PHANTOM POWER

Riding and driving a Rolls-Royce in Japan

I SUBMIT: This Phantom truly scared me out of my wits. The notion of driving a car that costs more than half a million US dollars was more than a little disconcerting even for someone who has spent more than three decades behind the wheel (okay, stop doing the math, smartypants).

There it was, stretching a luxury liner-like six meters, glinting outside our Yokohama venue. Moments before I, along with members of the Japanese media, had been shown the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The regional reveal of the first-ever SUV of the UK uber-premium marque had been an unmitigated hit, and I could almost see in my mind’s eye a queue of one-percenters eager to plop their greenback down for a piece of the action.

“You can take the wheel,” said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Asia Pacific’s Brendan Mok, as if in prayer as he motioned to the Phantom. Then the panic set in. I was really going to do this. I mean, let’s be clear: I was totally content as a toddler in a sandbox (if the sandbox was full of down pillows, buttered popcorn, and some cotton candy) seated at the back of the Rolls.

Our ever-smiling Japanese driver (I’d like to say friend, rather) Shirota had picked me up from the Haneda Airport and I had to keep my jaw from hitting the pavement. As Shirota opened the suicide-style rear (“coach” is the more neutral term) door and I stepped into the commodious, well-appointed cabin within, I literally and figuratively left the everyday and stepped into a five-star hotel suite on wheels.

This was also the first time that I hardly gazed outside a vehicle during a journey, and merely tried on switches and knobs, opened and closed the picnic tables and screens behind both driver and front passenger seats. It was sensory overload, actually. You won’t know where to begin. You could kick your shoes off and stretch your legs atop the lambswool mat, adjust the A/C from your seat, pop open the drinks cabinet and pour yourself a bubbly in the excellently stowed Rolls-Royce champagne flutes, or just sit back and turn on the chair massage (with heating) function. While you’re at it, why not look up and… oh-what-the-heck-is-that? Oh, you mean those “stars” on the ceiling? That’s the full-length Starlight Headliner “depicting the night sky.” Some 1,300 optic-fiber LEDs are individually handstitched into the ceiling and in true RollsRoyce fashion, can be customized to preference. You could depict your unicorn company’s logo, or have your name spelled out, or even a constellation of choice. Surprise and challenge the people at Goodwood; they welcome it.

But when you’re told: “You can take the wheel,” you embrace the moment. Speaking of which, “The Embrace” is Rolls-Royce Motor Cars design director Giles Taylor’s vision for the new Phantom (the eighth of its line) “where nothing detracts from calmness and tranquility in this particular sanctuary. Technology is hidden until required, spaces and surfaces are clean, and the eye rests only on beauty as if in an art gallery.”

“Cocoon” is a word oft used to describe the Phantom — and rightfully so. You feel shut out from the world. “Surrounding us is more than 130 kilos of sound-deadening material… essentially it’s like a studio. That’s the level of cocooning that you’ll associate only with a Rolls-Royce,” concurred Mok. Double-skin alloy is used on areas within the floor and bulkhead, and soundabsorbing materials are packed between these skins.

He continued: “This is underpinned by Rolls-Royce’s Architecture of Luxury — an all-aluminum spaceframe that’s lighter and allows the car to have more of all the things you need from a luxury car such as quietness and smoothness while not increasing the weight of the car.” More than 800 engineers in Goodwood managed to make so much more out of the car that weighs the same as its predecessor.

Since the nameplate’s birth in 1925, the Phantom “has seen royalty, it has been the choice of rock stars, and this car is what the words ‘pinnacle of luxury’ really stand for,” added the executive. You. Can. Take. The. Wheel. So I did. Compliant, unperturbed, and unimaginably smooth, I totally forgot I was driving a 5,751-pound behemoth. Underneath the long bonnet, just before the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy, I imagined the efficient yet mammoth 48-valve 6.75-liter V12 smoothly serving up a maximum of 571 ps and 900 Nm — with the torque available from 1,700 rpm. This meant I didn’t have to be heavy-footed to realize grunt (in the Phantom’s case, it was a mere snort). Acceleration ability, according to Rolls-Royce, is a sprightly zero-to-100 kph in 5.4 seconds, with a top speed of 250 kph. Through it all, the vaunted “Magic Carpet Ride” has never been better, says the carmaker. It now benefits from “self-leveling air suspension” which makes “millions of calculations every second as it continuously varies the electronically controlled shock absorber adjustment system — reacting to body and wheel acceleration, steering inputs, and camera information.” Its so-called “Flagbearer” feature employs a stereo camera system integrated into the windshield to ascertain the road ahead, and helps the vehicle anticipate road conditions by “adjusting suspension proactively rather than reactively up to 100 kph.” Yes, the result is unmatched comfort.

But driving the Rolls-Royce is enjoyable at all speeds — even at standstill. The attention, craned necks, double-takes, and selfies are a testament to just how desirable this heavenly ride is. Even at Ginza — where many of the wealthiest shop — people stopped, stared, and ogled. We didn’t mind that the attention was not for us, but for our royal chariot.

As my experience aboard the incredible vehicle drew to an end, there was still a doubt that persisted — one that I am not worried about settling: Is the Rolls-Royce Phantom a bucket-list ride, or a bucket-list drive? I certainly don’t mind calling it both.