Rolls-Royce Cullinan
ROLLS-ROYCE LUXURY SUV LAUNCHED
It’s the world’s most luxurious SUV, and the most expensive, and now potential Kiwi buyers are the first in Asia-Pacific to drive the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
Revealed to the media and potential customers this week at the Parihoa estate northwest of Auckland, the Cullinan is priced from $505,000 for the five-seater and $535,000 for the four seat version.
Named after the largest diamond discovered, now part of the British Crown Jewels, Cullinan is Rolls-Royce’s first high-bodied, all-wheel drive,
It is powered by a 6.75-litre twin turbo V12 engine that produces
420kW of power and 850Nm of torque at 1600rpm. It has a top speed of 250km/h and goes from
0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds. The Cullinan is 5341mm long,
2164mm wide and 1835mm high with a weight of 2600kg unladen.
Rolls-Royce showed the Cullinan’s two cabin configurations — Individual or Lounge seats. The five-seater Lounge variant’s suitable for a family on an extremely posh school run, with electrically assisted one-touch fold-down seat operation for the first time in a
Rolls-Royce. The two rear seats Individual configuration has a fixed rear centre console with the option to incorporate a drinks cabinet with Rolls-Royce whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and refrigerator. It adds a glass partition isolating the passenger cabin from the luggage compartment, creating a silent cabin for the occupants.
The Individual model had an exterior of darkest tungsten with an Arctic white interior while the Lounge version was gunmetal with a mugello red/black interior.
I was the first journalist in AsiaPacific to drive a road-registered Cullinan (with a colleague just seconds behind). We left Parihoa for a half-hour circuit around Muriwai, including gravel surfaces, narrow country lanes, and 100km/h open roads where we could test the V12 engine.
For such a heavy vehicle, the Cullinan was surprisingly nimble, but this SUV isn’t built for short spurts.
It’s a long road trip vehicle that combines all the classic RollsRoyce functions and styling with modern safety technology.