New Rolls-Royce Ghost makes switch to all-wheel drive
Rolls-Royce details suspension and chassis advances for latest generation Ghost, including all-wheel steering and 'world-first' upper wishbone damper
Rolls-Royce has detailed the extensive chassis developments for its new generation Ghost luxury saloon, including the fitment of all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering.
The second-generation Ghost - set to be unveiled in the coming weeks - will follow the latest Phantom in featuring a system that steers the rear wheels alongside the fronts. It will depart from its bigger brother, however, by shunning rear-wheel drive for four driven wheels.
The brand has also detailed a new type of suspension system debuting on the Ghost. Called the Planar system, it features what Rolls describes as a "world-first technology" in the form of an upper wishbone damper unit mounted above the front suspension assembly for "an even more stable and effortless ride". The system has taken three years to develop.
There is also the Flagbearer system, which uses cameras to read the road ahead and prepare the suspension, and the Satellite Aided Transmission which uses GPS data to pre-select the optimum gear for a corner.
The new Ghost will switch to the latest version of the firm's aluminimum platform also used for the Phantom and Cullinan, and Müller-Otvös noted the only components carried over from the successful original were the Spirit of Ecstasy figurehead and umbrellas.
That aluminium spaceframe is said to "accommodate significant advances in Rolls-Royce’s hallmark magic carpet ride and dynamic abilities".
New Ghost Engineering Lead, Jonathan Simms, elaborates: “Ghost clients told us that it’s the car in their collection that they’re drawn to the most. They love its uncomplicated versatility. It’s not trying to be a sports car, it’s not trying to be a grand statement – it’s simply exceptional and exceptionally simple.
"When it came to creating a new Ghost – one that outshines its incredibly capable predecessor – the engineering team had to start from scratch. We pushed our architecture even further and created a car even more dynamic, even more luxurious and, most of all, even more effortlessly useable.”
*New Rolls-Royce Ghost: "pure" design for a "Post Opulence" luxury market*
boss Torsten Müller-Otvös says that the new Ghost luxury saloon, set to be revealed later this year, will be “the purest expression of Rolls-Royce yet” with a ‘pure’ design to reflect a new trend towards “Post Opulence”.
The luxury car firm is currently putting the finishing touches to the second-generation version of the Bentley Flying Spur rival, and Müller-Otvös has attempted to smooth the path to the launch of the crucial machine in an open letter issued to prospective clients – and shared with Autocar – that tacitly addresses the challenge of launching an ultra-luxury car given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The firm has also release the first official outline sketch teaser of the car.
In the letter Müller-Otvös notes that since it was launched in 2009 the original Ghost has become the most successful model in Rolls-Royce’s long history, which he attributed to it being a car that owners could enjoy driving or being driven in.
He added: “They also appreciated the car’s pared-back simplicity, or as they put it, ‘a slightly smaller, less ostentatious means to own a Rolls-Royce.’ Going further, our clients expressed an ardent desire for even more minimalism in design.”
Müller-Otvös said the firm’s research showed that trend reflects a wider movement among luxury customers towards what Rolls has termed ‘Post Opulence’ – a move “towards luxury objects that celebrate reduction and restraint”.
*Analysis: How Rolls-Royce is redefining luxury design*
While noting that Rolls-Royce models will always “inspire greatness and present a sense of theatre and magic”, Müller-Otvös said the new Ghost, which has taken five years to develop, will reflect that movement towards reduction.
“Ghost is the purest expression of Rolls-Royce yet,” wrote Müller-Otvös. “It distils the pillars of our brand into a beautiful, minimalist, yet highly complex product that is perfectly in harmony with our Ghost clients’ needs and, I believe, perfectly in tune with the times in which we are all living.”
The Ghost will be launched with a digital event later this year, which Müller-Otvös wrote would be preceded by a series of four animations giving an insight into “what we believe is the most sublime expression of Rolls-Royce yet.”
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