Rolls-Royce Ghost: The spirit of perfection

JIM KENZIE FOR THE TORONTO STAR

The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a subtle design, not one that will knock your hat sideways, says Jim Kenzie. It’s priced at $245,000, payable in U.S. funds only.

Jim Kenzie

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–When BMW bought Rolls-Royce in 1998, all the company ended up with (after some negotiations with rival Volkswagen) was the rights to the name, the trademarks and the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament.

No cars. No production facilities. No workforce.

Starting from scratch wasn't all bad. There is always a risk for a company with such a rich tradition of getting trapped in its own history, continuing to build cars like it always has, and selling them to its regular customers.

BMW decided to return to what had made Rolls-Royce the force it became in the early 20th century: to be a leader in design, engineering, technology and craftsmanship.

The initial result was the massive Phantom, launched in 2003. Its success, and that of this strategy, is reflected in the fact that some 80 per cent of Phantom owners are new to the brand.

But a car in the nearly half-million-dollar bracket wasn't going to generate the cash flow needed to make Rolls-Royce a profitable concern. The plan was always for a, well ... entry-level doesn't seem quite right for a car that will start at $245,000 (U.S.), with the company not quoting Canadian prices, but a lower-priced car that will expand the brand's range.

That car is the Ghost, trading again on a fabled name from Rolls-Royce's past, although you can get it in colours other than silver.

As its starting point, the project used the long wheelbase version of the soon-to-be-new BMW 7-series platform. The wheelbase was stretched even farther, the wheels made even bigger to maintain Rolls-Royce's traditional wheels-are-half-the-height proportion, and the seating position raised, as befits a car of this, well, stature.

It was the seat-raising that demanded a great deal of rejigging of the understructure, because the car has to "crash" differently when the occupants sit higher.

as for the exterior, Rolls-Royce design director Ian Cameron noted that "simplicity is the hardest design principle to follow."

For sure, it's a subtle design, not one that will knock your hat sideways, but one than should age well.

Ghost is intended to be more of a daily driver than Phantom, the Rolls-Royce to take the kiddies to school. As a result, the umbrellas are in the front door jambs, not the rear.

The Ghost has a fairly similar interior package to the Phantom despite being smaller in all external dimensions.

It's still hardly ghostly weight-wise though, tipping in at 2,470 kg.

The rear suspension consists of 7-series air springs, albeit tuned to this car; the front air springs are unique to Ghost.

New is an active roll compensation system, which allows enough body roll to feel natural, but not so much as to upset the composure of the car.

The V12 direct injection twin-turbo engine is effectively twelve-eighths of BMW's 4.4-litre V8, displacing 6.6 litres contrasted with. the 7-series' 6.0-litre V12.

Power is way more than "adequate" (Rolls's usual description) – it's the most powerful Rolls ever, delivering 563 hp at 5250 r.p.m.

Peak torque of 575 lb.-ft. arrives at an ultra-low 1500 r.p.m. and pretty much stays there till next Tuesday.

It's "adequate" enough to catapult the car from rest to 100 km/h in under five seconds.

The new eight-speed ZF automatic, also used in the big BMW, is the only available transmission.

Paddle shifters? Manual override? In a Rolls-Royce? I should think not.

As for the interior, the Ghost essentially retains the leather/wood/chrome motif that is de rigueur in British luxury cars.

The seats are very comfortable front and rear, if lacking in the lateral support you'd find in a BMW.

The rear doors are rear-hinged. It's unfortunate the term "suicide" doors has been applied to this design; as in my old Fiat 600, it really is much easier to get in and out of a car when the doors swing this way.

There are dozens of interior details owners might not discover or appreciate at first, such as: The olive colour of the SatNav control screen, intended to create an "aviator" image, inspired by Amy Johnson, a pioneering female pilot who was sort of England's Amelia Earhart.

Blue-green tinted glass.

Bevelled edges on the instruments to give a sense of depth to the graphics.

A proximity sensor in the door map pocket that automatically switches on a light when you reach in to find something.

Climbing almost on to the Ghost, anyone familiar with the brand will feel quite at home. Hectares of fine wood on the dash (the veneers are the same as in Phantom; the substrates are thinner). Gorgeous dyed-right-through leather. Thick Blenheim wool carpets. Bright chrome "organ-stop" controls for the dash vents. Gigantic thin-rimmed black steering wheel. A "power reserve" meter in place of a tachometer.

Much of it will also look and feel familiar to those who know the BMW 7-series. The electronic shift lever. The new iDrive multi-function controller (although Ghost gets a leather-wrapped control knob). The push-button starter button.

No surprises when you push that button either – the car is utterly, almost eerily, silent. It's hard not to use the word "waft" here. That is what you expect in a Rolls-Royce, and if you drive it in the intended manner, that's pretty much what you get.

The steering is deliciously liquid and linear; the effort required is minimal, the feel precise, the resultant placement of the car perfect.

The ZF transmission is as close to seamless as a stepped-ratio transmission can be; especially without a tach, it's nearly impossible to tell which gear the car is in.

It isn't perfect. On certain freeway surfaces, there is a pitter-patter which the air springs cannot quite subdue. And on certain harsher bumps, the car got slightly unsettled for just a fraction of a second.

Still, as it stands, Ghost is every bit a Rolls-Royce, a worthy addition to the stable.

Travel was provided to freelance auto journalist Jim Kenzie by the car maker. jim@jimkenzie.com

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