by Dan Neil
Monday, April 12, 2010
provided by Wallstreet Journal
I could afford a Rolls-Royce Ghost. All I'd need to do is sell my house and all my Greek treasury bills. (What? Oh, jeez. When did that happen?)
The question is, if I had $245,000 to $300,000 to spend on a car, would this be the car?
Blimey. It's certainly tempting. The new Roller Ghost, based on the chassis and electronics of the BMW 7-series (Rolls-Royce is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW) might be thought of as a 760Li shouted through God's holy megaphone, in a voice that sounds like Ian McKellen. Everything good that the Bimmer is, the Rolls Ghost is that, amplified and anglicized exponentially -- quieter, smoother, more luxurious and veddy, veddy powerful. With a bored-out version of BMW's direct-injection twin-turbocharged V12 (displacing 6.6 liters here) the Rolls rides a glowing mainspring filament of horsepower and torque unprecedented in company history, 563 hp and 575 pound-feet of torque.
In a car dedicated to serene sensations and sheer, gliding effortlessness, calling on this kind of thrust feels very much like going over Niagara in a beautifully appointed, leather-lined barrel. Zero to 60 mph goes by in 4.7 seconds and if you keep your Allen Edmonds fully planted in the shearling wool carpeting, you'll reach 120 mph in about 12 seconds. The eight-speed automatic transmission dispatches full-tilt gear changes with the barest perceptible flutter. There's a warm gathering sound inside the cabin, woodwinds more than brass, but it's not what you would call an exhaust note. Rather, it's the sound of inspiration. The opiated thrum inside Coleridge's ears? Like that.
The express elevator stops at an electronically limited 155 mph but there's little doubt the car could achieve 190 mph with nary a bead of sweat on guvnor's stiff upper lip.
This is no Phantom, and I think most would agree, that's a good thing. The Phantom -- the massive, 19-foot limousine launched by Rolls-Royce after BMW took over early in the last decade -- was obliged to be the ultimate Rolls, a big, scary Jungian archetype of a car, hurtling through our dreams. Mission accomplished.
The Ghost in all ways is a more measured, more realistic car. It is, first of all, much smaller -- 17.7 feet in length (17.1 inches shorter), 76.7 inches abeam (down 1.6 inches), 61 inches high (down 3.3 inches) and weighing 5,445 pounds (down 353 pounds). The Ghost suffers from none of the hypertrophic weirdness of the Phantom. It fits on two-lane roads and parking decks, and doesn't make babies cry.
It's also quite pretty. OK, sure, the front of the car -- with its narrow horizontal headlamps and tight rectangular grille -- looks like the Jetsons' robot cleaning woman, Rosie. But overall, this is a strong styling effort. The Rolls proprieties are observed, of course: the tall, long hood ending in a chromic bluff; the short front overhang; the tapering rear quarters drawn back from the wheels; the steeply sloped C-pillar; the high body-to-glass ratio.
And there are moments of genius here, too: the mirror symmetries between the doors, the reflective balance between the lower accent line trailing behind the front wheel arch and the chrome bow of the roof line.
Monday, April 12, 2010
provided by Wallstreet Journal
I could afford a Rolls-Royce Ghost. All I'd need to do is sell my house and all my Greek treasury bills. (What? Oh, jeez. When did that happen?)
The question is, if I had $245,000 to $300,000 to spend on a car, would this be the car?
Blimey. It's certainly tempting. The new Roller Ghost, based on the chassis and electronics of the BMW 7-series (Rolls-Royce is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW) might be thought of as a 760Li shouted through God's holy megaphone, in a voice that sounds like Ian McKellen. Everything good that the Bimmer is, the Rolls Ghost is that, amplified and anglicized exponentially -- quieter, smoother, more luxurious and veddy, veddy powerful. With a bored-out version of BMW's direct-injection twin-turbocharged V12 (displacing 6.6 liters here) the Rolls rides a glowing mainspring filament of horsepower and torque unprecedented in company history, 563 hp and 575 pound-feet of torque.
In a car dedicated to serene sensations and sheer, gliding effortlessness, calling on this kind of thrust feels very much like going over Niagara in a beautifully appointed, leather-lined barrel. Zero to 60 mph goes by in 4.7 seconds and if you keep your Allen Edmonds fully planted in the shearling wool carpeting, you'll reach 120 mph in about 12 seconds. The eight-speed automatic transmission dispatches full-tilt gear changes with the barest perceptible flutter. There's a warm gathering sound inside the cabin, woodwinds more than brass, but it's not what you would call an exhaust note. Rather, it's the sound of inspiration. The opiated thrum inside Coleridge's ears? Like that.
The express elevator stops at an electronically limited 155 mph but there's little doubt the car could achieve 190 mph with nary a bead of sweat on guvnor's stiff upper lip.
This is no Phantom, and I think most would agree, that's a good thing. The Phantom -- the massive, 19-foot limousine launched by Rolls-Royce after BMW took over early in the last decade -- was obliged to be the ultimate Rolls, a big, scary Jungian archetype of a car, hurtling through our dreams. Mission accomplished.
The Ghost in all ways is a more measured, more realistic car. It is, first of all, much smaller -- 17.7 feet in length (17.1 inches shorter), 76.7 inches abeam (down 1.6 inches), 61 inches high (down 3.3 inches) and weighing 5,445 pounds (down 353 pounds). The Ghost suffers from none of the hypertrophic weirdness of the Phantom. It fits on two-lane roads and parking decks, and doesn't make babies cry.
It's also quite pretty. OK, sure, the front of the car -- with its narrow horizontal headlamps and tight rectangular grille -- looks like the Jetsons' robot cleaning woman, Rosie. But overall, this is a strong styling effort. The Rolls proprieties are observed, of course: the tall, long hood ending in a chromic bluff; the short front overhang; the tapering rear quarters drawn back from the wheels; the steeply sloped C-pillar; the high body-to-glass ratio.
And there are moments of genius here, too: the mirror symmetries between the doors, the reflective balance between the lower accent line trailing behind the front wheel arch and the chrome bow of the roof line.
Or, maybe take it to a race track and run it flat out. :supercool:
