Tech tour de force
FOR Sublime build quality, engineering integrity, phenomenal refinement
AGAINST Heavy, thirsty, costs a quarter of a million quid
All-new, you say? Rolls-Royce insists that the only components carried over from the first Goodwood-era Ghost are the Spirit of Ecstasy that sits at the prow of that vast bonnet, and the umbrella that nestles within the B-pillars in that faintly Q-from-James Bond gadgety manner.
It also maintains that this is the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet, home to some new hardware that sharpens the brief to deliver a car designed to be driven by the owner as much as it is to be driven in. This isn’t quite luxury with a conscience, not with a 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 (563bhp and 627 torques) and much cosmically sumptuous leather inside to protect sensitive plutocratic behinds. No vegan interiors here, but at least the shut lines are great.
Rolls’ proprietary aluminium spaceframe underpins the Ghost, distancing the new car from the Munich mothership. It’s 30mm wider than before, a small but not insignificant amount that promotes a better stance.
The Ghost moves impassively and impressively given its 2.5-tonne weight. The modular aluminium chassis has had its bulkhead, floor, crossmembers and sills repositioned to improve its handling aptitude. The front suspension assemblies are further forward, and the engine sits behind the front axle. It also uses all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering for what Rolls calls a ‘purposeful’ new personality, ie greater dynamism. It works. Its steering wheel is a touch chunkier than it should be, but the drive selector is as slender as ever, its functionality blissfully simple to use. You don’t drive a Ghost so much as finesse it along the road.
What else? Oh yes, its ride. We’re talking almost mystical levels of compliance and control. There’s double wishbone suspension at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear, air springs all round, as well as adaptive dampers, although there is only one set-up and nothing is configurable. This wilfully analogue approach is hugely refreshing. The Ghost also debuts what Rolls-Royce calls the Planar Suspension System, which adds a mechanical mass damper on the front suspension’s upper wishbone to enhance body control. It works in tandem with the existing Flagbearer system, which reads the road ahead using cameras so that the surface imperfections are effectively erased.
And it’s quiet. As well as utilising the latest sound deadening material (100kg of it) and expertise, R-R’s acoustic engineers have identified ‘hidden inputs’ and examined every component to determine whether they create a sound that’s deemed unacceptable. The result is what R-R calls a ‘near-silent’ soundstage, although as humans don’t like absolute silence there are enough carefully managed decibels to stop you becoming
luxuriously discombobulated. Tyre noise is well suppressed, and the engine’s presence is theoretical 90 per cent of the time, and not even that pronounced on full throttle.
The Ghost is an incredible place to spend time in, replete with cherishable details. Rolls-Royce obviously prides itself on its incredible craftspersonship, and the fit and finish is peerless. There are power assisted doors with gyroscopic sensors to detect if the car is on an incline. Open-pore wood clads the dashboard, with a glowing Ghost nameplate on the passenger side that uses 152 topmounted LEDs and 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface. The air vents are stainless steel and have a pleasing resonance. A bespoke audio system incorporates a resonance chamber into the body’s sills, effectively turning the car into a giant sub-woofer. A big amp controls 18 channels to provide a 1,300W output. There are even active microphones to detect frequency imbalances which the amplifier automatically compensates for. Meanwhile, a Micro-Environment Purification System has ultra-sensitive impurity sensors which switch the aircon to recirculation if it detects airborne contaminants. A sadly appropriate 2020 USP.
Few cars turn the act of motorised forward motion into a more artful experience than the new Ghost. Beset with challenges as it is – not least from the rapidly expanding and ultra-quiet high-end EV – Rolls continues to go its own, somewhat idiosyncratic but always sublimely engineered way. There is great charisma here, and a pleasing refusal to ram the Ghost full of every last piece of new tech. Less is more, provided it’s also better. By any objective measure – and plenty of subjectives ones – that’s the case here.
“FEW TURN THE ACT OF MOTORISED FORWARD MOTION INTO A MORE ARTFUL EXPERIENCE”