Overview
Perhaps you’re struggling to identify this all-new Rolls-Royce Ghost from the outgoing car, but as ever, the team behind it has really sweated the details. Not that anyone at R-R does anything as unseemly as perspire, but you get our drift. Apparently the only carry-over components from the first Goodwood-era Ghost are the Spirit of Ecstasy that sits at the prow of that vast bonnet, an elegant emissary from a distant postcode, and the umbrella that nestles within the B-pillars in that faintly Q-from-James Bond gadgety manner. According to CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos, "everything else was designed, crafted and engineered from the ground up. The result is the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet. It distils the pillars of our brand into a beautiful, minimalist, yet highly complex product that is perfectly in harmony with our Ghost clients’ needs and perfectly in tune with the times".
Interior
Rolls’ proprietary alumunium spaceframe underpins the Ghost, fully distancing the new car from the Munich mothership. It’s 30mm wider than the old car, a small but not insignificant amount that promotes a better stance; at 5546mm long and 2148mm wide it occupies a lot of road space (and weighs 2,490kg). Twenty LEDs hidden within the top of the grille offer subtle illumination, all the more so because the vanes have been sandblasted to reduce the ‘hall of mirrors’ effect (anti-bling, remember). Nautical allusions abound: the car’s proud snout is delineated by a bow line, the sills are helped by a ‘waft line’ which coerces reflections into doing the right thing, and the rear tapers in markedly leaving a surprising amount of rear tyre visible. (There’s also a hint of Rover 75 going on there, but that was an elegant looking car, if somewhat cheaper to buy these days than the Ghost.) The car’s hand-welded aluminium structure means that its body has a seamless flow to it, interrupted only by its windows. Well, as reductionist as this car is we can hardly do without those.
New for 2022 is a Black Badge version (images 1-6 above). Wraith and last-gen Ghost were the first models to get Black Badge variants in 2016, followed by Dawn in 2017 and Cullinan in 2019 and Black Badge now accounts for more than 27 per cent of all Rolls Royce sales. It’s all about appealing to a new type of customer, a younger multi-millionaire, or as Rolls describes them: “In the 2020s, these women and men engage with luxury products on their own terms. They reject suits for streetwear, use blockchain not banks and influence the analogue world through their digital endeavours. In doing so, they have created new codes of luxury that resonate with their sensibilities: darker in aesthetic, assertive in character and bold in design.” Rolls Royce press releases really are the gifts that keep giving, aren’t they?
Exterior
It’s a deeply clever car this, bridging the gap between the driven and the driver more comprehensively than any other luxury saloon. A Rolls-Royce Ghost is more refined for the driven, but the Bentley runs it close, while bounding ahead for the driver. It uses technology very effectively but doesn’t allow it to dominate. This is a swift, sure-footed and genuinely enjoyable luxury saloon, faster than anything this side of a Panamera Turbo S and way more cosseting.
And the spaciousness, design and tactility of the cabin lifts it well clear of anything a mass-market brand has to offer. For those who don’t require the giant performance of the Speed, the ‘entry-level’ hybrid makes a grand case for itself.
Technical Specifications
The Flying Spur is a very, very convincing car, luxurious, balming and stately enough to usurp the now-deceased Mulsanne. But awesome to drive too. It's more bespoke and special than a Bentayga and more comfortable too, even if it can't trump the Bentayga for off-roading or towing. But who, in a Bentley, does that? This a fabulous advert for the luxury saloon as a breed.
Total MSRP
$100,100
Drive Type
All wheel drive
Transmission
9-speed automatic
Fuel type
Premium unleaded
Engine
3.0 L, Inline 6
Engine Type
Hybrid
Torque
369 lb-ft @ 1,800 rpm
Horsepower
362 hp @ 5,500 rpm
Summury
Numbers? How about 0-62 in 3.5 seconds, and passing through 100mph just four seconds later. Mad. The less powerful version clips that back but only by four tenths, to take 3.9 seconds, and tops out at 167mph. The chassis features four-wheel steering and an optional 48-volt electric system that manages an active anti-roll bar. The four-wheel-drive system is more rear-biased and the gearbox is an eight-speeder with twin clutches. An e-diff sits between the rear driveshafts for a measure of torque vectoring.
The Good
If you want a rip-snorting super-saloon you need to look elsewhere. But clearly that’s not the point here, Rolls Royce has built its reputation around producing the world’s most comfortable and luxurious cars, it’s not about to throw that in the bin. Even the Black Badge upgrades are a mere massage to the Ghost’s character, rather than a full organ transplant.
The Bad
If you absolutely must have the most opulent of the opulent, there’s always the Phantom, but the Ghost does the same things just as well, and the Black Badge is the one to go for – a bit of marketing genius from Rolls that gently erodes the old-man image of old and points the Spirt of Ecstasy in a more future-proofed direction. Now, bring on Spectre.
Jeremy Clarkson
LuxxCar Expert
