This is the all-new Wraith, Rolls Royce's luxurious interpretation of a performance coupe. Revealed just hours before it makes its first appearance in front of a crowd at the Geneva Motor Show on March 5, the Wraith is dubbed as the most powerful and fastest production car ever built by Rolls Royce.
What Rolls Royce considers performance and what the rest of the world considers performance, are two very different things, as proved by the Wraith's heavy underpinnings sourced from the Ghost limo and the fact that the British company highlights (pun intended) the car's Starlight Headliner featuring 1,340 fibre optic lamps that "give the impression of a glittering, starry night sky"…
Even so, the Wraith is no slouch, with its tuned 6.6-liter twin-turbo'd V12 engine delivering 624hp (633PS) and a peak torque of 800Nm (590 lb-ft) for a 0-60mph sprint in 4.4 seconds (0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds), compared with 563hp and 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds for the Ghost sedan. Rolls-Royce did not disclose the Wraith's top speed. The V12 engine is paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission from ZF driving the rear wheels.
Rolls Royce says it has re-tuned the suspension to "minimize body roll and discreetly amplify feedback when cornering; while steering weight is heavier at high speeds and lighter at low speeds adding to the spirited drive".
The fastback-style coupe is 5,269 mm / 17 ft.3 long, 1,947 mm / 6 ft 5 wide and 1,507 mm / 4 ft 11, while it rides on a 3,112 mm / 10 ft 2 wheelbase, making it 130mm (5.1 inches) shorter in overall length than the Ghost sedan. The Wraith has a curb weight of 2,360 kg / 5,203 pounds.
Inside, you will find a familiar dashboard from the Ghost, the aforementioned "Starlight Headliner" and more wood veneer than a Victorian house.
A new tech feature that makes its debut in the Wraith is the Satellite Aided Transmission (SAT) that relies on GPS data and driving style to select the most appropriate gear for the terrain ahead.
Rolls-Royce said sales of the four-seater model will begin in the final quarter of 2013, with European pricing to start from around €245,000 (US$320,000) – evidently, pricing will differ from country to country.
