Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Kuala Lumpur has
officially launched the full Black Badge line-up in Malaysia, and it’s the
only dealer in the region to offer the full range of the Black Badge family. It
is comprised of four models – the Wraith, Ghost, Dawn and Cullinan SUV, each
featuring a dark, distinct styling theme for a vastly sportier look.
The Black Badge family was first
introduced in 2016 with the Wraith and Ghost as a way to lure younger customers
to the Rolls-Royce brand. Today, each model comes with a staggering 44,000
paint options, but Rolls-Royce claims that many Black Badge customers will opt
for the bespoke, signature Black colour.
This multilayered paintwork is applied and
hand-polished nearly a dozen times, a process the automaker says is the most
comprehensive surface finish process ever applied to a solid paint colour.
Exterior chrome elements such as the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, radiator grille
surrounds and window sills are finished in gloss black for good measure. For
the Black Badge Dawn, it gets the Aero Cowling kit which transforms the
luxurious droptop vehicle into a roadster-style two-seater car. Customers can
also opt for the regular four-seater version, if they so fancy. As with the
theme, a black canvas roof is standard.
Depending on the model, the exterior trims
can be had in carbon-fibre as well, and the cars come equipped with a range of
exclusive two-toned wheels. Rolls-Royce says these wheel designs are only
offered on the Black Badge, while the Cullinan gets red brake calipers. Of
course, these cars can be customised to your heart’s content. Inside, all four
cars get the exquisite Technical Carbon finish, a naked-weave carbon-fibre
“leaf” with a three-dimensional effect. Each leaf is finished with six coats of
lacquer before being left to cure for 72 hours, then hand-polished to a mirror
finish.
Rolls-Royce says this process takes 21
days, and a master craftsperson will ensure that each panel achieves complete
reflective uniformity. As with any Rolls-Royce car, the cabin is almost
infinitely customisable, from colour selection to material type. The Cullinan,
for example, even comes with a handwoven Starlight Headliner with 1,344 fibre
optic lights. Also unique to the Black Badge family is performance upgrades.
The Dawn, Wraith and Ghost are powered by the marque’s uprated 6.6 litre
twin-turbo V12 petrol engine, which makes more power than their “lesser”
stablemates.
The Black Badge Ghost offers 612 hp and
840 Nm of torque, with drive sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed
automatic transmission. This allows the 2.5-tonne luxury barge to do the 0-100
km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds, before topping out at an electronically limited top
speed of 250 km/h.
The Wraith is slightly
more powerful with 632 hp and 870 Nm of torque. Equipped with the same
driveline, it manages the century sprint in 4.5 seconds. Vmax is also capped at
250 km/h. Aspiring customers of the Black Badge Dawn will benefit from a slight
performance increase over the regular model, with 601 hp and 840 Nm on tap.
That’s good for a 0-100 km/h sprint of 4.9 seconds. Last but not least is the
Cullinan. This ultra luxurious SUV draws power from a 6.75 litre
twin-turbocharged V12 engine, offering 593 hp and a whopping 900 Nm of torque.
All models get a new sports exhaust system
with a more bassy sonic signature, while the transmission, braking and
suspension performance have also been enhanced accordingly. Rolls-Royce says
the Black Badge models are the most dynamic versions of the cars available.
