Rolls-Royce Ghost review

The Ghost is an incredible place to spend time in, replete with cherishable details. Rolls-Royce obviously prides itself on its incredible attention to detail, and the fit and finish is extraordinary. 

There are power-assisted doors with gyroscopic sensors to detect if the car is on an incline. Pull the switch on the centre console to close the fronts, or press a button in the rear. They’ll also swing open with a touch of the haptic sensor on the solid bank vault handle. 

Rather than lots of distracting detail inside, there are long, straight lines of stitching. Open-pore wood decorates the dashboard, with a glowing Ghost nameplate on the passenger side that uses 152 top-mounted LEDs and 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface to disperse the light evenly. The air vents are stainless steel, and have a pleasing resonance. The climate control itself is by rotating red and blue discs, with beautifully damped rotary knobs to control the fan speed. One suspects that capacitive switchgear is never going to be allowed to besmirch a Rolls cabin (although the main dials are now digital, with an updated and very minimalist look from the Spectre).

What else has been updated?

The passenger side of the dashboard now offers a digital display which can be used to display artwork. But there’s none of that idiotic ‘second screen’ pointlessness now being foisted on us by Audi and Porsche in a cynical attempt to squeeze more money from buyers drunk on the notion that ‘more screens = better’. Rolls-Royce is one of the few manufacturers which seems not to have forgotten that ‘pixels don’t equal luxury’ in recent years. That said, you can now connect multiple devices wirelessly to the rear seat displays too.

Any other highlights?

A bespoke audio system incorporates a resonance chamber into the body’s sills, effectively turning the car into a giant sub-woofer. A big amp controls 18 channels to provide a 1300W output, and the set-up uses magnesium-ceramic speaker cones. There are even active microphones to detect frequency imbalances which the amplifier automatically compensates for. Meanwhile, a Micro-Environment Purification System has ultra-sensitive impurity sensors to switch the air con to recirculation if it detects airborne contaminants. 

I’d expect nothing less. What about my vintage booze?

If you’re in the market for a car such as this you’ll probably be interested to know that you can spec a bottle cooler that comes with two settings, because non-vintage Champagne should be served at six degrees, while vintage Champagne is best at 11 degrees. But you knew that already.

Presume it’s not bucket seats and harnesses for the sporty one?

In the Black Badge there’s a carbon weave with metallic fibres picking out the diamond pattern, an aluminium Black Badge infinity symbol between the back seats and a blacked-out clock with only the tips of the hands and the quarter-hour markers brightened in chrome.

And what if there’s not enough space?

Actually if the Ghost has an Achilles heel it’s that for the truly gargantuan footprint it takes up on the road, the rear seat space is fine, but not palatial, especially if the driver is tall. Folding down the thickset tray tables will clonk knees.

Naturally, the solution is to buy the bigger one. Rolls has also unveiled the Ghost Extended Series II. That adds 170mm more legroom by stretching the wheelbase and extending the doors.