Rolls-Royce unveils Cullinan SUV

Rolls-Royce has unveiled the first SUV in its 114-year history, the Cullinan, at a VIP event held in London's Mayfair.

Named after the largest diamond ever discovered, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan is set to arrive in Australia in late 2018 or early 2019.

According to Rolls Royce: "Cullinan will launch with various packages on a base price for Australia starting from AUD A$685,000 driveaway." [Updated: May 11]

That means Rolls-Royce first-ever SUV will be positioned below the current Rolls-Royce Ghost and also the flagship Phantom VIII limousine and be priced almost double the range-topping Bentley Bentayga. [Updated: May 11]

Originally, it was rumoured the Rolls-Royce would be co-developed alongside the equally large BMW X7. The reality is the Cullinan is heavily based on the Phantom and shares the Rolls-Royce flagship’s full aluminium space-frame construction.

Any weight-saving the full alloy construction yields, in comparison to the BMW, will likely be wiped out by the Cullinan's imposing dimensions and equipment levels.

Measuring in at 5341mm long, 2164mm wide and towering 1835mm, the Cullinan is imposing as well as longer, wider and taller than all its opposition. It is around 420mm shorter than the Phantom.

Ahead of its official unveiling, motoring.com.au was granted early access to a late-stage Cullinan prototype in a North London studio.

In the flesh, like the Phantom, bold rather than beautiful describes the Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV.

Its best angle is viewed either straight on, or front three-quarter where it looks most imposing and, even, well proportioned. Its worst, from side-on, where the unusual ‘almost-three-box’ design makes it look ungainly.

According to its Rolls-Royce design boss, Giles Taylor, the Cullinan's styling is deliberately provocative.

"We knew we had to offer our clients what they couldn't find out there in the SUV market", says Taylor, adding: "Our customers do not accept limitations or compromises in their lives."

The 'compromises' of which Taylor speaks are those claimed to be associated with a typical ‘two-box’ SUV design that allows too much noise to penetrate into the cabin.

The traditional approach to designing an SUV was also damned by the British designer as being too "bland" for a Rolls-Royce.

Inside, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan picks up where the wonderful Phantom left off. Although the latest Rolls ditches the limo's 'gallery' fascia, few could fault the peerless quality and tasteful mix of wood, leather and metal.

New for the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, is a touchscreen infotainment system that helps slash the button count, cutting clutter and providing a simple, clean cockpit design.

Other tech creeping into the latest Rolls-Royce includes a four-camera system that helps boost all-round visibility with its 'helicopter' view.

There's now the option of night vision and vision assist that can help the driver identify both pedestrians and wildlife in low level light conditions. There's also wireless charging for phones and up to five USB chargers.

Created with families in mind, rear occupants bathe in the luxurious surroundings and benefit from, what the British car-maker calls, Pavilion Seating, that sits those in the back seats higher than those in the front.

A bench rear seat row is standard that is capable of folding flat. Boot space is generous, around 555 litres seats up with parcel shelf in place. Seats folded, luggage capacity swells to 1930 litres with a longer load length than a Volvo V90.

For those who don't have to cart the kids about, there's the option of two individual rear seats that conveniently come with a centre drinks cabinet and chiller.

Another option for those living in hot climates is a full glass partition that separates the passenger compartment from the boot space and enables the rear tailgate to be opened without impacting the occupants.

Capitalising on that large boot-space are two options created for its more active customers.

The first is the Cullinan Viewing Suite, that adds two rear-facing rear that fold out to help spectate sporting events, like horse racing.

The second is something called the Recreation Module that involves an on-board cabinet specially created for those who enjoy fly fishing, photography, rock climbing, snowboarding, skiing, paragliding or whatever lifestyle activity is assisted by the addition of a large cabinet with electric drawers.

Under the bonnet of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan is the same twin-turbo 6.75-litre V12 that was introduced with the Phantom VIII, although in the new SUV it produces less torque, but fractional more power. The headline figures are 420kW and 850Nm, that's 1kW more, but 50Nm less than the flagship limo.

Rolls-Royce says its first SUV is limited to 250km/h but hasn't announced how quick the Cullinan is to 100km/h. Thanks to its all-wheel drive and all that torque, a sub-5.0sec sprint is likely.

Weighing in at 2660kg (100kg more than the Phantom), the Cullinan is a real heavyweight, reflected in is 15L/100km thirst and its hefty 341g/km of CO2 emissions.

There's no word on whether Rolls-Royce has plans for a pure-electric version, or even a plug-in hybrid but both are inevitable for markets like China where bans of both petrol and diesel vehicles are being considered.

Despite its huge size and weight, Rolls-Royce says the Cullinan is "incredibly capable off-road" and fun to drive on it.

Like the Phantom, the SUV gets double wishbone upfront and a five-link rear axle at the rear plus agility-boosting rear-steer.

Featuring a thorough rethink of the firm's existing air suspension(including larger chambers to provide more volume to cushion the blows of rough terrain), engineers claim the trademark Magic Carpet ride Rolls’ limousines are famed for, remains intact for its first SUV.

Speaking of which, that suspension is now capable of making millions of calculations a second as it varies the dampers to smooth out the ride.

Helping the system 'see' is the firm's Flagbearer cameras that monitor the terrain ahead and adapt the suspension to suit at speeds up to 100km/h, however rough the conditions. Speaking of which, to prime the all-wheel drive system for off-road driving, drivers need only to stab the 'Everywhere' button.

Claimed to be capable of wading through river at depth of up to 540mm, complex electronic and a beefed-up powertrain, plus a satellite aided eight-speed ZF transmission all help the Cullinan cope with the toughest of terrains.

Back on the road the Cullinan is more likely to spend most of its days in urban environments where its standard 22-inch rims will be more accustomed to kerb hopping than climbing mountains.

Like the rest of the Rolls-Royce range the new British SUV can be customised to the owner's heart's content, with almost nothing off the table.

Rolls-Royce has not announced how many Cullinans it plans to make, but its first SUV is almost certain to become its best-selling model.