Rolls-Royce took the veils off its latest model to be included in the Black Badge program: the Ghost. Their latest high-performance model comes with a more powerful V12 engine under the hood than the standard Ghost and a couple more unique features.
In case you forgot, the Rolls-Royce Black Badge models are meant to emphasize the performance side of things. That’s unlike the usual treatment cars get in Goodwood, where the focus is usually on luxury and comfort. Even so, the Ghost was developed from the get go to be more of a driver’s car than before, as per the customers’ requests, according to Rolls-Royce.
The 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12 engine under the hood got a bit of an upgrade and is now making 592 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque, an improvement of 29 HP and 37 lb-ft over the standard Ghost. The gearbox is the same ZF 8-speed unit but it has been retuned and has a ‘Low’ mode now which sends the power to the wheels up to 50 percent quicker according to the British company.
On the suspension side of things, the Goodwood engineers worked their magic to reduce body roll and make the steering heavier to create a more direct feeling. Other than that, there are several design cues that tell you, right away, that this is a Black Badge model.
The car comes on 21-inch wheels as standard and they have a rather mean-looking design, featuring a carbon-fiber barrel that’s made up of 22 layers of the lightweight material. The front grille is done in black, of course, and it is illuminated, a feature that carries over from the regular Ghost.
One of the most stunning features though is, without a doubt, the new paint that has been applied on the Black Badge Ghost. According to Rolls-Royce, it is the darkest shade of black in the automotive industry and it requires 100 pounds of the stuff to be applied to the body of the car. The whole process requires hand-polishing after the paint is atomized in order to be applied, a process that takes five hours to complete. Just imagine having to polish a car for five hours straight!
Of course, you’re not limited to this color. If black isn’t your cup of tea, you can still pick from the 44,000 shades Rolls-Royce has on offer, as the specs of the car remain the same.
