Rolls-Royce's new Black Badge Cullinan gets a more powerful V12 and bespoke interior

Rolls-Royce has unveiled its second-generation Cullinan, and it looks, well, very much like the previous Cullinan. However, Rolls has also unveiled the new Black Badge Cullinan Series II alongside its ‘standard’ SUV, and this car is apparently “an evolved, more visceral expression of Rolls-Royce”.

Certainly quite shouty. It's said to cater "to a select subset of Rolls-Royce clients with specific tastes and priorities”. Given the lime green and black interior of this particular Black Badge, we’d wager that these are the sort of people who think Mansory’s work is tasteful.

You’ll have noticed the Black Badge in these photos is in fact… white. It does have unique black exterior elements though, including aggressive lower air intakes beneath a black (and illuminated) Pantheon grille. There’s all-black brightwork on the exterior, meaning the Spirit of Ecstasy, the door handles and the exhaust are all darkened down.

You get a new 23in wheel, plus the lower part of the Black Badge is painted in body colour rather than the usual black (confusing, we know). Rolls says this “further amplifies its monolithic form” – that’s one way of describing the Cullinan’s looks.

Inside there’s a new clock cabinet that incorporates a black Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, and we’re told exposed carbon fibre was so popular in the previous Black Badge Cullinan it’s back here. Apparently each piece of carbon (there are 23 in total) takes 21 days to prepare.

If you spec the ‘Duality Twill’ interior option you get intricately embroidered seating that’s coated in a rayon fabric made from bamboo. You also get a total of 2.2 million stitches and 11 miles of thread. All the interior metals are blacked-out too, while the dials can be displayed in four fancy colours. Rolls-Royce calls those colours “Vivid Grellow, Neon Nights, Cyan Fire and the kaleidoscopic-style Synth Wave”.

Under the bonnet the Black Badge gets the same 6.75-litre V12 engine as the standard Cullinan, but as before it’s turned up to produce 592bhp and 664lb ft of torque. There’s also a slightly recalibrated throttle and ZF eight-speed gearbox for better response, a brake pedal with shorter travel and air suspension with a slightly stiffer ride. Don’t go thinking it’ll crash about like an Urus Performante though – Rolls still references the “magic carpet ride” of the Cullinan.