Rolls-Royce has revealed its latest darkened ‘Black Badge’ offering in the form of the sinister Black Badge Ghost.
Commissions for Black Badge Ghost models are open now at authorised Rolls-Royce dealers with an Australian launch set to happen in the first quarter of 2022.
According to the company, in order to create the motor car industry’s darkest black, 45kg of paint is atomised and applied to the electrostatically-charged body.
It then receives two layers of clear coat and is polished by a team of four ‘craftspeople’ in order to produce its ‘high-gloss piano finish’.
If this colour isn’t to your liking though, you can choose from 44,000 other colours or you can commission Rolls-Royce to create your own custom paint hue.
The Black Badge Ghost isn’t just an aesthetics package, as it also packs some extra power as well.
Rolls-Royce have extracted an additional 21kW and 50Nm out of the Ghost’s 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine now producing 441kW of power and 900Nm of torque.
The Ghost can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.7 seconds.
The Black Badge also adds a ‘Low Mode’ that increases gear-shift speeds by 50 per cent when the throttle is depressed to 90 per cent.
Built on a shortened version of the aluminium spaceframe architecture as the Cullinan and Phantom, the Black Badge Ghost retains the ‘regular’ Ghost’s all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering system and Planar suspension system.
In addition to this, the Black Badge Ghost adds more voluminous air springs to alleviate body roll.
Rolls-Royce fettled with the brakes on the Black Badge Ghost by giving it a raised braking biting point and shortened brake pedal travel.
It also brings with it a new suite of brake caliper colours available when you configure your Black Badge Ghost.
These brakes sit behind bespoke black 21-inch carbon and aluminium composite wheels.
The barrel of each wheel is made up of 22 layers of carbon fibre folded on top of themselves, forming a total of 44 layers of carbon fibre.
A 3D-forged aluminium hub is bonded to the rim using aerospace-grade titanium fasteners and fitted with the floating ‘Double R’ hubcap.
Inside the Black Badge Ghost, the black theme continues with darkened air vent surrounds and a minimalistic clock in the centre of the dash.
The Black Badge Ghost makes extensive use of what the company calls ‘Technical’ fibre, comprising carbon and metallic fibres in a diamond pattern.
There’s also multiple wood layers using black Bolivar veneer, crafted to create a 3D effect with six layers of lacquer.
Throughout the cabin there’s a recurring infinity ‘Leminscate’ symbol that can also be optioned in the rear cabin space on the champagne fridge.
Like the regular Ghost that debuted the feature, there’s an illuminated fascia with 850 ‘stars’ that echoes the brand’s famous ‘Shooting Star Starlight Headliner’.
According to the company, the new-generation Ghost has been one of its fastest-selling models with more than 3500 ‘commissions’ in the little over 12 months it’s been available.
It also currently accounts for 27 per cent of orders worldwide.
Pricing is yet to be announced for this Black Badge model, but it joins the Black Badge Cullinan that became available in 2019, the Black Badge Dawn in 2017, as well as the Wraith and previous-generation Ghost in 2016.
Rolls-Royce says the Black Badge variants have become increasingly popular as more younger buyers have been drawn to the brand.
