Happenings

New chapter in the Rolls-Royce story

BY Marcus Lim

The latest luxury benchmark lands in Singapore

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Singapore premiered the New Phantom for the first time in Southeast Asia, revealing their latest luxury icon to members of the media during a ritzy unveiling at The Esplanade. The covers were pulled off a Phantom Extended Wheelbase finished in Belladonna purple, with a matching Arctic White and Purple Silk interior. 

An all-new aluminium spaceframe termed the ‘Architecture of Luxury’ underpins the New Phantom, which is 30 percent more rigid than the spaceframe architecture of the outgoing Phantom. The Architecture of Luxury was designed and engineered from the ground up to allow scalability, and will thus underpin every future Rolls-Royce model regardless of weight or propulsion.

At the heart of the New Phantom lies a completely new 6.75-litre, twin-turbocharged V12 engine, a completely silent engine befitting the most silent car in the world. The V12 produces 563 bhp of power; and to ensure complete silence, peak torque of 900 Nm is available at the lower end of the rev range — just 1700 rpm. A Satellite Aided Transmission (SAT) works together with a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission to ensure that the correct gear is pre-selected for the road ahead.

After the rear passenger enters a New Phantom through the coach doors, an assistant or valet can lightly touch a sensor on the door handle to initiate the automatic, whisper-quiet closing of the doors, enveloping the passenger in an experience Rolls-Royce terms ‘The Embrace’. A cocoon of fine leather and high gloss wood panels are afforded to the rear passenger, with the aim of inhibiting both calmness and tranquillity.

The New Phantom also sees the debut of a new interior concept dubbed ‘The Gallery’, an uninterrupted application of glass across the front fascia that allows owners to present three-dimensional artwork within their cars. Apart from the artwork, The Gallery also houses the signature Rolls-Royce analogue clock, and a central information screen that can be retracted when not in use.

Order books for the New Phantom are now open, with deliveries expected in early 2018. Prices begin at S$1.78-million for the Standard Wheelbase Phantom, and S$2.08-million for the Extended Wheelbase.