Up Front
My first reaction when Rolls-Royce invited me to test-drive its new 2010 Ghost around central Philadelphia: Are you people nuts? Who would put a vehicle that lists for $300,000-plus with options in the hands of a lead-footed auto reviewer on narrow city streets? Then I figured what the heck, it's just a car so why not?
Of course, as I quickly discovered, a Rolls-Royce is just another car in the same sense that Audrey Hepburn was just another movie star and Willie Mays just another baseball player. There's a quality of grace about a Rolls that isn't shared by lesser luxury vehicles, whether made by BMW (BMW:GR)—Rolls' parent company—Lexus, or Daimler-Benz (DAI).
You feel it the moment you open the door, which is thicker and heavier than in other cars, closes silently behind you at the push of a button, and has a removable Teflon-coated umbrella stashed in its innards in case the weather turns inclement. The handmade interior trim looks like the finely crafted wood you might find on a 1930s-era yacht. The seat leather, the company says, is made from the hides of bulls raised in pastures free of barbed-wire fencing, which might cause surface blemishes.
That's all to be expected in a Rolls. What sets the Ghost apart from Roll-Royce's other model, the Phantom, is its relatively diminutive size (a mere 212.6 in. long, some 27 in. shorter than the extended-wheel-base version of the Phantom) and relatively low price (starting sticker is just $247,000, $138,000 less than the "base" model Phantom sedan). Of course, optional equipment can easily add $50,000 to the price of either model (and far more if you go a little crazy).
The rear-wheel-drive Ghost also is the most powerful Rolls ever, with a turbocharged V12 engine under its hood similar to the one in the BMW 760Li—only tweaked to make it even more powerful. In the Ghost, the engine is rated at 6.6 liters (vs. 6.0 liters in the BMW), 563 horsepower (vs. 535 in the BMW), and 575 ft.-lb. of torque (up from the BMW's 550).
As a result, the Ghost not only has the ultrasmooth and quiet ride you expect from a Rolls but also goes like a bat out of hell when you punch the gas. The company says the Ghost will accelerate from zero to 60 in a blazingly fast 4.8 seconds, slightly quicker than a Chevy Corvette Grand Sport and about one second quicker than the Phantom. That's an amazing stat for a big luxury sedan that weighs 5,445 lb. Top speed is 155 miles per hour.
Fuel economy, not surprisingly, isn't the Rolls' strong suit. The Ghost is rated to get 13 miles per gallon in the city and 20 on the highway, for an average of 15, roughly the same as the Phantom and BMW 760Li.
The Ghost only went on sale in the U.S. at the end of March, though sales started in January in other parts of the world. Rolls-Royce expects the Ghost's worldwide unit sales to be about 1,000 this year, about the same as the Phantom's sales last year.
Behind the Wheel
The Ghost's dashboard and center console look elegantly simple. Most of the electronic controls are discretely hidden behind a veneer panel, so the cabin's striking design elements are all traditional—chrome organ-stop plungers to control the air vents, violin-key switches, and frosted white dials. The wood trim is made from a single tree so the grain matches throughout the cabin and ages and colors at the same rate. Five coats of lacquer are applied to give the wood a bright shine.
Standard choices include a dozen different exterior colors, eight different colors of leather, and five types of wood veneer. However, your options are almost limitless if you make use of Rolls' "bespoke" program, which allows owners to customize their car in an almost infinite number of ways (for a price, of course). An owner might, for instance, ask that the wood trim be crafted from a tree from the family estate.
Rolls-Royce also has incorporated tons of BMW's advanced technology into the Ghost. For instance, the $10,000 Driver's Assistance package includes a night-vision system, heads-up display, automatic high-beam headlights, adaptive cruise control, and a lane-departure warning system that causes the steering wheel to vibrate discreetly if you cross the lane markers in the road. Rear-, side-, front-, and top-view cameras give a fish-eye view all around the car for maneuvering in tight spots.
Rolls-Royce strives for comfort, unobtrusive luxury, and ease of use. Nowhere to be found are the manual shifting function and steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters that are almost de rigueur in expensive cars these days. Basically, you put the Ghost in drive, give it gas, and let the ultrasmooth eight-speed automatic do the rest.
The car's waistline is high, so you feel safely surrounded in protective metal, yet the seats are positioned relatively high, too, so visibility is excellent. The company says its new air suspension system is so sensitive that it compensates if, say, a rear passenger shifts from one side of the seat to the other. In my own crude test, I drove the Ghost over every rough spot in the road I could find. Even deep potholes were smoothed out so thoroughly they seemed almost not to exist. At no time during this abuse was the slightest creak or rattle audible.
The Ghost is 7.3 inches longer and slightly wider and taller than the BMW 750Li, but has similar amounts of head, leg, knee, and shoulder space. There's plenty of room for anyone who isn't unusually tall or heavy. Luggage space is 17.3 cu. ft. An excellent convenience feature in the Rolls: The backward-hinged rear doors open to an unusually wide 83 degrees, making it easy to get in and out of the rear seats.
The Ghost doesn't have U.S. government crash-test ratings. However, its weight and long list of safety features mean it's probably very safe. In addition to the lane-departure warning system and other optional safety features already mentioned, standard equipment includes traction and stability control, a full array of airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, and protective beams in the doors.
Buy It or Bag It?
A Rolls isn't for everyone—even those who can afford one. Many Rolls-Royce owners own a half-dozen other cars—and sometimes dozens of other cars if they happen to be collectors. For many, the Rolls is like a wardrobe element that is only brought out at certain times. Certainly, it isn't a car most owners would want to risk on bad roads or in terrible winter weather.
Keep in mind that the Ghost's many options are tempting but pricey. Such add-ons as a panorama sunroof ($7,000) and rear-seat entertainment system ($6,200) are more expensive than in most luxury cars, and there's a long list of quirky options that can really add up. Lambswool floor mats go for $1,000, and a monogrammed "RR" logo on the headrests for $725. Leather- and wood-trimmed picnic tables that fold down from the backs of the front seats cost $2,800, and a rear-compartment cooler box $2,400. Whichever options you order, expect to wait perhaps six months to take delivery on a Ghost. Demand is high and the new model is already sold out into this summer, a spokesman says.
The Ghost's most direct competitor is probably the new Bentley Mulsanne (due out this fall; starting price $287,595), but I haven't driven that model so I can't make any comparisons. I have to say, though, that I liked the Ghost better than I expected. It has most of the luxuries of the Phantom, but is smaller, speedier, less expensive, and a tad less ostentatious. It will make more people dream of owning a Rolls-Royce.
Click here to see more of the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost.