The pinnacle of automotive luxury

The new Phantom 8.

It is not everyday that we see a new Rolls getting unveiled, and that is why, it is a near celebration of luxury and opulence that when a Royce sees the light. Everything that you can possibly think of, every thing you can imagine a new Phantom to be.

Its got a new build platform, new engine, new technology, new interior and what not.

The styling :

The front takes up the shape and inspiration from the 103 EX concept, the grille is actually larger than the old and now replaced, Phantom 7, but it looks more blended in and cohesive with the entire front fascia of the car. Rolls Royce calls it the Panthium grille. Also, there are a lot more lines on the car and one of the most beautiful shapes of this model 8 is the way it tapers towards the rear end of the car (WE JUST LOVE THE C PILLAR OF THIS BEAUTY).

The 103 EX concept

The grille

Now of course, a Rolls-Royce is always about interior and luxury on the inside, with sophistication and character on the outside.The Phantom 8, doesn’t disappoint, just like no Rolls does, when it comes to cocooning the passenger in the lap of luxury.

You find the world’s finest materials coming together in the cabin and creating a symphony of joy, a cradle of passion and a flavour of extravagance in your travel.The starlight headliner is actually ..... the most beautiful thing to adorn in the Rolls, and it’s the biggest one ever to be put onto this one.

Many design traits are carried over from the Phantom 7 too. Once you’re seated in your ride, your valet only needs to touch the door handle and the door will electronically close. As elegant as it sounds, Rolls Royce calls this feature: THE EMBRACE.

On ti the front and you’re sure to fight for the keys with your chauffeur, where the major design changes have been made. Gone is the great slab of wood on the dashboard which used to speak of the craftsmanship and hardwork of all those artists in the Chichester factory where these masterpieces are handbuilt and hand assembled. As a replacement, there’s a 12.3 inch screen for the dials and the infotainment system appear or disappears at the touch of a button.

The infotainment system:

But the big change is something Rolls calls THE GALLERY. Behind the sheet of glass, you can commission works of art, as a replacement for a wood veneer carefully handcrafted after several man hours of work and change it to some other design, giving the penultimate and bespoke touch.

In fact, the spirit of ecstasy is so hardwired into the designers that they’ve given a bizarre option to the customer for the inlays on The Gallery.

It being that the customer can get his DNA pattern engraved on gold and then that becomes the panel inside of the glass!

Coming back to the exterior, the newly talked about build platform for the Phantom 8 will be adopted for the new Ghost, the new Wraith and the new and highly anticipated SUV from Rolls, the Cullinan.

The chassis and body is lighter and stiffer than before, there is a new “SELF LEVELLING AIR SUSPENSION”to make the Rolls Royce MAGIC CARPET ride even more pillow-ey soft.

The magic carpet ride adds another arrow to the quiver of the ride quality of the Phantom 8 which already wafts over the road.

There is a new camera system on the front which senses the road ahead and based on the algorithms fed into its brain, automatically adjusts the ride quality for maximum comfort.

The Powertrain retains the 6.75L twin turbo V12 putting out 563 Bhp and 900 Nm of torque. 0-60 mph comes up in a whopping 5.3 seconds. The power is routed from a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission.

“The need to modernize the Phantom was absolutely clear for us,” Rolls-Royce design boss Giles Taylor said at the reveal event. “We wanted to give this car a little more energy.”

Have they achieved it?

THEY ABSOLUTELY, MOST FLAMBOYANTLY DID.

Donning a new powerful engine befitting the size of the mammoth and an even exquisite and elegant interior, the Phantom 8 achieves a more modern feel than the predecessor which made its debut back in 2003.

But I think that Royce has really got its goals sorted and well in place.