Road Tests
Read the road tests that have appeared in Local Cars magazine
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Rolls Royce Phantom
As an ex-rally co-driver who has sat alongside some very rapid drivers, and then as an international driver myself it’s very rare for me to be frightened in a car, but I was a tad apprehensive as I barrelled along the back road from Wigton to Penrith in a car twenty feet long and six and half feet wide with a 32 ton articulated wagon cresting a brow and heading towards me.
What’s the problem you may well ask because surely that’s easy peasy? But when I tell you that this car is worth no less than £280,000 and the most expensive thing I have driven so far, you will appreciated my slight concern that I might scratch it.
Phew! I didn’t because the Rolls Royce Phantom on loan from Reays of Wigton who have bought it to add to two new Bentleys in their wedding fleet, seems to hunker down to the size of a diddy Toyota Aygo and has steering so crisp and precise it’s a doddle to drive. I had expected it to be really heavy with its earth mover size wheels, that or highly servoed and lacking feel. But there was none of that as it is nicely weighted and gives good feel through wheel.
But first its looks. It’s big. No! It’s monstrous and says, “Look at me I am a fat cat car and look down on mere motorcars – I am a total statement of wealth.”
It seems churlish to say it but though it’s an awesome presence, from the B pillars backwards I find the profile not be as harmonious as it could be. It’s that thick C pillar and unhappy sloping boot I find ever so slightly ugly, though to be fair, the 1936 Rolls Phantom III also had thick C pillars!
However, perhaps my love of symmetry has to make way for the Germanic influence of the Phantom which is assembled by BMW at Goodwood but with only odd bits being made in the UK.
And if I am to get my minor gripes out of the way before I pile praise on the Roller, I am surprised the rear seats are non-adjustable, though the sides of the seats wrap round the passengers in a deliciously opulent way to hide the occupants behind that thick C pillar.
While the outside apes older, stately Rolls Royce models by the iconic Englishness of the huge, hand-made chrome grill topped by the Spirit of Ecstasy, the hand- crafted interior oozes with glossy trinkets and modern trappings such as iPods, Bluetooth, parking cameras and sat nav, plus tasteful chrome pulls and switches. The really thoughtful additions are the umbrellas hidden in each rear door to echo our English weather.
Instrumentation is reserved with the big speedometer and being a luxury badge, there is no rev counter to tempt the devil in the chauffeur.
But not me! I wanted to see what this three ton beast would do when prodded with a stick to stir into the life the mighty BMW 6.7-litre V12 with its auto box swopping cogs effortlessly.
Even with all that weight to lug about, though it’s impossible and would be unseemly to light up the back tyres, the 453bhp and 538Nm of torque still scorches the Phantom from 0 - 60mph in 5.7 seconds and glides on to 155mph. It is truly awesome and just like a giant’s hand pushing the car silently and inexorably to the horizon.
Indeed, so quiet and powerful is the Roller it is damned difficult to keep within the legal limit, particularly with Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries in surround sound from the superb hi-fi filling the cabin!
The ride is subtle via the multiple link and control arm suspension with self-levelling shocks, so potholes are imperceptibly soaked up in its silent, stately progress.
To sit behind that vast bonnet I was more than once tempted to give the Royal wave as I passed people, the whole experience was simply blissful serenity.
It must be the height of indulgence for a bride to be transported to church in the Phantom with her guests following in two new Bentley Continentals which Reays claim makes their fleet the most luxurious in the north of England.
It was a rare privilege and I was humbled by the engineering, quality and sheer presence of this mighty car...but strangely and sadly the HSBC bank manager said I couldn’t have one! |
