Ghost Rolls-Royce Ghost - First Drives (CarMag,…)

[ree]

This is the new Rolls-Royce Ghost, a £192k British-built luxury limo. Find the majestic Rolls-Royce Phantom a bit gauche? Some potential owners do, says Rolls, so the smaller, more demure and slightly more affordable Ghost is the answer. Read on for CAR's verdict on the new Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Demure? Surely the whole point of having a Rolls is to make a statement.

We’d have thought so too, but some potential buyers wanted all of the luxury of the Phantom in a package that they could leave on a parking meter without attracting undue attention. The more restrained presence and £192,500 list price (£80k less than the Phantom) means 80 percent of Ghost buyers will be new to the brand. And over half of those are likely to come from Bentley, not something the Crewe concern will be happy to hear.
So Rolls just chopped a chunk out of the wheelbase and made the grille smaller?

No, this is an all-new car. Well, all-new if you discount the BMW 7-series with which the Ghost shares some mechanical components. The Phantom is constructed around an aluminium spaceframe but the Ghost’s chassis is a steel unibody. Aluminium chassis are chunky affairs so sticking with steel allowed Rolls to endow the Ghost with interior space not far short of the Phantom while keeping the footprint much smaller. The 5399mm Ghost is 435mm shorter, 42mm narrower and 82mm shorter than a Phantom with the standard wheelbase.
So it’s just a 760i in a posh dress?

No, it’s a very different car with its own personality. And this one actually rides well. But if you examined their DNA, you’d see similarities. The supercharged V12 for instance, is a 6.6-litre version of the 6.0 motor in the 760i and backed up by the same eight-speed automatic gearbox. Power climbs from 537bhp in the BMW to 563bhp, and torque from 553lb ft to 570lb ft. The Phantom carries on with its own different (and much less powerful) V12.…


Rolls-Royce Ghost (2009) CAR review | Road Testing Reviews | Car Magazine Online

 

[bum-man]

The side profile in that first picture looks both boring and disgusting, I don't know how that is even possible but they managed it.

 

[Deleted member 25]

Seems like they delivered another great car.

 

[ree]

"The launch of a new Rolls-Royce is an historic event," says CEO Tom Purves as we sit down to dinner at West Stoke House in bucolic West Sussex, only a few miles from the Rolls-Royce factory on the Earl of March's estate at Goodwood, and in the very room where design chief Ian Cameron and team spent three months working on the Phantom back in 2000. Not as historic event as it perhaps once was, though: The 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan is the fourth new Rolls-Royce to appear since the imperious Phantom rewrote the rulebook for super-luxury cars in 2003. Or, to put it another way, Rolls-Royce has now launched as many new cars in the 11 years since BMW snatched the storied marque from under the nose of VW Group boss Ferdinand Piech as it had in the previous 50.

For all that, the 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost is indeed an historic car: It's the first small Rolls-Royce launched since the 1949 Silver Dawn. "Small" is a relative term, however. Though 17.1 inches shorter than a Phantom sedan, the 212.6-inch Ghost is still 4.3 inches longer than a Bentley Continental Flying Spur, and weighs a not insubstantial 5450 pounds. This is not a compact econo-Rolls.

Read more: 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost First Drive - Motor Trend

 

[Deleted member 25]

Looks smashing in full black.

 

[Centurion]

Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves says 1600 "seriously intending customers" have signed up for the Ghost worldwide.

Lukewarm reception considering that the more expensive Mulsanne is sold out for 2010 and that the Flying Spur moved 1,813 units in 2008 and many more units in the prior years. I blame over-pricing.

 

[klier]

^ A Bentley is for the crowds, a Rolls means exclusivity.

So, perfect. And 1600 units is an incredible number during crisis and considering that rebadged Phaeton which sold 1800 numbers in 2008, before the crisis really hit.

 

[LaArtist]

I dont like this roller..

 

[bmer]

I read Bentley are planning to sell 700 Mulsannes a year.

BTW 1,212 Phantoms were sold last year (this year it will be less though).

Planned sales for Ghost: 2,000 units per year.

 

[Sunny]

I dont like this roller..

You forgot to mention it looks like human excrement. Loosing your touch?

 

[LaArtist]

^but it doesent..
Its not bad..

But at this price..its nothing special.. its like a dwarfed Phantom..

Fav roller is still the Drophead..

 

[Cashmere]

if anyone is missing out here, its Maybach.

 

[ateekt]

I like this car better then her elder sister, Phantom! Imo, unlike Phantom, it's a car which does not necessarily needs a chauffeur!

 

[Merc1]

^but it doesent..
Its not bad..

But at this price..its nothing special.. its like a dwarfed Phantom..

Fav roller is still the Drophead..

I agree totally. The Drophead is the one.


I see a heavily modified 7-Series here, but still a super-nice car. There is something lacking compared to the Phantom range.


M

 

[Sayyaaf]

I can't see a 7 anywhere !

I think its BMW mistake to mention that this car is loosley connected to the F01

 

[EnI]

Another 5 star rating from autoexpress

Rolls-Royce Ghost | First Drives | Car Reviews | Auto Express

And they say:

Rival: Bentley Mulsanne
Production of the mighty saloon will begin in the spring. With power from a 505bhp twin-turbocharged V8 engine and incredible luxury, it will meet the new Rolls head-on.

Read more: Rolls-Royce Ghost | First Drives | Car Reviews | Auto Express
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[EnI]

Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves says 1600 "seriously intending customers" have signed up for the Ghost worldwide.

Lukewarm reception considering that the more expensive Mulsanne is sold out for 2010 and that the Flying Spur moved 1,813 units in 2008 and many more units in the prior years. I blame over-pricing.

BSing?

Do you know the annual production plans & limits for Ghost & Mulsanne? You don't. So ...

You don't know what 2010 production of Mulsanne is. 600 cars? 800? 1000?
Nor you don't know the 2010 production plan for Ghost. 800 car? 1000? 1500?

If it's overpriced it's Mulasnne over Ghost.

Btw, even more important than the bare number is the structure of the prospect buyers-

Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves says 1600 "seriously intending customers" have signed up for the Ghost worldwide. Crucially, some 80 percent of them have never owned a Rolls-Royce before. "Don't underestimate this car," says Purves. "We are in the business of trebling what we are doing." But in a very discreet and reassuringly expensive Rolls-Royce way.

While in the video in Mulsanne thread (Dubai launch?) the Bentley guy talks how the car caters to typical Bentley clientèle, and theat many "downgraded" to CFS since Arnage wasn't technically up-to-date, and now many CFS owners are interested to upgrade to Mulsanne. So, it's all in the family. While 80% of Ghost prospect buyers are not owning a RR yet. Coming from where? Bentley, perhaps? MB? BMW?

 

[Sunny]

^but it doesent..

When did you let that stop you?

 

[LaArtist]

^a turd in your eyes compared to mine are very diffrent things..
I thought you knew that by now..

So i should have said this doesent look like shit to ME..
So i wont say it does..

When i think something does..ile let you know..as always

 

[Centurion]

While in the video in Mulsanne thread (Dubai launch?) the Bentley guy talks how the car caters to typical Bentley clientèle, and theat many "downgraded" to CFS since Arnage wasn't technically up-to-date, and now many CFS owners are interested to upgrade to Mulsanne. So, it's all in the family. While 80% of Ghost prospect buyers are not owning a RR yet. Coming from where? Bentley, perhaps? MB? BMW?

Very similar to how the vast majority of CGT, CGTC and FS owners never owned a Bentley before. Typical individuals who've owned a S or 7 and willing to pay a little extra for something a bit more special, but to not want to spend Phantom or Mulsanne money.