Rolls-Royce Phantom 2004 Review

What we liked
>> Billiard table ride
>> Surging power delivery
>> Opulent, luxurious interior

Not so much
>> Reality fell short of the hype
>> Visually imposing, aggressive
>> Heavy fuel consumption

OVERVIEW
No other marque generates such attention and adulation as Rolls-Royce. Since 1904, when Henry Royce and Charles Rolls combined their respective skills in engineering and sales to create a motor car dynasty, no vehicle has come close to rivalling a Rolls-Royce for luxury, quality and excellence.

Interestingly, no other car has generated so many catch-phrases, either. A Rolls-Royce does not break down, it simply fails to proceed; power figures of a Rolls-Royce were quoted in sales kits as "adequate"; the plush ride quality of a Rolls is referred to as "waftability"; and of course, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

Then there's the marque's entry into every day speech, where the best product of its kind is often referred to as "the Rolls Royce of". But progress changes all things, and so it is that in its hundredth year, the Rolls-Royce motor car company finds itself part of the mighty BMW group of vehicles, a group that includes another iconic British brand, the Mini.

The first new Rolls-Royce under BMW stewardship is the Phantom. It's a four-door luxury sedan first launched in 2003, which measures nearly six metres from the tip of its highly polished grille to the toe of its equally polished bumper. It's powered by a 12-cylinder engine producing more power and torque than any Roller before it, and rides on massive 21inch tyres -- each with a wheel centre that does not rotate, to ensure the Rolls-Royce emblem is always the right way up.

FEATURES
With time, all things change, including the price. In this case we're talking about $985,000 -- that's a Hyundai Getz short of a cool mill, though the exact figure may change slightly depending on which state you make your purchase.

For every Rolls-Royce Phantom sold in Australia, the government scores enough tax to buy a $400,000 Ferrari 360 Spider. For the record, the Phantom's price in Europe is 320,000 Euros (AU$525,500) and in the UK it's L240,000 (AU$588,234).

The Phantom cuts the tape at a whopping 5.83m front to back, and is 10cm shy of 2m wide. Stand next to it and you feel quite diminished, not the least because it's also a tall bugger, standing more than 1.6m off the ground. The Spirit of Ecstasy, Rolls Royce's flying lady emblem, stands atop a blindingly large chrome grille at the front of one of the longest bonnets in production. At the touch of a button, she descends elegantly into the grille to deter souvenir hunters.

The Phantom's sumptuous cabin is as luxurious as the boys from Goodwood can make it. For starters, it takes 15 to 18 animal hides to produce the 450 individual pieces of leather that make up the leather interior of just one car. There's 60 Oak Burr wood panels, each made up of 40 layers of wood and aluminium -- which gives it extra strength. Look closely around the centre of any panel and you'll see "bookmarking", where each piece of wood is thinly filleted and then folded open, like a book, to give a near perfect mirror image of itself.

If numbers are your game, each Rolls Royce Phantom takes 260 hours to built. It is almost entirely hand-built, with five completed each day. Rolls Royce hopes to build 1000 in 2004, the company completed 481 in 2003. North America will get half of all cars built, with Europe and the Middle East/Asia splitting the remainder.

Australians interested in buying a Phantom have one showroom to choose from -- Trivett Classic in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. One or two have already received their Phantom, though Rolls won't say who they are. Trivett's Rod Cullen believes Australians will buy 12 Phantoms a year, and world research suggests that each owner will already have five or six cars in their garage.

COMFORT
There is no more luxurious interior in existence, including most people's lounge rooms. The electronically adjustable front seats are incredibly comfortable, striking the perfect balance between cushioning and support. The rear seats, too, remain supportive and supple at the same time. Rear legroom is actually not as expansive as we expected, but still outdoes a BMW 7 Series. Headroom is a non issue, your bonce will never get near the wool and cashmere headlining.

One nifty feature we made good use of is the push-button closing rear door. Hold it down and the rear-hinged rear door swings shut firmly, but without banging, which saves the passenger from what would otherwise be an awkward manual manoeuvre. Unlike the "freestyle doors" fitted to the Mazda RX-8, which require the front door to be open before the back door can be opened, the Phantom's doors can open independently of each other.

Loved the electrically controlled rear blinds also, which completely conceal the wealthy recluse from prying eyes. Oh, each rear door has a long cylindrical slot built in, which holds your Rolls Royce umbrella.

Traditional Rolls Royce touches permeate the richly appointed interior, from the pencil thin steering wheel to the organ stop and violin key switchgear. Oh, and the Duchess straps in the back, for milady to hold onto when corners abound. Another thoughtful touch that only a million dollar luxury car would have? Try the gently curved outboard sides of the rear seat, which makes the occupant equally comfortable when sitting on an angle -- making back seat conversing a face to face affair.

Two and a half tonnes of aluminium, metal and glass make a very quiet cabin, and one perfectly suited to impromptu arias, operas or rock concerts. The high-end 420Watt Lexicon logic sound system delivers crystal-clear sound from 15 speakers secreted around the cabin, including two subwoofers. For the workaholic, there's airline-style fold down trays on the front seat backs -- unlike the equally expensive Maybach limousine, the Rolls' rear seats do not recline airline style. Apparently a future long-wheelbase version (with an extra 50cm in the rear) will have that feature.

We're not going to detail the equipment specifications of the Phantom, because it is quite literally as long as the buyers imagination -- and wallet. Through the Rolls Royce Bespoke program, buyers can choose anything from dual DVD players in the rear, bar fridges, leather colours, bullet proofing...

Remember iDrive? BMW's unloved single-interface driver control system for things like satellite navigation, air conditioning, telephone, stereo, etc? The Phantom gets its own version, discreetly hidden behind a retractable wood panel in the dash, and controlled by a round knob hidden in the centre armrest.

SAFETY
Rolls Royce proudly boasts that the Phantom has passed all current and anticipated crash test requirements. It says the Phantom's aluminium space frame absorbs impact energy and channels it around, not into, the cabin. Passive safety features include three-point seat belts with pretensioners and limiters, dual front and side airbags, and curtain airbags in both rows.

Dynamic safety is the best that BMW can offers, including electronic stability control, traction control, electronic brake force distribution and antilock brakes. The 2.5tonne Rolls is not the most dynamically efficient vehicle in the world, but it is agile enough in a pinch, and there's plenty of grip from those mighty 21inch tyres.

MECHANICAL
It's interesting to note that the Phantom is not entirely hand-built -- there are two automated robots on the assembly line at Goodwood. They are installed in the "surface preparation area" -- to you and me, that's the paint-spraying booth. Four coats, by the way.

Underneath that long bonnet beats a 6.75-litre V12 engine. It pumps out 338kW of power and 720Nm of torque, and is capable of hustling the 2485kg Phantom from rest to 100km/h in 5.9 sec. The rear-drive Phantom gets a six-speed automatic gearbox, the same ZF unit favoured by BMW, Audi, Jaguar and others. Unlike those vehicles, the Phantom does not allow gear selection by the driver.

Four-wheel disc brakes are enormous, nearly 38cm diameter front and 37cm diameter rear and hidden inside massive 21inch alloy wheels equipped with run-flat tyres -- tyres that stand 79cm tall, making them the largest factory fitted tyres in production.

The Rolls Royce Phantom eschews a trend towards aerodynamic efficiency; it's coefficient of drag rating of 0.38 is significantly worse than the BMW 7 Series' 0.29, which means that such impressive straight-line performance in such a big, heavy, blunt object comes at significant cost to fuel economy.

Rolls Royce claims the Phantom returns a combined city/highway fuel economy figure of 15.9 litres/100km. For those confined to the tedium of city driving, RR estimates you'll guzzle 24.6 litres to cover the same distance. Lucky, then, the Phantom's packing a 100-litre fuel tank.

COMPETITORS
It's interesting to note that the Phantom is not entirely hand-built -- there are two automated robots on the assembly line at Goodwood. They are installed in the "surface preparation area" -- to you and me, that's the paint-spraying booth. Four coats, by the way.

Underneath that long bonnet beats a 6.75-litre V12 engine. It pumps out 338kW of power and 720Nm of torque, and is capable of hustling the 2485kg Phantom from rest to 100km/h in 5.9 sec. The rear-drive Phantom gets a six-speed automatic gearbox, the same ZF unit favoured by BMW, Audi, Jaguar and others. Unlike those vehicles, the Phantom does not allow gear selection by the driver.

Four-wheel disc brakes are enormous, nearly 38cm diameter front and 37cm diameter rear and hidden inside massive 21inch alloy wheels equipped with run-flat tyres -- tyres that stand 79cm tall, making them the largest factory fitted tyres in production.

The Rolls Royce Phantom eschews a trend towards aerodynamic efficiency; it's coefficient of drag rating of 0.38 is significantly worse than the BMW 7 Series' 0.29, which means that such impressive straight-line performance in such a big, heavy, blunt object comes at significant cost to fuel economy.

Rolls Royce claims the Phantom returns a combined city/highway fuel economy figure of 15.9 litres/100km. For those confined to the tedium of city driving, RR estimates you'll guzzle 24.6 litres to cover the same distance. Lucky, then, the Phantom's packing a 100-litre fuel tank.

ON THE ROAD
First thing we noticed in the Phantom was the slimline steering wheel. It's quite large in diameter, but has a very thin rim, which imparts a subconscious need for "delicacy" when directing the vehicle, lest you break the wheel. Steering is very light, making it easy to manoeuvre the 2.5tonne Phantom, and doesn't weight-up much on the move.

Initially, it's a very intimidating experience driving a million dollar car, especially one so heavy and so powerful. Pre-drive indemnity forms ensured that any unexpected collisions or damage to the vehicle would result in the surrender of that journalist's firstborn child in perpetuity, loss of all worldly possessions, and 24/7 unpaid employment as the garage floor cleaner at the Rolls factory in Goodwood.

That aside, it amazed us how quickly the price of the Phantom dropped from our conscience once under way. It's an all-encompassing experience and one that leaves no time for extraneous worries or concerns. Cruising does not come more enjoyable than this, as you lose yourself in a once in a lifetime euphoria. Still, there's always the Silver Lady, pointing the way from her station at the front of the bonnet to remind you of the unattainability of the vehicle you're driving.

The Phantom's ride is, at the same time, billiard table smooth yet somehow communicative. Massive sidewalls on 21 inch runflat tyres soak up most little bumps, leaving the four-wheel air suspension to concentrate on body control. It's a floaty ride, which also does a great job of reducing 2.5tonnes of body roll in corners -- though our pictures (right) prove there's still enough to go around.

In million dollar cars, it's the attention to detail that cannot be forgotten. Like the secondary valve in the exhaust system, which closes during low engine speeds. Why? So the vehicle can pull up near silently to the end of the red carpet, no raucous V12 exhaust rumble to shatter the fairytale.

Jump on the throttle to experience Phantom power and the valve retracts, letting loose an invigorating V12 soundtrack. Performance is more than adequate, quick in fact, but with a more refined, urgent delivery than any real aggression. Gearchanges are imperceptibly smooth in both directions, but to get a downchange you'll need to be quite firm on the throttle. Still, with 720Nm of torque lying in wait -- 540Nm available from just 1000rpm -- downchanges are practically unnecessary.

Driving the Rolls Royce Phantom was -- for us -- a once in a lifetime experience. Many owners around the world are unlikely to ever drive the car, and that's a shame. There's no doubt the cabin, particularly the rear, sets new benchmarks in comfort, extravagance and opulence, but the driver's chair really is the best seat in this house from which to experience everything the Phantom has to offer. So it would seem that money doesn't automatically make you smart.