Ironically, it wasn’t the Phantom, Cullinan, Wraith or Dawn that had the majority of Rolls-Royce customers coming back for more. It was the Ghost. That’s right, the least expensive Rolls, the one built on an old 7 Series platform, was the one the brand’s customers most admired. Why? Because it was the most usable. The Ghost is the Rolls that car deliver customers the driving goods while they’re behind the wheel and also coddle and cosset them when they’re in the back. So it’s not the new Phantom or Cullinan that Rolls customers are excited about most. It’s the new Rolls-Royce Ghost.
To keep those customer happy, Rolls-Royce has had to work hard at making this new Ghost better than ever before. Which is why Rolls has thrown everything it has at the Ghost, giving it the best tech the brand has to offer.
The design brief for the new Rolls-Royce Ghost was to make sure that it offered customers the most accessible luxury experience possible. It had to be supremely comfortable and luxurious for passengers wanting to relax, while also being enjoyable to drive for customers that want to actually spend some time behind the wheel. It also needed to be usable in all weather.
Under the skin of the new Ghost lies the same “Architecture of Luxury” chassis that underpins the new Phantom and Cullinan. So it uses an all-aluminum space frame that’s scalable to fit all shapes and sizes. But that’s only part of it. The new Rolls-Royce Ghost will be all-wheel drive, which makes it the first BMW Group/Rolls-Royce car (not SUV) to power all four wheels, so that it can be used in all weather with peace of mind. Also, it gets rear-wheel steering for better agility.
However, what Rolls-Royce is most proud of with the Ghost is its new suspension. The Ghost will get the same “Flagbearer” and “Satellite Aided Transmission” technologies as the rest of the Rolls line. The former uses a camera to scan the road ahead for imperfections so it can read the suspension accordingly. The latter uses GPS information to tell the transmission which gear to be in at which time, depending on the road ahead, to offer the best experience while driving.
In addition to those two systems, the new Rolls-Royce Ghost will also get new Upper Wishbone Damper units mounted above the front suspension assembly. These units work in conjunction with the two aforementioned systems to help create an all-new type of magic carpet ride. This trip of systems is called the “Planar” system, according to Rolls-Royce, and it took three years to develop. Considering any Rolls rides like magic, we can only imagine what making it nicer will do.
These new technologies will make the Ghost not only better to ride around in but also to drive. That’s typically not the mission statement of Rolls-Royce but we’re sure glad it’s made the exception for the new Ghost. We can’t wait to see it.
