Sinister new Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge arrives in SA

The Black Badge series was created to bring a younger, more tech-savvy and vibrant group of well-heeled customers to the Rolls-Royce brand.

Black Badge is assertive in character, bold in design and darker in aesthetic, and it is now available in SA in the Ghost luxury sedan.

It may be badged Black but customers are free to select any colour out of a 44,000 hue palette. The car displayed in the Johannesburg showroom of local Rolls-Royce importer Daytona was resplendent in what Rolls-Royce describes as the motor car industry’s darkest black paint, with 45kg of atomised and hand-polished high-gloss piano finish. The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot is also darkened.

The car rides on 21-inch composite wheels made up of 44 layers of carbon fibre. There are aerospace-grade titanium fasteners and floating hubcaps, with the Double R monogram remaining upright at all times when the wheels are in motion.

Pulling a hunky and chromed door handle reveals an expansive cabin with large and thick front seats worthy of a six-figure price car.

The front and rear coach doors can close automatically at a push of a button.  The cabin can also be trimmed with anything a client fancies, from the standard Turchese leather and technical carbon veneers to a variety of hides and woods including the renowned starlight roof head liner and a twinkling dashboard fascia made up of 850 stars.

The brollies tucked away inside each of the automated doors are standard fare, as is an understandably long list of features focused on enhancing driver and passenger comfort. The noir ambience is enhanced through darkened air vent surrounds on the dashboard and in the rear cabin. The Black Badge Ghost timepiece design also sees only the tips of the hands and the 12, three, six and nine o’clock markers in a chrome finish, but clients can also pick their aesthetic preference.

The Ghost Black Badge has a 6.75l V12 engine with increased power of 441kW and 900Nm versus 420kW and 850Nm of the standard Ghost. 

Thrust is sent to an all-wheel drive system via four-wheel steering while the underpinnings receive re-engineering worthy of the increased performance. These include more voluminous air springs to alleviate body roll under high cornering loads, sharpened brakes, and bespoke tuning of the ZF eight-speed gearbox for sharper feedback.

A “Low” button situated on the gear selection stalk acts as the Sport mode and sees all of the 900Nm available from 1,700rpm and gearshift speeds increased by 50%. The exhaust system has a deeper timbre.

The price is on application.