Rolls-Royce Cullinan: The SUV that the whole world has been waiting for
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a SUV which is neither a sports car nor a utility car, but simply a car that is utterly luxurious.
If you are a careful reader of my blog, you might recall that in February, I had the pleasure of test driving four Rolls-Royce models. You can read more about my impressions from the test here. It was the first time I had the opportunity to see what the first SUV in the make’s history will look like i.e. the Cullinan. The car premiered in May and I could see it myself a few days ago.
Rolls-Royce is an utterly British make. As such, it does not come as a surprise that its first SUV shares a name with the largest historic diamond – three smaller diamonds cut from the gem adorn the royal sceptre, the British Crown and the Crown of Queen Mary. Who knows, perhaps Queen Elisabeth herself who has been faithful to Range Rover make cars to date might want to go for a ride in this incredibly luxurious car?
When I talked to Frank Tiemann of Rolls-RoyceI learned that the interest in the new model is quite large. This does not surprise me one bit, to be honest. But let’s start from the beginning.
The first and most important piece of information for any automotive buff is the heart of the car, namely the engine. In the case of Cullinan, forget about the trendy term “downsizing”. There must be lots of power and not just any power. And this is exactly what it is. The car is powered by a 6.75 litre V12 engine. It is a relatively new engine used for the first time in the Phantom VIII. The engine generates 563 hp and works with an automatic 8-speed transmission. The maximum speed according to the manufacturer is 250 km/h, and the average declared fuel consumption is 15 litres/100 km.
The car owes its smooth run and is a joy to drive because of the so-called “Architecture of Luxury” or the Rolls-Royce proprietary concept. The new chassis ensures exceptional driving experience. At least this is what the car’s manufacturer claims and dubbed the automobile a “flying carpet”. The Cullinan is also equipped with advanced technologies, state-of-the-art safety systems and power steering programmes.
The Cullinan’s interior is all about luxury and lavishness. As is the case with a few other models, thesky is the limit when it comes to the interior design. The type of materials, colours and leather to be used depends on the amount the buyer wants to spend on the Bespoke version.
It is worth mentioning one more fact about the Cullinan. One of its most genuine features is the so-called “Recreation Module” – a dedicated automatically retractable drawer for storing gear opened with a single button. One of the options of the “Recreation Module” is the so-called “Viewing Suite” – once turned on, two chairs bound in the best leather recline facing the back of the car plus a cocktail table crops up.
How much money does one need to become the happy owner of this car? At least PLN 1.5 million.
