Rolls-Royce Ghost

Since 2009, Rolls-Royce has been offering the Ghost, a luxurious upper class sedan below their top model Phantom. In the just over ten years of production, more examples have been built than ever before of any other Rolls-Royce model. While the majority of Phantom customers still have their own chauffeurs, Ghost buyers prefer to drive themselves. Now the second model generation is appearing, which like the new Phantom and the SUV Cullinan is based on the latest aluminium spaceframe architecture. This can be individually adapted to the desired vehicle size and also offers options for the arrangement of floor panels, bulkhead and cross members. The bodywork is also completely made of aluminium. For the first time ever, it was possible to install all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering in one of the company’s sedan models, while at the same time achieving a 50:50 weight distribution. Compared to its predecessor, the length increased by 89 millimeters and width by 30 millimeters. Under the hood is a 6.75-liter V12 biturbo engine, which sits just behind the front axle and delivers 420 kW/571 hp and 850 newtonmeters of torque. The last five years have seen the development of the new chassis, which brings the new Ghost closer to the promise of a ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ than any other model of the British brand before.

Since the introduction of the seventh Phantom generation, Rolls-Royce customers have known self-closing doors at the touch of a button. These are now available for the first time on the Ghost, which is equipped with corresponding buttons on the dashboard and C-pillars. In addition, the doors can now be opened in the same way for the first time. To do this, pull the door opener once, look around to see if there are any obstacles in front of the door and then pull again until the door has the desired opening angle. Thanks to tilt and G-force sensors, this function also works when the car is parked on slopes or in inclined driveways. Inside, passengers enjoy the new Micro-Environment Purification System (MEPS) with particularly fine filtering of the fresh air directed inwards in less than two minutes. The standard equipment also includes a wildlife and pedestrian warning system that works by day and night, a night vision assistant, an attention assistant, an adaptive cruise control, a collision warning, a cross traffic warning, a lane departure warning as well as a head-up display, Wifi hotspot, self-parking function and the latest generation of navigation and infotainment system. Behind the passenger compartment, 507 liters of luggage space are enclosed.

From the outside, the new Ghost picks up the typical Rolls-Royce design and transfers it to the modern age. The LED and laser headlights shine up to 600 meters. At night, the radiator grille can be illuminated by 20 LEDs integrated in the upper section. The development engineers first had to learn from road tests in which these light sources proved to be too strong and reflected too much by the polished grill bars. In the production vehicles, the rods on the grille have a brushed surface on the backside that reflects less light. As usual, the body can be ordered in two colors and with a hand-drawn pinstripe on the upper belt line. A Long Wheelbase (LWB) variant is expected to follow in the next two years.

To minimize noise and temperatures in the interior, the bulkhead and floor panels are double-layered with an additional insulation sandwich layer. In total, more than 100 kilograms of insulating materials are used throughout the body. The double glazing also contributes to the low noise level. In addition, the technicians specifically reworked the ducts of the ventilation and air conditioning system to ensure that no disturbing noises are generated here either. At the same time, they also ensured that the new audio system with 18 loudspeakers and 1,300 watts of output power delivers the best possible sound quality. An LED starry sky was integrated into the headliner. To match this, illuminated elements on the passenger side of the dashboard are available for the first time. The skins of a total of ten cows will be used, with customers having a variety of color choices. Open-pored wood decor is also available.

Images: Rolls-Royce