Super Natural Rolls-Royce Wraith Review (Part 1)
We’re of the mind that driving any Rolls-Royce is a special
occasion. The promise of a ride in one is thrilling enough, but when you’re
handed the key fob and told to go and enjoy yourself, it’s a tremendously
exciting moment.
But this is a special one. It’s the most powerful car the
company has ever produced, and it’s got a bit of a wild streak that needs no
real encouragement to spring to the fore. It’s the Wraith, and we had the
pleasure of driving the car in Europe during the international launch in
Austria last year. This time, we’ve been handed the weighty key fob to go and
test the car in the desert, and even this second time around, it’s still a big
deal.
Rolls-Royce Wraith
front view
Interestingly, Rolls-Royce resurrected the Wraith name from
the 1930s. Back then, both Rolls-Royce and Bentley supplied rolling chassis to
1 coach builders like H J Mulliner, Hooper, Barker and Park Ward. The Wraith
was just one of its rolling chassis, and nearly 500 were made between
1938-1939.
It came fitted with 4.2 litre inline-six, was fitted with
independent coil-sprung suspension up front which has speed governed hydraulic
dampers. The chassis was also the first to be welded rather than riveted
together. It may seem mundane now, but these were innovative and brave moves at
the time The car would hit an eye streaming 138 km/h on straights long enough,
and hit 80 km/h [the 0-100 km/h test wasn’t too common at the time] in 16.4
seconds.
Twin-turbo V-12
makes 624 hp and hands you 800 nm of torque at 1500 rpm
So, innovation has always played a key part in Roll-Royce
cars - and the fastback Wraith you see here is no exception. It’s designed to
attract younger customers to the marque and Rolls-Royce describes it as the
ultimate gentleman’s gran tourismo.
The most obvious innovation - or move by the design team -
was the fastback coupe. It’s a completely new direction for Rolls Royce, so
they were unable - or, probably more accurately, free from the constraints of
heritage. According to design director Giles Taylor, the inspiration comes
instead from the Lancia Aurelia coupe and the Maserati Ghibli (the original
coupe introduced in 1967, not the one which made its US debut in that Superbowl
advert).
Rolls-Royce Wraith
side view
In profile this car looks spectacular and improbable. We’re
at Emirates Towers in Dubai to pick up our blue velvet coloured press car, and
even on our fourth encounter with the car (two time were reveals, inside) the
scale of the car is immense. It makes the Continental GT look like a town car
and as it wafts into view, new details emerge. Blame it on interior lighting or
overcast Austrian weather, but the we’ve never really seen the Wraith in the
full glory of the sun, and it accentuates the flowing line of the fastback
upper and the brutal, bricklike shape of the lower body. Though the duo-tone
contrast schemes suit the styling, there’s an understated menace to the mono
scheme cars that is preferable.
While the car is equipped with the most powerful engine
Rolls-Royce has ever produced, they’re at pains to explain that the Wraith is
no sports car - you know, just in case the 5.2 metre long body and 2.3 ton kerb
weight didn’t really given it away. It is spicy though: that 6.6 litre twin-turbo
48 valve V-12 engine is the same base unit that the company cranes into the
front of everything it makes, but in the Wraith it makes 624 hp at a most
unseemly 5600 rpm.
Rolls-Royce Wraith
inside view
The engine’s 800 Nm of peak torque is available from I500rpm
and holds true right to 5500rpm where, in the interests of decorum and dignity,
you shouldn’t ever real be venturing. Rolls-Royce has never been so crass as to
quote sprint figures, but the Wraith is the sort of car that it matters in. We
strapped on the data logging kit and managed to get a 4.6 second 0-100 km/h,
which is right on what Rolls-Royce claims for the car - but it was a one off,
and we couldn’t verify it with a second run because the timing kit developed an
issue.
