Five-Point Inspection: 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith

In the past if you wanted a sporty luxury car you’d have to shop somewhere else. The folks at Mercedes-Benz would happily sell you an AMG-amplified model, or BMW would gladly entice you with their M cars. But sporty and Rolls-Royce were mutually exclusive, until now.

But don’t kid yourself, this beauty doesn’t pretend to be a sports car; that would be vulgar. What it does offer is a surprising amount of involvement for something that feels as long as a U.S. Navy destroyer.

From stem to stern the Wraith measures 17 feet, three inches. It’s nearly six feet, six sinches feet wide and stands just shy of five feet tall. Its wheelbase exceeds 10 feet and its unladen curb weight tops 5,200 pounds. From the driver’s seat the car’s hood stretches out for what seems like miles. In short, don’t expect this vehicle to feel like a Miata.

All of this bulk provides a spacious interior that’s wide and cushy. It’s even got a back seat that can actually accommodates life-sized adults, which is unusual for a two-door automobile. Thanks to its generous proportions the Wraith’s got buckets interior volume and even more road presence.

Motivating this leather-lined, timber-clad cruise missile is a suitably gentlemanly engine. Cylinders are best when they can be counted by the dozen and Wraith owners have an even 12 to play with.

Displacing 6.6 liters this monster engine is bolstered by all the latest internal-combustion goodies including things like dual turbochargers and direct fuel injection. As a result, the company claims it’s the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history. Obviously this excludes things like Merlin-powered Hawker Hurricanes or the Trent 1000s slung under the wings of a Boeing 787.

One frivolous sounding but breathtaking addition is the optional Starlight Headliner. This feature debuted on Rolls-Royce’s flagship Phantom but it’s now spread to the Wraith. For an additional $4,975 “craftspeople” will hand weave thousands of fiber optic lamps into the headliner (1,340 to be precise); they produce a soft, shimmering glow, particularly at night.

But the car we evaluated featured a number of pricey extras including lambs’ wool floor mats ($1,225), seat piping ($3,200), an “up lit Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament ($3,625), stainless steel pinstripes ($3,975) and color-keyed boot trim ($1,300), among other things.

Sitting in the Wraith is kind of an unusual experience. Unlike the cabins of lesser cars, which are constructed largely of plastic, everything in this Rolls-Royce is real. The wood is genuine, the leather is authentic and the wool is unadulterated. It’s all-natural and it’s all there.

This is a thoroughly modern car but it almost feels retro because of the materials used. Modern drivers are so used to not seeing real stuff it’s a bit off-putting at first, especially when you’re surrounded by it.

One of the Wraith’s most interesting features is the way designers used wood. The door panels of the test car we evaluated were covered – almost completely – in gorgeous, open-pore timber. The veneers were bookmatched for symmetry and the overall effect was breathtaking.

Of course this wood was carried through the rest of the car’s cabin, dressing up the center console and other areas as well.

The Wraith is designed to be a driver’s car and it delivers on that promise. This yacht of an automobile will accelerate like a dragster hitting 60 miles an hour from a standstill in just 4.4 seconds. Attaining speed is truly effortless; it’s far too easy to be going way too fast in this car.

The big V12 is smoother than silken underwear with no offensive vibrations percolating through to the passenger compartment. It’s also pretty much silent, shooting you down the road like a bullet exiting the barrel of a silenced gun that’s been smothered by a pillow wrapped in noise-abating foam.

Copious amounts of torque mean you don’t have to rev the engine in order to get moving, just tickle the accelerator and hang on tight. Of course Wraith’s transmission is just as smooth, always picking the right gear and doing it with absolutely zero fuss.

Curiously the company has teamed the gearbox with GPS. Called a “Satellite Aided Transmission,” SAT for short, this system uses cutting-edge technology to monitor the road you’re on and how you’re driving. With this information it can accurately predict what gear you’re going to need for upcoming terrain.

The Wraith is every bit a Rolls-Royce, delivering unparalleled lavishness. But unlike past models it also offers an engaging on-road experience. This brand – and car – still define British luxury, even if the company is owned by the Germans.

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