Rolls-Royce Wraith driven. Faster, Bolder, Better?

Our drive takes us across Vienna (a perfect arena in which to test the coupe’s superb acoustics) before we head out into the winding mountain roads. Austrian traffic demonstrates that despite the comparatively diminutive size of the Wraith, it’s still a large car to manoeuvre. Fortunately we’re out of the city before $383,562-worth of ‘noir’ is dinged.

It’s on these roads that we start to push the 624bhp V12. Acceleration is both smooth and linear, the 6592cc unit pulling instantly thanks to 590lb ft of low-end torque. Couple that with quick shifts through the eight-speed automatic transmission and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the pick-up would last forever, such is the oomph delivered through the wheels. At the same time, despite the grunt, the pick-up is not overly aggressive, being more akin to a luxury yacht under acceleration.

Throughout the day the term ‘waftability’ feel has been emphasised vividly. Although the chassis and suspension have been setup slightly stiffer than normal to allow the coupe better road holding and minimise body roll, the onus is still on comfort. As we hasten along, bumps and creases are ironed out beautifully. Indeed, so ‘magic carpet’ smooth is the ride on the highway that I don’t realise how fast we are going.

This does at first worry me that Rolls-Royce’s new powerful coupe will have no feel at all through the wheel. I’m very pleasantly surprised though. Given the 2360kg kerb weight, the Wraith is no lightweight track car to be chucked with vim at each corner: try that and you’ll find the rock face quickly. But there’s heft, and plenty of it, to the steering, requiring a good balance between driver input and electromechanical assistance, so that your connection to the front end is more emphatic than arguably any Rolls-Royce has produced before. After a while, you start to forget the size of the land yacht, such is the response from the grippy front tyres.

Stopping power is equally impressive, the new brake kit bringing nearly 2.5 tonnes of Rolls-Royce to a stop surprisingly quickly. There’s sufficient travel in the pedal to keep braking pressure constant, but if you really want to throw out the anchors the ABS system has been reconfigured for more abrupt stopping distances.

A full day’s drive throughout the various mountain roads that surround Vienna demonstrate ably that the new Rolls-Royce – complete with a luxury cabin, a gorgeous exterior look silky smooth ride, and that glimmer of exclusivity that always comes with the Spirit of Ecstasy – has certainly lost none of its charm. And while this very fact means that the dynamism of the Wraith has been capped somewhat, you certainly don’t feel that you’re getting short-changed for your $350k.

As a complete package, the Wraith is a superb example of luxury dynamic motoring, wafting in style.

– FULL GALLERY OF IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE – CLICK – Shots courtesy of James Lipman and Barry Hayden

Awesome selection of wallpapers available HERE