Drive Rolls-Royce Wraith, the Ecstasy Of Excess (Part 2)

In this beauty, you are gently, but very family, propelled forward – an impression amplified by the superlative levels of refinement on offer. Thumb the button to shut the reverse-hinged doors and the outside world somehow melts away – you get the feeling 20km/h would feel the same as 200km/h.

With that sort of isolation and the imperiousness that the Wraith attracts, one might be tempted to drive it hard. After all, it’s the most powerful Rolls-Royce on sale today. It’s a fastback coupe and its brochure does promise dynamism.

Rolls-Royce Wraith interior

You will, however, do well to tread a little carefully. While the air suspension does a surprisingly good job at containing body roll, the vague, slow steering with a stubborn reluctance to self-centre (via a wheel the size of a hula hoop) – to say nothing of the immense bulk of the car itself – makes back road blasts a dicey affair at best.

However, we do get the impression the Wraith wasn’t built for something quite so gauche as base hooliganism, given the notable lack of paddle-shifters or any sort of manual override for the 8-speed automatic gearbox.

What it does have in place of that is a “butler” that takes the legwork (or more accurately, handwork) out of shifting manually, with something Rolls-Royce calls SAT. An acronym for Satellite Aided Transmission, it works in conjunction with the satellite navigation system to select the most appropriate gear for the road ahead, because obviously, trying to guess which gear an upcoming corner should be taken in is far beneath the Baron of Bukit Timah’s dignity.

What it does have in place of that is a “butler” that takes the legwork (or more accurately, handwork) out of shifting manually, with something Rolls-Royce calls SAT. An acronym for Satellite Aided Transmission, it works in conjunction with the satellite navigation system to select the most appropriate gear for the road ahead

While there are some drivers out there who might bristle at this, the system works, and rather well at that. Of course, the Wraith’s gargantuan reserves of torque (800Nm from 1500rpm) might go some way to aiding that impression. This car has got so much tractability, we have a feeling it could well haul itself out of a 40km/h bend in eighth gear if it came to that.

But the important thing is, at no point did we find ourselves wishing for a paddle to pull on or anything else, for that matter. And slipping into the cosseting embrace of that cabin, we found ourselves wanting for nothing.

Yes, despite the massive performance on offer, not everyone will agree with how the Wraith’s personality is exceptionally remote (an alarming trait, considering it weighs just 140kg shy of 2.5 tonnes), how the chrome just aft of the rear windows is a touch too chunky, or even how some of the car’s elements, particularly the “iDrive”, come from the parts bin of the BMW Group, the parent company.

But that’s just us quibbling, because it would take a hardened cynic indeed to point out a glaring flaw.

The Wraith is, simply put, a grand tourer without equal. Yes, there are GTs out there that are faster, more involving, and perhaps even better-looking, but nothing quite comes close to its near perfect blend of on-road presence, luxury and stately poise.

Rolls-Royce Wraith’s V12, 48-valves, turbocharged engine

It costs a scandalous amount of money, but hey, nobody ever said the finer things in life came cheaply.