The Rolls-Royce Cullinan finally breaks cover

Rolls-Royce’s entry into the super-luxury SUV segment has been much awaited. After announcing the name to be the Cullinan, the company on Thursday pulled the wraps and the camouflage off the most-awaited luxury vehicle of the year. The Cullinnan is expected to address the new, younger and more adventurous customers who wanted a Rolls-Royce that would take them completely off the beaten track. RR claims that the Cullinan is different from the ubiquitous SUV with compromises such as increased cabin noise due to the “two-box” formula and shared platforms that affect performance and comfort.

An official RR release said “Making luxury Effortless, Everywhere engendered an evolution in Rolls-Royce’s approach to creating an authentic SUV”. The most obvious sign of this was the radical rear of Cullinan. For the first time, a Rolls-Royce has an opening tailgate, called ‘The Clasp’. In a nod to the era when luggage was mounted on the exterior of the motor-car, so the occupants did not travel with their belongings, the rear profile of the Cullinan is a two-part, ‘D-Back’ format, with the bustle denoting the place of the luggage. ‘The Clasp’ opens and closes in its two sections automatically at the touch of the key fob button. Two rear seat configurations are offered — lounge seats or individual seats.

The release added that the lounge seat configuration is the more functional of the two options. With space for three passengers in the rear, it will likely be more attractive to families.

Customisable configurations

The rear seats also fold down — a first for Rolls-Royce. The seats fold electronically in a number of configurations by pressing the appropriate button in the boot or rear door pocket. One press sees each backrest effortlessly fold down, whist at the same time moving the headrests upwards to avoid making an imprint on the seat cushion. Both seat backs can be folded completely, creating a flat load area.

The rear compartment or boot area offers a standard 560 litres of space, growing to 600 litres with the parcel shelf removed. Further, the base of the rear seats is higher than the boot floor, so even with both rear seats folded, the items in the boot cannot slip forward and are safely contained, unlike in any other SUV. But for those wishing to carry a long item back from their trip, a loading length of 2245 mm and load capacity of 1930 litres is accessed by electronically raising the boot floor to meet the seat base, allowing the item to slide through effortlessly.

Knowing that the Rolls-Royce customer expects to bespoke his or her Cullinan, a second rear configuration is offered. The individual seat configuration is for those who value the ultimate luxury an SUV can offer over practicality. The two individual rear seats are separated by a fixed rear centre console incorporating a drinks cabinet with Rolls-Royce whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and refrigerator. The seats also move in a number of planes to offer ultimate comfort whilst travelling in the rear.

One final feature brings Rolls-Royce’s ultimate level of luxury to this configuration of Cullinan, creating the first truly “three-box” SUV. A glass partition isolates the passenger cabin from the luggage compartment, creating an inner ecosystem for the occupants. In addition to enhanced and class-leading silence within the cabin, a further benefit becomes clear in the hottest and coldest of environments. Thanks to the sealed cabin created by the glass partition wall, the occupants can remain in the optimum temperature even when the luggage compartment stands open.

Luxury and comfort

Cullinan awakes at the touch of the unlock button on the Bespoke key, or indeed by simply reaching out to its beautifully tactile stainless-steel door handle. It lowers itself by 40 mm to make entry effortless as the iconic Rolls-Royce coach doors stand open to welcome driver and passengers to their adventure.

The wide aperture of the doors and completely flat floor means that the driver and passengers can enter with ease. They can then press the door closing button or one touch of the sensor on the exterior door handles will see the doors automatically close themselves. A touch of the start button then elevates Cullinan 40 mm to its standard, commanding ride height.

The central information screen is for the first time touch sensitive, allowing the driver to quickly select functions, map views and vehicle set-up whilst on the trail. This portal can still be controlled from the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy controller, which nestles on the central console with the ‘Off-Road’ button, Hill Descent Control button and Air Suspension height adjustment controls.

Further equipment includes Night Vision and Vision Assist including daytime and night-time wildlife and pedestrian warning, Alertness Assistant, a four-Camera system with Panoramic View, all-round visibility and helicopter view, Active Cruise Control, Collision Warning, Cross-Traffic Warning, Lane Departure and Lane Change Warning, a High-Resolution Head-Up Display, WiFi hotspot, and of course the latest Navigation and Entertainment Systems.

According to RR, for the drive dynamics, the engineering team began by creating a drivetrain that would bring Rolls-Royce’s famous ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ off-road. The Magic Carpet Ride impresses off-road as well as on-road thanks to the new lighter architecture, and the latest generation of self-levelling air suspension. A complete reworking of the new 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 Rolls-Royce engine has been done to deliver just the right level of torque (850 Nm) at the lowest possible revolutions (1,600 rpm).

The suspension makes millions of calculations every second as it continuously varies the electronically-controlled shock absorber adjustment system — reacting to body and wheel acceleration, steering inputs and camera information.

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