Rolls-royce Cullinan
When the world’s foremost builder of luxury vehicles puts its hand to creating an SUV, the results are spectacular
IMAGINE for a second driving through a puddle on a gravel road and hearing only the sound of the music streaming from your audio system. Imagine turning the music off and still not hearing the splash as massive 22-inch wheels charge along the wet road. What would it take to create that level of sound insulation; to achieve such an impressive feat of automotive engineering?
Well, a full 100 kg of soundinsulation material. And the expertise of Rolls-royce engineers. We’re talking about the new Cullinan, the ultimate luxury SUV for those who already have other luxury off-road models in their garage but need something with which they won’t get their pants or their dresses dirty.
Seriously, that’s a thing. The Cullinan’s doors curve round the bottom of the sills to make sure that, when you enter or exit the vehicle, you don’t soil the hem of your trousers, even after traversing an off-road track. It’s this attention to detail which sets the Cullinan apart and it’s this kind of thing that you pay many millions for.
Let’s be honest, you aren’t paying for the looks … unless you want your SUV to look like a RollsRoyce, which the Cullinan does. Alex Innes of the design team told us they weren’t sure how to approach it when they first began but they went with a traditional high-sided, three-box design for practicality and then gave it RollsRoyce looks.
It was inevitable that Rolls would make an SUV. Its customers asked it to build “the RollsRoyce of SUVS”. Those customers have a Range Rover, possibly a Bentley Bentayga, too, and they might already have a Phantom in their garage, but they wanted an SUV with the famous Spirit of Ecstasy leading them through forest tracks, across fields, through rivers and up mountains.
Which we did. We tackled Snow King Mountain, home to ski slopes for the rich and famous occupants of Jackson Hole where the Cullinan’s power reserve
needle barely even moved.
The Cullinan sits on the same in-house (not BMW, in case you were wondering) Architecture of Luxury platform as the Phantom although, at 5 341 mm long, 1 835 mm high and a whopping 2 000 mm wide, it’s huge but slightly shorter than its sedan stablemate. It weighs in at a hefty 2 660 kg but there’s a fettled version of the twin-turbo 6,75-litre V12 engine beneath that vast bonnet delivering 420 kw and 850 N.m of torque. It helps the Cullinan sprint to 100 km/h in just 5,2 seconds but, more importantly, it means effortless off-road power, part of the brief to create a vehicle that is “effortless everywhere”.
The power shifts to an all-wheel-drive system sending up to 100% of torque to the rear wheels or splitting it 50:50 when in off-road mode. That mode is controlled by a computer. Owners don’t want anything as crass as a number of off-road settings (although dig into the menus and you will find some). Instead, you push one button and the Cullinan does it all for you using trickery like torque vectoring by braking to reduce wheel slip. It’s got decent ground clearance aided by air suspension all round which can lift it to its maximum height in off-road mode and, as you would expect, it veritably wafts over minor obstacles. It’s not a serious off-roader, though; it’s more suited to gravel tracks, Dubai sand dunes and such like.
The interior is exquisitely handcrafted with millions of combinations for those who want their Cullinan to be as individual as they are. You can opt for a three-seat rear bench or two individual chairs either side of a drinks cabinet. You can have a glass partition to separate occupants from the luggage area in the style of Rolls-royces of old and all four doors can be closed at the touch of a button. The tailgate, or “The Clasp” in Rolls speak, is a two-piece affair which can be opened or closed using a button on the key fob.
The luggage area features options for different Recreation Modules sliding out from beneath the partitioned floor. One features two seats which glide
As you would expect, it veritably wafts over minor obstacles
out at the touch of a button so you can sit and watch the sunset from a koppie while sipping on champagne, but you can have almost anything you like. It’s all very Rolls-royce.
On the road, it is as re ned as a Phantom, displaying that magic carpet ride Rolls likes to talk about. Despite this suppleness, however, thanks to its rear-wheel steering, it handles rather well. It’s a car people will drive rather than be driven in and the ergonomics are superb (there’s even a slightly chunkier steering wheel than Rolls-royces typically have). Visibility is excellent and, if you think most SUVS give you a commanding driving position, the Cullinan is the commander-in-chief.
The Cullinan will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s not the ultimate off-roader. It’s not even the best-looking. But it is the ultimate in luxury and undeniably the Rolls-royce of SUVS. It is what the company’s clientele asked for and, what the Rolls-royce customer wants, they get.