2018 Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge Review: Ditch the Driver

Verdict | Design | Interior | Technology | Performance | Safety | Specs | Running Costs | Pricing

Design & Exterior: ★★★★★★★★★★☆ (9/10)

You can’t miss a modern Rolls-Royce. They’re huge in every sense of the word, and ooze presence. Heads turn, camera phones are fumbled for, nods are given when one silently cruises down the road. With the Wraith, Rolls-Royce hasn’t skimped on the size front. It’s long, wide, and pretty tall.

It isn’t merely a big slab of car though, its lines are well thought out and flow down the car wonderfully. The rear three quarter view is a joy to behold thanks to a sweeping roof line and big haunches. It may be a bit brash for some, but the chances are the most vocal are the ones who’ll never likely get near one.

The Black Badge remixes some of the traditional Rolls-Royce design hallmarks, so the Spirit of Ecstasy is now black, as are the RR badges, and the imposing Parthenon grille.

Verdict | Design | Interior | Technology | Performance | Safety | Specs | Running Costs | Pricing

Interior & Comfort: ★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)

Many moons ago it was said the loudest thing in a Rolls-Royce was the clock. Now it’s your breath. It’s delightfully quiet at any speed. The car delicately hurls itself down the road with nary a worry. Any lump in the road is absorbed by the car, leaving occupants unburdened by something so trivial as a slightly uneven road surface.

Black Badge cars do have slightly stiffer suspension than their vanilla counterparts, so the ride isn’t quite as smooth as others, but it’s still 100% smoother than just about everything else on the road. Black Badges also get some engine noise in the cabin when you give the car some welly. Nail the throttle and a wonderful V12 wail enter the cabin. It’s most unseemly, but perfect for car like the Black Badge – it’s the Rolls with an attitude.

The cabin is full to the brim of wonderful materials. The leather upholstery is soft, comfortable, and incredible to touch. It almost feels wasted on betrousered buttocks. For your feet, there’s a thick carpet. The kind of carpet that would be totally out of place in an average flat, but you wouldn’t bat an eyelid if someone told you the Queen had it on her ceilings. You feel guilty for wearing shoes on it.

Put simply, it’s one of the finest seats on the road.

Technology & Connectivity: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (7/10)

The tech in the Wraith ranges from genuinely smart, to a bit disappointing. The GPS-guided gearbox, for example, is very clever. It talks to the sat nav, tells the gearbox what the road is like, registers how you’re driving, then chooses the right gear for the situation. Clever stuff. After all, in a Rolls, one does not choose one’s own gear.

The test car had cooled and heated seats, handy for an early start to an immensely hot day, and seat massagers. The massagers were barely effective, it felt like one buttock was being given a gentle prod, and the other ignored. A gentle kneading was offered, gentle disappointment delivered.

Buyers may find the main infotainment screen familiar, as it’s a rather posh version of the last generation BMW iDrive system. That means it works well, but it doesn’t boast any touch screen fun, something that people who like flash toys would likely enjoy showing off.

The DAB radio and digital television fitted to our test car were nice distractions though.

Performance & Handling: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (8/10)

A Wraith is not a light thing, it weighs close to two and a half tonnes, so you’d expect it to be a touch sluggish, wouldn’t you? It is not. Under its massive hood is a 6.6-litre twin turbocharged V12 that kicks out 624bhp and 642lb ft (non Black Badge Wraiths get a mere 590lb ft). That’s enough to sling you from 0-62mph in just 4.5 seconds and on to a limited 155mph. Because the Wraith only drives its rear wheels (no bad thing), if, on a dry day with warm(ish) tyres one was to have a brisk start one would find a big pair of number elevens on the road behind the car. The strange thing is, one would not have felt it at all. The car delivers its power with no fuss at all, and if it does find itself overwhelmed or lacking grip, the driver is the last person to know about it. 

Its steering is light, so much so that you can use a single finger to change direction. The ‘wheel does have an effect on which direction you’re going, but don’t expect supercar levels of feedback. If you’re giving the car the beans around a corner, don’t expect it to corner like a race car. This is a heavy, big car on suspension set up more for comfort than lap times. Still, it’s hilarious fun to chunter around in.

Recommended engine: 6.6-litre turbocharged V12