Driving Report: Rolls-Royce Wraith

A majestic affair - En route in the strongest Rolls-Royce of all time

I personally like sports cars! I like to be compact, flat, loud and the more uncomfortable the better ... just "sporty" (to suit my character). From me the classic "HotHatch" or - if absolutely necessary - sometimes a fast station wagon like an Audi RS6. As long as the whole thing roars, is ideally charged and of course has a lot of horsepower, I'm happy. I'm just a simple car man 🙂

But last summer everything turned out differently. Surreally different! Specifically, I had the opportunity to drive a car that I normally don't come into contact with either privately or as part of my work as an “autogeek”. In terms of the key data, that sounded like a fat MATCH in the Auto-Tinder: A sleek, double-charged V12 Coupé with rear-wheel drive and 632 hp for well over € 300.000 wanted to meet me. Runs with me! Well, would someone have had an idea - spontaneously from the gut? "Emily" was her name. She was British and invited me to travel to beautiful Austria together. I could also bring my buddy, the "FotoRalph", with me. “It'll answer,” I thought to myself. Personally, everything went a bit fast for me, but "Hey, what the heck!" Who wouldn't have combed the parting inside out, put on a good shirt and polished the shoes to a shine ???

The first meeting was scheduled in a posh suburb of Munich, to which we traveled with both anticipation and excitement. Because "Emily" - you will have guessed it - did not come to the date alone. She had something special with her. Specifically, nothing less than the strongest vehicle ever built by Rolls Royce, the Rolls Royce Wraith - one of the most glamorous coupés on the planet.

Rolls Royce and I are pretty much like a fine Brioni bespoke suit and Puma sneakers, like a Richebourg Grand Cru vintage 1985 (price about 14.000 € per bottle) and a chili cheeseburger, like Madonna and her ToyBoy; but we digress. You know what I mean?! Whereby when I handed over the test car at the car dealership, I had to say that - all stereotypes to the defiance - not only oil sheiks and at least half-aristocratic belong to the circle of customers. There is, for example, the beginning 30 year-old entrepreneur, who regularly rides his Rolls at the legendary Gumball 3000 and lets it crash non-majestically. Why not? I like the contrasts in life and that's why I looked forward to this trip. Our destination was the largest sports car meeting in Europe in Velden (Austria) on the Wörthersee. The route to it was perfect: 1 / 3 highway, 1 / 3 country road and the rest of "special" roads - as well as the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. The highest pas street in Europe! Car heart, what more do you want?

The briefing was extremely personable and highly professional. Most important note: In any case, make sure that the sunshade sunk into the fender is correctly engaged, otherwise greater damage will result when you close the door. Good to know! The Teflon-coated screen for the price of a used winter car is, in principle, too good to expose to raindrops anyway. The idea is always nice.

There he is now. An endlessly appearing coupe - a fastback - which looks somehow surreal in nature. Front (actually also from above, below, from the side and in general, no matter how one looks at it, immediately recognizable by everyone as "Rolls", she perches, the small sweet radiator figure By the way, Lady Rolls-Royce is officially called the "Spirit of Ecstasy" and shows a lady with a wind-blowing dress, Eleanor Thornton modeled on 1911, who was once again the mistress and secretary of a British nobleman who seemed to be looking at his little mouse The hood was designed to be worn during the ride, and he hired a "state-of-the-art" sculptor of the time to conjure the hot lover onto the radiator - and the most famous of all radiator figurines was born - Rolls-Royce has that idea Thus, the sweet figure adorns the radiator of the legendary luxury brand until today, but the bottom line was even then at romance and hot affair ren ...

My affair will start shortly and I'm frankly quite hot. Pardon, I meant motivated. There he stands or she. She is enthroned on him, the Rolls Royce Wraith. An 2,4 tons of heavy dream in "Salamanca Blue". By the way, namesake and direct brother is indirectly the ghost. Because "Wraith" is translated from the Scottish dialect namely "Ghost" - ie "spirit". And the Wraith is somehow based on the Ghost. Confused? Then differently: The Wraith is the 5m long coupe version of the Ghost. Spirits have almost all the names of Rolls-Royce (Shadow, Ghost, Phantom, etc.). He is supposed to animate the well-heeled target group since 2013 to even get into the flounce. I've never had a chauffeur anyway, so I mimic the self-drive driver quite naturally.

I think the shape is great. It is reminiscent of Bentley's successful model, the Continental GT. I've always found it sexy. What should he be, I ask myself? Certainly not an aggressive sports coupe. Maybe more of a GT? We'll find out!

The most characteristic, well-known feature of the Rolls are the rear-hinged, forward (electrically) opening doors, which are intended to facilitate entry and to keep the space next to the car free. It works great, but for normal mortals it takes a bit of getting used to, as you repeatedly stand next to the car and subconsciously reach into space. The door handle is at the front and not near the (imaginary) B-pillar. But these are just the beginner mistakes of the mob. Once you have climbed the throne, you will be welcomed as expected. Even the finest floor mats give you a brief impulse to take off your shoes and put them in front of the door. The finest leather (in our case in “Crème Light” in combination with “Navy Blue”), real wood in “Tuscan Ash Burr”, mineral glass, piano lacquer, aluminum, chrome and, if you like, pure gold adorn the cockpit. The mix of materials is downright breathtaking, but it can also take your breath away. The combination of matt, glossy, brushed, perforated, knobbed and I don't know what, literally kills you. But it has to be like that, I've learned. You can recognize a Rolls by the cockpit and the target group is used to it. Point! By the way, the coolest extra is an LED headliner lighting, which, if desired, also displays your own zodiac sign and costs around 11.000 € extra. Who can, can! It is well known that these are often the seemingly pointless things that make life so beautiful.

In the cockpit, the eye falls on an almost "normal" analog speedometer, at least when viewed in absolute terms, which "already" ends at 260. A start button brings the V12 to life in a relatively unspectacular (because it is quiet). The gear is engaged in retro style with a lever on the steering wheel. Shift paddles, driving dynamics switches or a Tiptronic are in vain. It starts! We float there with an abundance of energy reserves. The coupé glides away as smooth as silk and I am fascinated by how perfectly this automotive work of art drives. Variable dampers, roll stabilization and, last but not least, the first-class ZF 8-speed automatic, which - coupled to the on-board navigation system - selects the appropriate gear in advance, for example before an incline and thus ensures a clean, economical and jerk-free drive, add to this . Technically, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. The infotainment system is based on BMW, the touchpad on the central iDrive counterpart in Rolls also understands Mandarin.

Otherwise, he drives the way he looks: Majestically! Dynamic is still different. That does not matter. A Rolls is not a cross driver, but a longitudinal glider. It does not feel unsportsmanlike. But you really do not feel anything. Probably a bit like the princess on the pea. Everything works silky smooth and stoically perfect. The steering is anything but direct, the chassis far from "hard" and the sound of the engine reminds of the volume rather to the ventilation in a Lamborghini because of his V12. Nevertheless, the car is fun! And he's the sportiest thing Rolls-Royce has to offer. Why? Because he always offers performance in abundance, because he skilfully hides his 2,4 tons, because he is comfortable-tight and yet not floating-soft in curves, licking the tight ass and always doing what you expect from him. In fast corners, he tends to tend to understeer. No wonder, in terms of length and weight. The 21 "wheels (series are 20") with ContiSportcontact tires had power and weight but always perfectly under control. Even on the snow-wet Grossglockner Pass, the summer tires were never overburdened with performance and weight. Provided fingertip and foot feeling.

By the way, 4,6 seconds pass from 0-100 km / h. Then the V12 finally speaks up and is reminded not to sit in an electric car. It should be noted that the Rolls is braked electronically at 250 km / h. And by that I mean really slowed down. It feels like something is throwing an anchor. It feels like the Rolls rushes into the limiter on a free highway, as if you were throwing a stick between Usain Bolt's legs during a sprint. Because with 632 PS you still have a lot of reserves. Reserves are also the keyword, because you won't find a rev counter. Instead of this, there is the "Power Reserve" display. This shows the driver in percent how much of the power is currently being used. If you take the throttle off the throttle during the noted ride and keep your speed on the plane, the display is just over 60%. Ergo, there is still a lot left. But these high-speed rides feel kind of wrong. You can at any time if you have to, but the Rolls is more of a fast cruiser ...

What else is there to say? We drove around 1.000 Km and had an average consumption of 14 liters. We have reached exactly the factory specification. I could still babble so much of all the impressions and rant about subjective driving impressions. But fortunately we have made a moving picture contribution and I would like to share this with you. So click on the video quickly (here) and travel interactively on a very special journey with me ("MotorOli") and my creative picture companion "FotoRalph".

We hope to have a little talk with you! You will find more impressive pictures (here) yet.

If you feel like it, you can join Car Zitzmann rent a Rolls-Royce. Not cheap, but guaranteed a special experience and still cheaper than the purchase.

A lasting memory is that in any case!

Technical details