From £278,0559

New Rolls-Royce retains the character of the original but ups every part of the capability to good effect

What is it?

Post-opulent. An unusual way to describe a car that costs £208,000 before you add local taxes and on which you’ll have to pay extra for lambswool floor mats, you might think.

But here we are, with Rolls-Royce Ghost take two, the all-new, second generation of a car that made its debut in 2009 and went on to become the most successful Rolls of all time. A record I suspect it will lose to the Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV before long.

Last time around, there were large elements of large BMW beneath the Ghost. BMW owns Rolls-Royce of course, following a highly amusing caper in which Volkswagen thought it had bought the entirety of Rolls-Royce Bentley in the late 1990s, before somebody pointed out that the Rolls-Royce brand didn’t actually belong to the seller.

The particularly good thing about that wheeze is that, two decades on, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys do two very distinct things and Rolls has now grown sufficiently confidently into a brand that can pin each of its models on its own, bespoke platform, without the parent company foundations. The architecture of luxury, they call it.

It’s an all-aluminium structure with some extrusions down its length that makes it relatively simple to produce cars of different lengths, wheelbases, heights and so on – and move some hardware around, to make room, for example, to allow the Ghosts’s tapered rear end. The Cullinan, the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the Ghost all sit on the platform, and replacements for the coupé and convertible will too.

In the Ghost you find effectively a Cullinan powertrain. That means a 6.75-litre V12 with two turbochargers under the bonnet, making 563bhp and, just as importantly, 627lb ft, developed at, more importantly again, 1600rpm – just 600rpm above idle.

With it driving all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox, full oomph basically from when you set off. Rolls-Royce says the unit has a Rolls, not BMW, part number, but, well, put it this way: they don’t cast ‘em in Goodwood. I don’t suppose it really matters.

There’s double-wishbone suspension at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear, with adaptive dampers – not that you can change driving modes yourself. Rolls sets it up how it likes because, honestly, owners don’t want to. This is a concierge of a car, existing basically to make your life more pleasant and easier.

There’s a 12V active anti-roll bar at the back, which takes inputs from forward-facing cameras; if it sees a shadow or a highlight, it thinks a bump is coming and can slacken right off. The front suspension instead has a mass damper in its efforts to keep the body flat. There are air springs on each corner and rear-wheel steering. Quite a lot of tech, then, but you’re not really meant to know it’s there.

This is quite a big car; at 5546mm long and 2148mm wide (including the mirrors), it’s a touch bigger than the old one. Not so differently sized inside, though, because there’s more insulation in the doors. But unsurprisingly, it's wide enough and long enough for tall occupants to sit behind tall occupants.

Tall drivers might find the B-pillar restricts visibility, mind, and optional blinds restrict rear passengers' views out too even when they’re retracted; if you want to be hidden, that’s the rub.

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3 Rolls royce ghost 2020 uk fd hero rear

What's it like?

Some people want to be seen, others don’t. There are, I suppose, different types of luxury. And while the full-fat Rolls, the Phantom preferred by the world’s most exuberant high-rollers, is outlandish and extravagant and opulent in the extreme, Ghost buyers are – remember these things are relative – more discreet.

In Rolls terms, discreet means that there’s less obvious stitching on the leather and the Ghost does without the Phantom’s glass-fronted ‘gallery’ on the dashboard. Instead, there’s a rather sweet Ghost nameplate backed with little glowing stars. I promise that looks better than I’ve just made it sound.

Fit and finish is great and materials choice is terrific, too – although I wouldn’t object to analogue rather than digital dials. The metal air vents ting pleasingly, ambient lighting is artfully done and, well, the short of it is that, post-opulant or not, it’s a Rolls-Royce and you’ll find it very comfortable.

It's also very quiet. Fancy things have been tuned acoustically; the boot was a bit boomy, but opening up vent spaces cured that, and there’s 100kg of soundproofing in total (the Phantom has 130kg). But the important thing to know is that if you’re sitting in the back seat at motorway speeds, you can have a hushed conversation with the person in the front, because the loudest noise otherwise is their hands on the steering wheel. I wouldn’t mind if that were bigger and thinner of rim, more Phantom-like, but I’m being pernickety. You have to be.

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What differentiates customers of a Phantom and customers of the Ghost is how, and how much, they want to shout about their wealth. Where they don’t necessarily want a difference is in how their cars drive.

There is a differentiation between the two; it would be wrong if there wasn’t. But both have an inherent relaxed character that’s enjoyable while being freed from the shackles and compromises of some competitors. A big Bentley, for example, has to do all but 200mph and be a sports car as well as a luxury car. It’s very good at attempting to do them all of those things, too, hence fast-acting, strong-force 48V active anti-roll bars to try and control roll but not give a brittle ride. Rolls-Royce just doesn’t mind if there’s more, and lower-frequency, body lean, because it dispenses with any sporting pretence and so it lets the ride breathe more easily.

On the road, then, there's a relaxed gait and some low-frequency float to match the quietness, but less than you find in the Phantom. The Ghost feels a more tightly screwed car than the bigger Rolls, albeit still comfortably in the realms of luxury. Make a quick lane change and the active rear-steer enables a calm mooch across the carriageway and then ties the rear down quickly, whereas the Phantom or a big SUV would wallow in a little steadying movement.

If you’re seeking things to notice, there's a curious, almost lateral shimmy from the rear from time to time, at higher speeds across sharp imperfections. I doubt you would notice this in most cars but, as with a little suspension noise at the front, I guess the silence elsewhere amplifies it. You could always turn up the stereo.

2 Rolls royce ghost 2020 uk fd hero side

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In terms of engagement, the Ghost steers with lightness and moderate speed but brilliant accuracy and a fingertip weight that barely changes. It's odd to say it, but I find that as impressive and engaging as the weightier systems of most sports cars. The steering self centres less strongly than most big cars, but if you’re letting the wheel slip between your fingers, remember that you’re making the loudest noise in the cabin. Best to feed it back gently.

Other control weights are also expertly judged. Given the Ghost is ‘for being driven’ as well as ‘for driving’, Rolls goes to some lengths to make sure it can be brought to a stop, and will step-off again, really smootlhly.

You can still make pretty quick progress, I should add – and it’s enjoyable to do it. This is a car that has been limited at 155mph, after all, and I don’t imagine that, despite the 2490kg kerb weight and pretty vast frontal area, it would take too long to get there. Ask for a lot of performance and the engine emits a muted, expensive-sounding growl, while the autobox, whose shifts you can’t make yourself, is responsive. Ask for a more Rolls-steady sedate pace and you’ll probably never even notice the Ghost change gear or hear the engine while you do it.

This powertrain is awfully but deliciously some of the last of the old-school, unelectrified, internal-combusted analogue tech, and while vastly consumptive (the 18.0-18.6mpg / 347-358g/km figures are pretty sobering), ironically this is the closest the internal-combusted car comes to electric driving.

Rolls royce ghost 2020 uk fd matt prior driving

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Should I buy one?

My understanding is that we’ll see a fully electrified Rolls some time this decade, and my suspicion is that electric driving will suit a big luxury saloon like this perfectly.

For now, though, the big V12 is the only choice. And if the stamp on the block says Rolls? This time, the character of the rest of the car says the same, too.

16 Rolls royce ghost 2020 uk fd otr nose

PRICES & SPECS

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

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Comments
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4rephill 18 September 2020

So many complaints.......

..... About the Battleship grey paint, and the purple interior!

Psssst..... Rolls Royce do other colour options! ;)

abkq 15 September 2020

@harf

Every car review should include pictures of the old & the new side by side for comparison.

Changes in the Ghost appear minor, but as you know, accumulation of minor changes often result in a very different overall perception.

For myself I definitely prefer the simplified front of Ghost 2, and the new rear appears to make the car look wider and more planted too.

What I questioned from the beginning is the lack of side view. The first promotion photos of the white car included no profile shots at all. This grey one has no straight-on side view either. My main worry re side view is the apparant increased slope of the C-pillar / rear window. The relatively upright C-pillar on Ghost 1 is one of its strongest features. Let's hope Ghost 2 keep that intact. Until there are better pics of the side view, I am unable to tell.

Ghost 1's interior is also more distinctive.

harf 15 September 2020

No, Mark 1 is utter perfection imho

Sometimes a new version dates the previous gen instantly but sometimes it demonstrates the innate quality of the original - and this does the latter for me.

I'm talking exterior styling here, nothing else and where i often agree with abkq i cannot this time.

I've compared the two and for such relatively minor differences, the new one loses the elegant and simple style of the exquisitely proportioned original - tho i'm struggling to put why finger on quite why that it.

The rear end has become Hyundai/S-class like with its more ill-defined and melted form, not Quattroporte tight like the original. Maybe its the new flowing D pillar which loses the 3 box saloon definition of the original. Maybe its the lost definition of the bonnet crease which results in a heavier, blocky front end and a slab of a front.

I could happily walk around and gaze at the mark 1 for some time taking in the majesty of it all, whereas this would hold me less captive. Maybe i need to get out more ...

Tatraman 16 September 2020

I agree, it has lost some of

I agree, it has lost some of the elegance and lovely proportions of the first generation which is the best looking Rolls in a long time, though why they used this dreadful colour combination for a press/publicity car god only knows. Clearly improved on the technical front by the sound of, though it's predecessor was hardly lacking in that respect.