Many luxury carmakers claim that their offerings are the most opulent, with all the trimmings to pamper the passenger. Yet no other luxury automaker can boast of being truly luxurious quite like British marque Rolls-Royce. Such can be seen in the latest iteration of its most upscale nameplate: the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
First introduced to the world in 1925 by no less than Sir Henry Royce, the Rolls-Royce Phantom has been judged as the Best Car in the World. Fittingly so, the model has been the ride of choice by some of the most influential men and women in history, such as John Lennon, Fred Astaire, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, just to name a few.
Now on its eighth generation, the Rolls-Royce Phantom takes the formula of offering the most opulent ride with the richest materials on the planet to the next century. It combines the traditional massive profile with a more modern look. While the trademark Pantheon grille sits proudly up front, along with the Spirit of Ecstasy set atop, showing the way, the design is flanked by a pair of sleek LED headlights.
The side, meanwhile, is still a massive slab, complemented by a rear that gently tapers off towards the center. Overall, the look is stately and elegant, with a hint of modernity. Under the metal is a new Architecture of Luxury, which is essentially Rolls-Royce-speak for its latest aluminum frame and chassis. The new structure is lighter and more rigid, giving the new Phantom a plusher ride while putting less strain on the engine. It will, by the way, underpin all future Rolls-Royce models.
Yet don’t let the words “light’ fool you into thinking this is a sports sedan. On the contrary, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is still a behemoth. The “regular” car, for instance, measures 5,762mm long, 2,018mm wide, and 1,646mm tall, with a 3,552mm wheelbase. If you think that’s already way too large, wait til you see the extended wheelbase version whose 5,982mm length sits atop a 3,772mm wheelbase.
Hauling all this mass (2,610kg of it) down the road is the traditional 6.75-liter V12 motor, now equipped with twin turbochargers. The new tech endows the motor with 563hp and 900Nm of torque. That’s enough to give it a quick 0-100kph time of just 5.3 seconds before powering its way smoothly and quietly to a 250kph top speed.
Beyond its quick and quiet straight-line abilities, the new Rolls-Royce Phantom is all about offering the plushest ride. When we say “plush” we’re talking about filtering every pothole, road rut, and annoyance from entering the cabin. The front double wishbone and rear multi-link suspension, for instance, is equipped with cameras that monitor road conditions ahead in order to adjust the damping accordingly.
Being a Rolls-Royce, the cabin gets only the best veneers and leathers in the world. One can even specify porcelain or gold-plated materials to suit one’s taste. And then there’s the dash, or The Gallery, as Rolls-Royce likes to call it. Unlike the traditional instrument panels of yore, this one features a large expanse of glass that houses a virtual gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display. And as with any part of the car, one can customize the dash to his or her Bespoke specifications.
As Rolls-Royce enters a new chapter, the British luxury brand has fitted its latest Phantom with a host of modern controls and amenities befitting its stature. The Embrace, for instance, is an electric motor that opens and closes the rear doors at the press of a sensor or dashboard switch. If this isn’t considered luxurious, we don’t know what is?
The Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII will be welcomed by its distinguished predecessors at the Great Eight Phantoms Exhibit, which runs from 29 July to 2 August 2017 at Bonhams on New Bond Street, London.
