Rolls-Royce recently debuted its latest model, the Ghost Black Badge, in Miami. It flew out a few journalists (our own Horatiu included) and let them test the car out a bit in some much needed sunshine. While most of the reviews were glowing; talking about its incredible luxury and style; one wasn’t quite as glowing — though not negative, either — and for a very specific reason.
This new review from Motor Trend, asks the question: could Rolls-Royce have done more with the chassis of the Ghost Black Badge? If you aren’t familiar, Black Badge models receive mostly cosmetic changes, with more vibrant, more stylish color schemes and options. That’s all well and good, and it’s certainly effective — Black Badge models now account for 37 percent of all Rolls-Royce sales — but it might be bit disappointing that Rolls didn’t do some extensive work on the chassis.
Rolls-Royce is famous for not concerning itself with sportiness. Even though all Rolls’ have monster twin-turbo V12s with enough power to tug the moon out of orbit, there isn’t a single “RR” badged car that feels even a tiny bit sporty. That’s by design, as Rolls-Royce prides itself on being the most luxurious automaker in the world. However, with its Black Badge models; and their fancy carbon fiber trim, more aggressive styling, and more youthful pretenses; one might want a bit of sportier handling.
Motor Trend points out that Rolls-Royce has a wealth of knowledge and resources at its disposal, being part of the BMW Group. With cars like the BMW M8 Gran Coupe and M760iL, the Bavarians certainly know how to make comfortable cars handle well. Could have Rolls engineers add a bit of sportiness into the Ghost Black Badge — to give it more mechanical incentive to choose it over the standard Ghost? No one is saying the Ghost Black Badge should feel like an M car but if it were to feel like a more comfortable ALPINA, that’d be about perfect.
The Black Badge is mostly a visual upgrade over the standard model. It darkens the badges, adds some darker, more stylish trims, and makes it feel a bit more stylish. Instead, it would be cool if Black Badge models had a bit more sportiness to compliment the sharper, more exciting styling. Should Rolls-Royce have done just a bit more? Probably. Will it matter to customers or to the brand itself? Not a chance. Are these the grumblings of car enthusiasts that want things our way? Absolutely.
[Source: Motor Trend]
