Rolls Royce Ghost 2009 : Baby Rolls Royce

Posted by Black Duc On Thursday, May 2, 2013 0 nhận xét

Rolls Royce Ghost 2009 : Baby Rolls Royce

January 11th, 2013 admin

The Rolls Royce Ghost is a smaller luxury saloon automobile from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The “Ghost” nameplate, named in honour of the Silver Ghost, a car first produced in 1906, was announced in April 2009 at the Auto Shanghai show. During development, the Ghost was known as the “RR04.” Designed aiming for a lower price category for Rolls models, the expected retail price will be around £170,000 (US$255,000). The production model was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Rolls Royce Ghost is the essence of Rolls-Royce in its simplest, purest form. Every inch delivers on the power of simplicity.
The classic Rolls-Royce proportions are all present and correct: the 2:1 ratio of the height of the wheels to the height of the body; the long wheelbase and bonnet; the short overhang at the front and long overhang at the rear.

Exterior Designer, Andreas Thurner says “…it looks natural, not styled”. Its powerful presence leaves no doubt that it’s cut from the same cloth as the rest of the marque – exactly what we set out to achieve.

The Rolls Royce Ghost was designed by Ian Cameron and engineered by Helmut Riedl, who led the development of the larger Rolls-Royce Phantom. The Ghost, codenamed RR04 during its design phase, was developed to compete with vehicles significantly less expensive than the Phantom, such as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

Rolls Royce Ghost Engine

The Rolls Royce Ghost borrows 20% of its parts from the BMW F01 platform underpinning the current BMW 7 Series. The car has a wheelbase(129.7 inches), roof height, bonnet height and track widths all of its own. The parts supplied by BMW will be used in functional places unseen by the driver. The engine is a 6.6-liter, direct-injection, twin-turbo V12 with variable valve timing producing 563 hp and 575 pound-feet of torque mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The car weighs 5,445 pounds (2,470 kg).

The Rolls Royce Ghost engine is a 6.6 litre twin-turbo V12 rated 563 bhp (420 kW) with ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. This engine will allow the Ghost to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, and has an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

There’s generous space, but not the austere, drawing-room elegance of the Phantom. Being based on the steel monocoque of owner BMW’s 7-series, there are compromises and, as a result, the Ghost feels more like a car than an ethereal conveyance. The transmission tunnel is a continual presence and care is needed to avoid the cant rail along the roof line when alighting. At the wheel, the BMW-derived steering column stalks irritatingly return to the central position. Other jarring notes include cup holders with crude grabbing mechanisms and the clacky, placky electronic park brake, a spectacularly unpleasant surprise.

Press the satin chrome starter and the 6.6-litre, twin-turbo BMW V12 spins into life almost silently, idling without discernible vibration. In most circumstances the engine emits no more than a hollow moan. Half throttle gives a fast take-off and you can feel that the Ghost wants to squat under power and pitch under braking, but it is very well controlled.

Rolls Royce Ghost Interiors

Rolls Royce Ghost More throttle than that and you start to feel the engine’s torque trying to twist the frame. The almost silent driveline speaks of hi-tech German engineering with a harsh beat through the exhausts. It is fast, however, and capable of overtaking on unfeasibly short straights.
With regard to performance, the ridiculous Power Reserve gauge is superfluous. Peak power of 563bhp and torque of 575lb ft means there really aren’t any meaningful circumstances where you haven’t got power in reserve. Top speed is limited to 155mph, with 0-60mph covered in 4.7sec, an EU Combined/Urban fuel consumption of 20.8/13.8mpg and CO2 emissions of 317g/km.

Rolls Royce Ghost Suspension

The Rolls Royce Ghost suspension is soft, but doesn’t wallow, although it is inclined to heave over hump-backed bridges. Body control is taut, it grips well and turns in with some alacrity. The two-and-a-half-ton weight is felt as an aftershock, when the build-up of forces tries to push the car wide of the apex. At extremes the front tyres eventually cry enough and scrub wide.

The standard electronic stability system reins all this in before you can make the situation worse, but you can select a limited amount of oversteer via the iDrive system.
At 17ft 8.5in long and 6ft 4.7in wide, the Ghost is difficult to manoeuvre into tight spaces, although the big mirrors aid confidence when reversing and there are clever proximity sensors on the corners to help prevent parking dings.

So it’s an accomplished car and indecently fast. Is it a Rolls-Royce or a rebodied BMW? More the former. BMW has taken its responsibilities seriously and though it’s been guilty of crass insensitivity at times, it has also put blood and treasure into cars that more than live up to the Rolls-Royce name.
And history should treat the Ghost more generously than that other “driver’s Rolls”, the 20/50 of 1929. That 3.7-litre, six-cylinder car sat below the mighty Phantom and was aimed at drivers, but owners stuck heavy bodies on top and the 20/50′s weedy engine wasn’t able to pull the skin off custard. Perhaps that’s why BMW has made the Ghost so fast. It just wants people to think well of Rolls-Royce – and to sell a few cars.

Rolls Royce Ghost Specification :

Tested Rolls-Royce Ghost with 6,592cc V12, twin-turbocharged petrol engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel drive
Price/availability £192,500 On sale now with four-month waiting list
Power/torque 563bhp @ 5,250rpm and 575lb ft @ 1,500rpm
Top speed Limited to 155mph
Acceleration 0-60mph in 4.7sec
Fuel economy 13.8mpg (Urban)
CO2 emissions 317g/km
VED band M/£950 first yr, £435 after
On the stereo Posh by Lionel CCC (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Verdict Fast, fabulous, but more compromised than the Rolls-Royce Phantom
Telegraph rating Four out of five

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