Yahoo Autos 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost Marks an Opulent Evolution
When we look back on the late era of the internal combustion engine, the new Rolls-Royce Ghost may well prove to be the last sedan powered by a V-12 without hybrid assistance. This is a distinction that might be celebrated noisily, but 220 pounds of expertly applied sound-deadening material has other ideas. This is a car that never shouts and rarely does much more than whisper. It seemingly requires wide-open throttle to produce any evidence of internal combustion, and even then the V-12 merely issues a distant but purposeful hum of the sort you'd hear on the bridge of a luxury yacht a few seconds after moving the engine order telegraph to full ahead. Many brands will struggle to maintain their identities in the age of electrification, but for Rolls-Royce it will be a liberation from the small amount of disruption its engines still cause.
Much about the new Ghost is familiar, for the simple reason that the first version became the brand's best-selling model of all time over a decade-long run. The new car is slightly bigger and considerably cleverer but looks very similar from the outside. Exterior styling is cleaner and less fussy, Rolls reckoning it has identified what it terms a "post opulent" trend among the sharp-end one percenters who make up its clientele. But although more visually modest than the full-baller Phantom, the 218.3-inch, 5700-pound Ghost is never going to be short on presence, especially now that its rear-hinged second-row doors have gained power operation for opening as well as closing. It also gets the option of an illuminated radiator grille.
Beneath the surface, all has changed. The first Ghost sat on the same underpinnings as the F01 BMW 7-series, but this one is based on the modular Rolls-only Architecture of Luxury platform that underpins both Phantom and Cullinan. Like its SUV sibling, the new Ghost gets both all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering, with its 6.7-liter twin-turbo V-12 making the same output of 563 horsepower.
Yes, it will hustle. Those Ghost buyers who will drive the car themselves—a clear majority in the United States—will be able to enjoy the surprising accelerative forces it is capable of generating. While never unseemly enough to chirp its tires, the Ghost will launch hard with the nose-up attitude common to the powerful but softly sprung. We didn't confirm the claimed 4.6-second 60-mph time during our drive in the United Kingdom, but considering the nearly 400-pound-heavier Cullinan has beat that, we're expecting the Ghost to be a bit quicker. It certainly seems quick enough. Steering is light and short on resistance, but front-end responses are accurate and grip levels are keen. An active anti-roll bar is fitted to the rear, but this is powered by a 12-volt motor (the Bentley Flying Spur has a 48-volt system), and the effect under harder cornering is limited. The brake pedal is weighted to make ultra-smooth stops easy and thus is also a little too soft for accurate modulation under hard braking.
