but unlike pretty much every other modern luxury saloon it does without air springs, having steel coils and switchable dampers.

A ‘quiet start’ function means the Lagonda purrs into life without the attention-grabbing blip that Astons usually deliver. The throttle and transmission have been retuned for waft as well, with slower responses to the pedal and some impressively deferential ratio stirring in Drive mode. It’s certainly well up to being trundled along in a motorcade.

Push beyond that and the Taraf gets better for the driver, but not for passengers.

Despite a low-volume exhaust, the engine’s fundamental love of revs can’t be hidden, and the lack of low-down torque means your first instinct is always to prod it into life with the long travel throttle pedal.

By the time the back-to-front rev counter needle does its anti-clockwise sweep past the ‘4’ mark things are starting to get interesting, with the Lagonda pulling hard and accompanying progress with a slightly quieter version of the usual Aston yowl. It keeps getting better all the way to the 7000rpm limiter – very un-limo-like!

The steering feels light but delivers decent feedback when you dial into it, and the chassis grips impressively hard, even with the stability control light flashing angrily on some of the wet surfaces we found.

The brake pedal lacks firmness, but the stoppers bite hard when you want them to.

The Lagonda is more softly suspended than the Rapide S, but although the stretched wheelbase improves ride quality, it’s far firmer-edged than the sort of magic carpet experience that buyers in this segment normally expect. It’s noisier too, with relatively high levels of road-roar and wind noise at cruising speed. It feels like a sports car that’s been disguised as a limo, which it pretty much is.

Of course, driving a Taraf in this manner would usually produce loud complaints from the back seat, and possibly even earn the driver a sharp prod from the owner’s gold-tipped cane.

It’s fun, but not really relevant. In fact, if Aston does want to spin Lagonda into an ongoing franchise then future versions are certain to become far more soft and pillowy -- especially if the company can exploit its new relationship with waft-meister Mercedes.

The Taraf’s exclusivity is guaranteed, and that’s without the sliding exchange rate. Anyone who buys one will likely end up with a completely unique car. Whether or not it offers any kind of sense is down to the value put on those bragging rights.

2016 Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf pricing and specifications:
Price: £685,000 ($A1.39m) in the UK
Engine: 6.0-litre V12 petrol
Output: 402kW/630Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety Rating: TBC