Rule breakers. Risk takers. Disruptors. All nonconformist outliers. Welcome to your new, post-opulence, minimalist vehicle, the Rolls-Royce 2022 Black Badge Ghost.
In the first iterations of Black Badge motor cars, the iconic Goodwood team led Wraith down the dark path, followed by Dawn and Cullinan. The conversion of Ghost, however, to a vehicle for the subversive, influential driver, remains the most advanced of all the Black Badge models. Rejecting every unnecessary distraction, it is the best merger of engineering’s version of Occam’s Razor with extreme purity in design. An edgy, urgent, responsive driving experience, it is streamlined for a new type of Rolls-Royce client: the iconoclast.
The Black Badge: Infinity and the Dark Side
After discovering Rolls-Royce owners were tasking outside experts to dim down the chrome and tone down the wheels on their vehicles, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös responded with what some felt was a surprising embrace of this new culture. He commanded the creation of Black Badge style, aiming the branding at a younger, sportier, more engaged driver.
Black Badge branding shaved years from the age of Rolls-Royce owners, establishing a superluxury subculture with broadened geographic reach that demanded less distraction, less bling, with more comfort, style, technology, and power.
What might seem out of character for the brand is really just a look back to 1904, when Charles Rolls and Henry Royce teamed up to design the world’s best motor car. Using actress Eleanor Thornton as a muse, and John Scott Montague, Charles Sykes and Claude Johnson to contribute engineering and design, the duo proved themselves disruptors, upending traditional horse and buggy travel of the period with speed, strength, and beauty. The world craved more.
Their motor car set the land speed record in Paris in 1906, followed by the unveiling of the Silver Ghost in 1907. Rolls-Royce crowned the hood with “the goddess of perfection” and “the soul in the machine,” the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy statuette. Rolls-Royce motor cars became de rigueur for freethinkers – those dreamers with the power to change the world.
Post Opulent Minimalism and Infinite Power
Black Badge branding shaved years from the age of Rolls-Royce owners, establishing a superluxury subculture with broadened geographic reach that demanded less distraction, less bling, with more comfort, style, technology, and power. Reflecting the desires of younger customers, Rolls-Royce acted with a targeted response in the driving experience, capturing 27 percent of global commission and lowering the average owner age to 42, down from 50.
The Bernoulli Lemniscate, aka infinity symbol with an underscore, identifies the model in strategic placements, most noticeably on the passenger side dash fascia. The glowing Lemniscate logo is surrounded by the subtle brilliance of 850 tiny starlights and 90,000 laser-etched dots, evoking a magical presence visible only when interior lights are on.
Performance improvements embraced a 6.75 liter twin-turbocharged V12, delivering the 600PS, 900NM torque, zero-to-60 ride in 4.2 seconds. The chassis earned stiffer calibration. The transmission is tuned to shift faster with a ZF eight-speed gearbox. The steering is tweaked to feel a touch tighter. The air spring tuning and roll control have a firmer response. All-wheel drive, all-wheel steer, and more engaging gear ratios give the driver a commanding position. The brake pedal bite point is raised, and pedal travel time reduced. All of these changes work to connect the driver more closely to the road while preserving ride quality.
The Low Mode driving option unleashes the beast. With the technology breaking free, engaged drivers will notice the difference. The new exhaust system voices its potency, and gearshift speed increases when the throttle is depressed, providing loads of responsive power on demand for a motor car with a spirited attitude.
Planar System Technology: Effortless Ride that Carves the Road
Essentially a damper that dampens the damper, the Rolls-Royce Planar System works together with the Flagbearer System’s stereo cameras and the Satellite Aided Transmission System. Communications between them number thousands per second, ensuring ride quality is smooth and level, yet pleasing to enthusiastic drivers.
Using physics related to mass as opposed to weight, Rolls-Royce created the additional damper to handle smaller, high-frequency vibrations. Noises that became apparent as the wishbone damper handled the low-frequency noise, working beautifully together to provide the hushed Magic Carpet ride for which Rolls-Royce is known.
