2016 Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge first drive review

Ignoring the aspirational long-shot Lotto-dreams element of ordinary mortals perhaps including potential ownership of the just-launched Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge fastback coupe, it's fair to say that this story is aimed at no more than two, perhaps three, possible genuine Australian buyers.

The $745,000 drive-away price of the more driver-focussed Wraith Black Badge  – the fastest and most powerful car sold under that RR brand -  dictates an obvious exclusivity, even though it is a long way short of the most expensive new Rolls-Royce on sale in Australia, the Phantom Drophead Coupe at $1,075,000.

(For those not intimate with the Rolls-Royce pecking order, let's quickly explain that the current range comprises, in descending size order, the huge Phantom, the slightly smaller Ghost, then the two-door Wraith coupe, and the Dawn convertible. Twin-turbo V12s are the powerplants – 6.8-litres capacity in the Phantom range, and 6.6-litres in the others.)

The Wraith (there is also a Black badge version of the Ghost too) is part of a permanently bespoke series of cars pitched at a hipper, younger buyer - driven, self-made rule-breakers who will make a bold and edgy lifestyle statement with a more outrageously expressive car. Black Badge is the result, says Rolls-Royce, of a clamour from that band of young entrepreneurs, IT goers and other self-made movers who found it easy to resist the other, bigger, more staid offerings in the catalogue.

It seems a little strange to hear the normally reserved British brand go heavy on the loud prose in a surprisingly lurid fashion.

"Black Badge is an attitude to life, an aspect of the Rolls-Royce brand that appeals to those people who are elusive and defiant, the risk takers and disruptors who break the rules and laugh in the face of convention," is the boast from Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the company's chief executive officer.  There's more. "They are driven by a restless spirit. They play hard and they change the world. Technically and aesthetically Black Badge is the alter ego of Rolls-Royce, darker, more assertive, more confident and powerful, and more demanding. With Black Badge we have created the most commanding presence on the super-luxury landscape. It is a truly transformative moment for our great brand."  He's particularly delighted that Lady Gaga is a convert.

Historic justification for the Black Badge included a closer look at the early days of the company, rewinding to the era before World War One, when the company was experimenting with fast cars.  A Rolls-Royce won the Isle of Man TT back when it was a race for both cars and motorcycles.

But when Bentley went bust in 1931 and Rolls-Royce bought its rival brand. Henry Royce decided that Bentley would stay in racing brand whilst Rolls-Royce would make the best cars in the world.

The Wraith Black Badge was launched in loud and bright Las Vegas, with nary a pin stripe in sight. Metaphorically, the gawdy freak show that is Vegas is a million miles from London's Mayfair and Shanghai's Hubin Road and Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and (to acknowledge a long-time Australian adherent) John Laws' perch in Woolloomooloo on Sydney Harbour.

But Rolls-Royce justifies the Vegas location as "perfect" for the launch of the Wraith Black Badge, the city that never sleeps being synonymous with the type of young super wealthy and avant garde disruptives reckoned to be archetypal future owners. Their hard-paced life is their personal entertainment. And they surely do entertain themselves regally.

Las Vegas, then, could be a happy harvest. The United States is already the brand's biggest individual market.

Yes, the winds of change are sweeping through Rolls-Royce, fanning the firestorms of imagination and blowing away crusty old ideas and some traditional ways. 

The engineers and designers threw away the traditional constraints to create the Black Badge variants of the existing Wraith and Ghost, in so doing shocking some of the older, long-time customers, but, equally, putting an edgier and more threatening touch to a car brand that has been in business for 112 years. 

"It took a while for some to understand what we were doing – this contemporisation of brand," says Richard Carter, Rolls-Royce's global communications boss. "But we feel strongly this is where the brand should go."  Go it does.

The 6.6-litre V12 engine gets more torque, taking it to muscled-up 870Nm. Power was left alone, as 465kW was quite reasonably judged to be a sufficiency, even in a heavy car.

Other significant improvements are firmer air suspension, sharper braking with larger front rotors, and a tweaking of the eight-speed automatic transmission with more throttle-reactive shift points.

Cosmetically, too, the Black Badge benefits from serious attention. The bold 21-inch wheels (using 22 layers of carbon-fibre and an aluminium hub) are eye-catching in a rare way for Rolls-Royce.

Bespoke is a Rolls-Royce given, so there are the usual myriad of exterior colour choices, although black seems an obvious pick. The two cars that Drive sampled on the launch had a brazen white and black leather combo in one and an even more stunning red-orange and black in the other. A centrepiece of the cabin is a highly polished fascia surfacing made of aerospace-grade aluminium painstakingly woven together and bonded with carbon-fibre. It's touted as the world's newest super-luxury weave.

There are many subtle touches including a black starlight headlining with hundreds of pin-lights suggesting a clear night sky. Hand made, naturally, by a lady at the Goodwood factory.

Bespoke personalisation is already running at historically highest-ever levels, and this can only grow with the Black badge era dawning. Rolls-Royce customers are patrons of luxury. They commission cars like they commission a piece of art.

That oversize grille makes a visual statement matched by the rest of the Wraith Black Badge package, the styling variations significant enough to differentiate from the standard model but with a light subtlety which never ventures into questionable areas.

All the usual trappings of wild luxury are there too in a two-door with a level of performance best exemplified by mentioning the 0-100km/h time of 4.5seconds.

The Flying Lady is flashing her knickers…

On the road

We got to drive the new Wraith Black Badge in several starkly different environments in Nevada.

Cruising down the busy Las Vegas Strip in the glare of megawatts of flashing neons is hardly a test of anything more than the sound-proofing (brilliant) and sporty seat comfort (stunning). But we also noticed that our vision from the surprisingly parsimonious windscreen and side glass is limited by the long and proud bonnet (forward) and the large A pillars and wing mirrors. The black Flying Lady perched above the bold grille has way better vision than the driver.

Still, we can't help but notice the ride is simply sublime, the Wraith gliding along majestically, smoothly and serenely, occupants insulated from the craziness outside.

A few laps in the darkness at the nearby SpeedVegas racetrack was the chance to fling around the Darth Vader Wraith, feel its urge and test its best-of-the-brand dynamics.

After being cautioned that the new Black Badge is neither racing car nor sports car, we knew it would not be a precision instrument. But we were encouraged that only last month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a Wraith Black Badge, almost silently (after an initial eruption of tyre smoke) tore up the hillclimb faster than entrants from McLaren, Aston Martin and Ferrari, amongst others.

With automatic LED headlamps cutting through the night to light the way, the Wraith-with-attitude responds without fuss to the fuller throttle movement, all with a pleasant if distant urgent growl from the exhaust. This pepped Wraith still runs typically effortlessly smoothly and quietly, but the a little exhaust noise does permeate the cabin.

But there is no chance to forget that this Wraith is all of 2.44 tonnes. The engineers have done a super job of making this mass seem inconsequential in some situations. But any sharp directional changes are accompanied by some weight transfer, even though the suspension, steering and tyres co-operate together rather admirably.

The accelerative surge is indisputably impressive without ever getting into the unseemly and un-Rolls territory of raw ferocity.

Both the Wraith and Ghost Black Badge versions come with a feature called Intuitive Throttle Response. From 25 per cent of throttle, the transmission holds gears for longer, shifting between 300 and 500rpm higher in the rev range. When the driver is serious and giving the throttle plenty of heft, the Wraith Black Badge will rev out to 6000rpm before upshifting, unleashing all of the twin turbo V12's potential. During deceleration or braking, auto transmission downshifts earlier, tossing a little engine braking into the retardation process. The brakes, it must be said, do a reassuring job of hauling up all those kilos.

What the Black Badge cars don't have though are shift paddles. They don't quite fit with Rolls-Royce, we are told firmly. While it's true that the satellite-guided transmission works well as a pure auto (with a push-button sportier Low mode), paddles might have added a little to the sportier positioning. Still jumping from rest to 100km/h in 4.5secs is hardly dawdling.

The hydraulic rack-and-pinion speed variable steering is very light at low speeds but firms-up – though not enough – when the pace quickens. Oh, and a smaller diameter steering wheel would have been our preference.

A drive from the craziness of the Vegas strip into the nearby mountains (where incongruously there are ski resorts and snow provided by nature!) shows the Wraith is even more comfortably in real-world rural cruising. Steep ascents are gobbled up easily by the big V12, though, I suspect, not without some damage to the fuel average. A combined official fuel figure of 14.6 litres/100km is about what one would expect from a big, powerful V12 carrying a lot of mass. 

The Wraith glides along with the effortless progress and poise you might expect of a carriage costing three-quarters of a million bucks.

The speed-variable steering is sharper at higher speeds, and the air suspension adjusted for a firmer, more responsive driving experience. The ride quality, even with the boosted tune, remains a benchmark of ruffle-free travel.

The vehicle entertainment system, based on the iDrive we know so well from parent company BMW, is simple and intuitive. No surprise either that the sound system, a 1300W belter with 18-speakers, has power and clarity to delight music lovers who can source their faves from the in-built hard drive or streamed directly from a music source.

Unlike the pinnacle car in the line-up, the massive Phantom, the Wraith Black Badge coupe isn't intended to have a chauffeur up front with the owner slumped in the rear reading balance sheets. That said, legroom and headroom in the back is generous. 

The Wraith Black Badge is not a hard-edged performance car in the category of an Merc AMG or  BMW M machine. It is, after all, a Rolls-Royce, meaning no model in the catalogue would deign to confront the ever-present high levels of refinement, quality, detailing, and pampering comfort. Visually and technically, however, the Black beast edges on to the radar of a new bunch of potential buyers.

Rock on, Rolls-Royce.

2016 Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge pricing and specifications

Price: $745,000 drive-away

Engine: 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 petrol 

Power: 465kW at 5600rpm

Torque: 870Nm at 1700-4500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive

Fuel consumption: 14.6L/100km

Why Vegas?

Rolls-Royce launched its new Wraith Black Badge from Wynn, a highly regarded Las Vegas luxury hotel.

It was a choice made simple because Wynn Las Vegas has no fewer than 14 Rolls-Royce vehicles, which it uses for courtesy transfer transport for its high rollers and other special guests.  Understandably, this is one of the largest fleets of Rolls-Royces in North America.  Additionally, Wynn has a further 22 Rolls-Royce at its Macau gambling holdings.

The cars are traded once they reach around 100,000 miles (160,00km).

Why Rolls-Royce? 

 "We transport our guests in bespoke Phantom Rolls Royce limousines because at Wynn it's all about providing the very finest guest experiences… period," said Brian Gullbrants, the executive vice president and general manager of Wynn Las Vegas. "Our guests at Wynn know and appreciate the difference…"

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