This is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built: the 650bhp Black Badge Spectre

“It has been created in the image of our boldest and most audacious clients,” said Rolls-Royce’s big boss on the company’s newest creation. “The result is Black Badge Spectre: the alter ego of our brand, amplified.”

Oh it’s amplified alright, because this new Black Badge Spectre just happens to be the most powerful Rolls-Royce motor car ever built. And it’s been built – and tailored – specifically for the most thrusting of RR clients.

Apparently, owners allowed Rolls’ engineers access to their anonymised driving data, “allowing drivetrain specialists to quantitatively analyse their driving behaviour across hundreds of thousands of collective miles”.

The resulting data made Rolls pack its electric Spectre with 650bhp and (temporarily) a massive 793lb ft. The former’s made by clicking the BB Spectre into ‘Infinity’ mode, while the latter – hilariously dubbed ‘Spirited Mode’ – is accessible by pressing the brake and accelerator at the same time, waiting for a signal, and then… holding on for dear life.

Because Rolls-Royce reckons this new Spectre can crack through the 0-60mph sprint in just 4.1s. In a Rolls! Madness. Those heady totals are up from 576bhp/664lb ft in the not-at-all-regular Spectre. One suspects the battery remains as per that car’s 102kWh capacity – able to travel up to 329 miles on one charge – though in this BB’s case, the ECU’s likely been given a few extra 0s and 1s into its code to add ‘spirit’.

And to better deal with this ‘spirited’ Spectre, Rolls-Royce engineers have increased the steering weight, adjusted the roll stabilisation, and tweaked the dampers for better body control and to reduce “squatting under acceleration or deceleration”.

The rather brilliant ‘Vapour Violet’ paint is inspired by the “neon ambience of 1980s and 1990s club culture”, a reference that apparently resonates with these Black Badge owners (who were offered a secret introduction to the Spectre long ago).

The bonnet is painted in ‘Iced Black’ for contrast, there are 23in five-spoke forged aluminium wheels, mirror-polished brightwork, an illuminated grille, and the ability to commission a ‘waft’ coachline that sits on the lower half of the Spectre’s body. Not much ‘waft’ when there’s 650bhp, but even BB owners need a break.

Speaking of which, the interior is especially lavish. There are 5,500 fibre optic ‘stars’ in the black headliner while you’re hurtling to Infinity and beyond, and a very special finish comprised of carbon, metal and wood, with a diamond-patterned, hand-laid thread.

“Black Badge Spectre is one of the clearest statements of power and purpose we have ever made,” said boss Chris Brownridge. “Our engineers combined data science, qualitative feedback, and their own deep knowledge of the brand’s alter ego to craft an intense and uncompromising character, and the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history.”