Latest news with #Rolls-RoyceBlackBadgeSpectre
The National
24-03-2025
- Automotive
- The National
Rolls Royce Spectre Black Badge review: The 'best car in the world' gets better
Ever driven a Rolls-Royce on a racetrack? Let me guess – your answer is probably 'no' followed by 'why would I'? And asking why is reasonable, considering the 120-year history of the luxury motoring brand. For most of that time, these were cars to be driven by a professional chauffeur. But over the past 20 years, things have changed. Now, most owners prefer to be behind the wheel for, perhaps, the smoothest drive to be found anywhere. The brand itself calls it the 'magic carpet ride'. While the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre, the newest vehicle in its line-up, still offers the signature magic carpet ride, it is also the most powerful car that the brand has produced. A high-performance version of the all-electric Spectre released in 2023, this is a car begging to be pushed to its limits – complete with two new power-train features that allow drivers to utilise the car's full capabilities. The car produces 659hp and 1075Nm of torque, an upgrade from the Spectre's 576hp and 900Nm. The new Infinity mode allows access to the full power and throttle response, and Spirited mode enables acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds. To accommodate those demands, Rolls-Royce has resigned the chassis, given the car a heavier steering feel and enhanced roll stabilisation – with dampers added to enhance body control. As I drive the car on a racetrack outside of Barcelona, it's immediately clear that the accomplished engineering can keep up with the brand's boasts. While this will never be confused with a car built for the track – it's far too heavy to ever feel natural to that environment – it holds its own, while never losing the road feel that the brand is known for. The main question is my mind, however, was not whether the car could live up to its performance claims. I was concerned, rather, that it would have the same neck-snapping acceleration feel of many performance EVs that boast instant torque delivery. Cars such as the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire can go from 0 to 100km/h in 2.07 seconds. And that kind of acceleration isn't just uncomfortable – it's apparently dangerous, with Autoevolution reporting that it could even result in mild concussions. But even in Infinity and Spirited modes – I pushed the acceleration from 0 to 165km/h on the straight – the car preserved the thrilling, joyous feel of a V12 engine. Even as I dodged traffic cones in an obstacle course at 50km/h, the car adapted, slowing to a comfortable speed the more I pushed it back and forth. Rolls-Royce has always been a brand built on feel. The primary concern has been to make the ride as serene as possible. While it is built to last – an estimated 75 per cent of the Rolls-Royce vehicles ever produced are still on the road today – this brand has also been continuously refined to keep up with the times. The brand's first two electric vehicles feel like a natural evolution rather than a significant departure, which is an impressive engineering accomplishment. Even the performance modes in the Black Badge Spectre are in line with the brand's heritage. They are inspired by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine found in the Spitfire fighter planes of Second World War, which offered modes that allowed pilots to engage extra thrust in life-and-death situations. While the loud roar of a combustion engine is so thoroughly missed in other leading luxury brands that have produced electric vehicles, the whisper-quiet Rolls-Royce is built for the EV era. That's why the brand plans to make all its fleet electric by 2030. The Rolls-Royce Spectre has passed the first test with flying colours – with some car reviewers even labelling it the best car in the world. The performance-minded Black Badge Spectre is arguably the bigger test and, even at its limits, it measures up. I suppose that makes this the new champion – and a sign that the electric future is probably brighter than some sceptics, myself included, believe it to be. Pre-orders for Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre are open now, with deliveries expected this year.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Black Badge Spectre is most powerful Rolls-Royce ever made
The new Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre is the most powerful model in the West Sussex car maker's history, packing up to 650bhp and 793lb ft. Its arrival also takes the Black Badge moniker into the electric age for the first time. Launched in 2016, Black Badge branding is intended to denote powerful and more individualistic versions of its most luxurious cars and is targeted at younger buyers. Arriving just over a year after the Spectre went on sale as the brand's first electric car, the Black Badge model is pitched as a more aggressive proposition than the standard EV. While the dual-motor Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre offers the same 577bhp as the standard car in normal running, a new Infinity mode unlocks a further 73bhp and quickens throttle response. This performance-enhancing feature is said to be inspired by the Rolls Royce Merlin engine that powered aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire during the Second World War. It allowed pilots to call on an extra burst of power to escape dog fights. As well as the Infinity mode (the symbol of Black Badge), Rolls-Royce has added a launch control setting called Spirited mode, which boosts torque from 660lb ft to 793lb ft and primes the car for a 0-62mph time of 4.1sec. In all, the potent new Spectre model surpasses the output of the 2016 Wraith Black Badge, which made 623bhp and 642lb ft from its twin-turbocharged V12. In sync with the extra reserves of the Black Badge Spectre, engineers have fitted new dampers to reduce the effects of the three-tonne EV squatting under acceleration and diving under braking. They also increase the roll stabilisation for flatter cornering. The car gets heavier steering too. Rolls-Royce has introduced new levels of customisation with the Black Badge Spectre. One option enables buyers to fit the illuminated grille with a backplate that lights up in one of five colours. This theme continues inside, where the treadplate can also be illuminated, this time in 10 different colourways. The cabin houses the same luxuries as the standard car, which combines an array of high-end materials with digital screens and physical buttons. The Black Badge is also available with a new colour: Vapour Violet. This is said to be inspired by the 'neon ambience of 1980s and 1990s club culture'. The new colour can be paired with a white bonnet for a 'bold contrast'. Special new 23in fi ve-spoke alloy wheels are fitted and shod with Rolls-Royce's noise-cancelling run-flat tyres. 'Black Badge Spectre is one of the clearest statements of power and purpose we have ever made,' said Rolls-Royce CEO Chris Brownridge. 'Our engineers crafted an intense and uncompromising character and the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history.' The company has not disclosed pricing, but with the standard car costing from £332,055 before options, it is likely that transaction prices for the Black Badge Spectre will creep well beyond the £500,000 mark once cars are equipped to customers' specifications. ]]>
