Black Badge Spectre most powerful Rolls ever
New EV flagship promises a 'visceral driving experience' - what will they think of next?
Following the Ghost and Cullinan, the Rolls-Royce Spectre now has a Black Badge variant. Though the first EV to carry the infinity badge out of Goodwood, it follows a very similar precedent to those BB R-Rs that have come before it: a little more power, a little more edge, a little of the tweedy tradition swapped out for contemporary cool.
Most obviously that’s in the Spectre’s look, with a new Vapour Violet making its debut with this model and 23-inch forged wheels coming as standard. The ‘darkened aesthetic’ that marks out all Black Badge Rolls-Royces is carried over to the coupe, with smokier brightwork on the grille, Spirit of Ecstasy and window surrounds. There’s a new illuminated grille backplate for the Black Badge for a splash of colour, the purple on show here offered alongside Charles Blue, Chartreuse, Forge Yellow and Turchese. These can then be matched to newly illuminated treadplates inside, offered in 10 shades.
Speaking of which, Rolls-Royce suggests that the Black Badge driving environment is a ‘vibrant inner sanctuary’, with ‘its rebellious character immediately apparent through the bold interior treatment.’ So there’s a new pattern for the Illuminated Fascia, itself framed in a Technical Fibre of carbon and fine metal thread on top of a black Bolivar wood base. There are Infinity symbols throughout, plus a choice of colour themes for the dials and operating system display: Synth Wave, Ultraviolet, Cyan Fire, Neon Nights and Vivid Grellow.
All well and good - the interior does look appropriately snazzy - but the really interesting Black Badge bits are under the skin. There are new drive modes, for starters; Infinity uncorks 659hp, a sharper throttle response and the multicoloured dials, while Spirited Mode is essentially cultured launch control. Rolls-Royce discovered, through analysis of Spectre owners driving style (they volunteered their data, and it was anonymous) that ‘clients exploited maximum power in short pulses more than over extended periods’. So Spirited Mode does just that, offering up a 1,075Nm (793lb ft) overboost from launch for 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds - or 0.4 seconds faster than standard.
The chassis gets an enhancement too, as per Black Badge tradition, ‘to inspire clients to wield the unprecedented power of Black Badge Spectre with confidence.’ So there’s more steering weight, tighter body control from the damper for reduced squat and adjusted anti-roll stabilsation to keep the Spectre on an even keel. The Magic Carpet ride continues unaffected, so they say.
Interestingly, Rolls-Royce buyers were said to be so keen on the idea of a Black Badge Spectre that a few have already been made without anyone knowing. They were let into the inner sanctum while sworn to secrecy, and were so impressed with what they saw - ‘an emphatically positive response’, no less - that a small secret fleet of Black Badges is already out there. Expect plenty more to follow, given the popularity of the derivative in the rest of the lineup.
Rolls-Royce Chief Exec Chris Brownridge said of the latest model: “Black Badge Spectre is one of the clearest statements of power and purpose we have ever made. It has been created in the image of our boldest and most audacious clients, with meticulous attention to detail. From the beginning of Black Badge Spectre’s journey, the clients who requested this extraordinary motor car dared us to share their fearless spirit. In response, our engineers combined data science, qualitative feedback, and their own deep knowledge of the brand’s alter ego to craft an intense and uncompromising character, and the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history.”
Naturally, an exact price hasn’t been confirmed, but this Spectre must be knocking on the door of £400k given a standard one was £332,055 last year. And a Black Badge has never come cheap; even a 2017 Dawn can still command almost £200k. Rolls-Royce will be hoping for similarly strong residuals for its latest; clients will be demanding nothing less than the best EV in the world…
t sherlock departmentClearly not a Rolls Royce customer.
This car is far better suited to electric power than anything they've made before and in my mind absolutely represents the realisation of the vision of the company founder - in fact, I see the old cars as literally that; old tech trying to reach what this has now achieved but never quite 'making it'.
The idea that this Spectre somehow isn't representative of "proper engineering" is simply asinine but don't worry, Royce's will all be like this eventually!
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