tommallett

BMW’s have a number of ‘trim levels’, these stretch from the entry level ES through to the more extravagant SE and M-sport models. One of the most important features to many customers is the dual zone climate control with a digital read out that clearly marks the exact temperature on each side of the car to the nearest 0.5 Celsius. It is both modern and effective.

Of course, modern AND effective isn’t exactly what big aristocratic English saloon cars have always been about, certainly not in recent years. This balance has been attempted in the new Rolls Royce Ghost to largely universal applause.

Without doubt the Ghost has tried to strike this balance to a far greater extent than its larger sibling. It needs to as this is the car a successful local businessman might buy, not the dictator/plutocrat that might own the gargantuan Phantom.

In many ways it succeeds. The navigation system is borrowed from the latest BMW 7 series, as is the lane departure system, head up display and reversing camera. And I think overall that this is the right way to go. The best car in the world must also now be one of the most technologically advanced.

Clearly the designers were keen to keep some of the sartorial elegance of older Rolls Royce motor cars and it is this which represents the most difficult high wire act. There are elements of the car that in my mind have been compromised in order to maintain an artificial ‘quintessentially English’ feel. The power reserve gauge has been invented purely for this reason. It did not exist in an original Ghost so should it have a place in a modern one. I’m not sure.

More annoying are the temperature controls. I know that I like the car to be set to 18 degrees most of the time and in the Rolls Royce I can’t do this; I just have to pick a gap between red and blue and hope for the best. It would seem that the BMW family comes full circle.

Other gripes? Uneven road surfaces are dealt with poorly and sharp abrasions in the road unearth something akin to a lack of rigidity in the body shell although I am sure the reality is more complicated than that. At least these shudders are relatively well damped.

Finally, and perhaps the most annoying feature of the car are the humongous door mirrors, they do a great job of providing a view of the cars behind while doing an equally good job of obstructing ones view of the cars in front. Just try driving into a roundabout and looking toward the traffic, you can’t see past the darned things. It’s almost dangerous.

It would be wrong to finish on such a down beat note. It must be noted that the argument concerning heater switches and power reserve gauges is a matter of personal opinion; but the door mirrors and the intrusions through the suspension are more than a figment of my imagination.

It is a car that pertains to be the best car in the world and it is only these small gripes that stop it from attaining a full five stars in anyone’s money. It may not be the best car in the world but it certainly has an argument to be so, and that is better than they have been able to say for a long time.

Photos: Courtesy of Rolls-Royce