Notes for the Rolls-Royce chauffeur: this is a big and heavy car, so your
employer will require you to be gentle with the controls, particularly the
steering, brakes and accelerator. Ensure the correct attire and a mannered
demeanour at all times and remember, this is about your passengers, not
about you.
These requirements haven’t been completely attainable in the last decade’s
worth of 7,000 Rolls-Royce Phantoms, however. Delectable piece of kit it
might be, but the Phantom’s six-speed ZF gearbox, although state-of-the-art
at the launch, occasionally found itself lost for an appropriate gear.
And while Rolls-Royce never talks about its customers by name (you get the
feeling that this car is a lot classier than the people who buy it), it’s a
comforting thought that even plutocrats, dictators, game-show barons,
crowned heads and oil sheikhs have to wait in line just like the rest of us.
For Bentley got its order in first for the new ZF eight-speed automatic
transmission and Rolls-Royce came second – and we understand that Aston
Martin’s replacement DBS is third.
So this Mark II Phantom, on sale now for delivery in September, is really a
change of transmission, but as well as the eight-speeder it also gets a new
beefed-up differential to replace the BMW 7-series unit, which was wearing
noisily in high-mileage Phantoms. While the Phantom Coupé and Drophead Coupé
also benefit from the transmission swap, the saloon gets some additional
strengthening to the aluminium spaceframe chassis.
To make this revamp worthy of the name, there are new electronics, with a
spiffy new satnav system complete with a massive 8.8in screen and a
360-degree camera system to help guide this huge barge into the chief
executive’s parking spot. Did I mention the Harman Kardon stereo? Well, it’s
loud. There are a few cabin changes to incorporate the big screen and sadly
the old centre layout, which was as charming as an old radiogram, has been
swapped for arriviste chromium switches which store memory functions.
The coachwork has received a lot of very subtle changes, which soften the
lines without drastically altering the overall appearance. “Our customers
don’t want a new car coming to market too often,” said Richard Carter,
Rolls-Royce’s communications director. Or rather, after stumping up more
than a third of a million pounds, they don’t want their cars looking out of
date when the Mark II version is launched.
Well, if you stood both cars side by side, you’d know there was a difference
(mainly because of the new rectangular LED headlamps), but only just.
Creases are softer, there’s a combined badge/indicator repeater, a new rear
bumper and chromium around the rear window, but none of it shouts
“new model”.
Inside, the rear cabin is largely untouched. It’s best enjoyed without the
myriad toys that are available, when the simple space and carefully planned
window lines allow a perfect view out while retaining a sense of privacy. In
the front, the old Phantom bugbears remain, with an adjustable steering
wheel that remains slightly out of reach and a centre boss that obscures the
gear selector quadrant so it’s impossible to know which gear you’ve
selected.
The push-button starter sits in a panel designed to recall the old Lucas
charging display. Push it and BMW’s 6.75-litre V12 purrs into life. A rev
counter would be useful as the engine’s so quiet you barely notice it
turning over.
First impressions are of near-silent, effortless torque, or “waftability”, as
Rolls-Royce excruciatingly puts it. At slow speeds you don’t hear much of
anything, just a bit of a whirr from the tyres and a wind-in-the-pipes moan
from the engine when you pull away. Stand on it, however, and you’ll get a
tiny delay in response and not quite the silver-teapot-full of performance,
because the Rolls has to limit torque on getaway to protect the
anti-friction coatings on the gears in the new transmission. Similarly, the
software is distinctly indecisive at times, which we are told is being
addressed already with rewritten software.
The rest of the drive experience is pretty much as it always was, with such an
uncanny ride quality that you would barely notice running over a member of
the proletariat. There’s lots of body roll, but it’s well controlled and
while the steering’s slow, it’s also delightfully accurate. True, in tight
corners, you have to pile on lock like coal on a locomotive, but the Phantom
always draws short of feeling like a runaway train. And never let anyone
tell you this car can’t be driven fast; it can, but in those leather
armchairs you lean into the corner like a dinghy sailor. Fortunately the
massive brakes will survive a lot of abuse.
In the end the Phantom is just such a damn good-looking car and so beautifully
made, it gets away with stuff that would be unacceptable on any other car.
And it now has the quantity, if not quite yet the quality, of gears to keep
the title of the finest car in the world.