In an effort to hop aboard the hybrid bandwagon, perennial luxury carmaker, Rolls Royce recently announced of their plans to produce a hybrid drivetrain for the new Ghost sedan that will effectively cut the car’s gas-guzzling capabilities by as much as 15%.
The word floating around is that since the Ghost uses the a platform that was pegged from the BMW 7-Series, the new hybrid version of the Ghost will also use the same ActiveHybrid 7-Series from BMW.
According to Autocar, the hybrid model of the Ghost will still come with the same 6.2-liter V12 engine found on the traditional model, but with the addition of an electric motor that’s integrated into the Ghost’s eight-speed auto transmission, which if form holds, will amount to the hybrid Ghost saving 15% of its fuel compared to the traditional counterpart.
If plans move along – and they are moving rather quickly, as a matter of fact – we could very well see a hybrid Rolls Royce – who would’ve thought that day would come – rolling out of production lots sooner than we thought.
The automotive essence of luxury, Rolls Royce is releasing their latest model, the Ghost into one of the richest regions on the planet. Like all the Rolls Royce models, the new Ghost comes with elevated prow, long bonnet, short front overhang, sharply raked A-pillar and elegant tail, but adds self-righting wheel centers and the Xenon headlamps and curved intakes. It will be available in 12 exterior colors, contrasting with Silver Satin finish for the bonnet, grille and windscreen surround.
The 2010 Ghost will be powered by a 6.6 liter twin-turbo V12 engine that delivers 563bhp and 780 NM of torque (most powerful car that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has ever produced). This power is enough to sprint the car from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds and to hit a top speed electronically limited to 155 MPH. The engine is mated to an eight-speed, shift-by-wire, automatic ZF gearbox and has a fuel consumption of 20.8 MPG.
We’re hoping that we’ve seen the worst out of this global economic crisis. After all, the entire auto industry seems to have suffered enough, don’t you think?
But you can’t say that the economic woes have put a leash on people’s interest in the Rolls Royce Ghost.
According to Tom Purves, Rolls Royce’s CEO, the 2010 Ghost has generated over 1,200 interested customers – a surprising number even for the standards of Rolls Royce’s ‘mini-Phantom’ sedan.
It’s easy to see why Rolls Royce is ecstatic over the interest the Ghost is generating considering the recession is far from finished. But then again, in a time like this, good news becomes great news and great news becomes ecstatic celebrations.
While Purves acknowledges that the general level of interest for the Ghost is more than what they expected, the company nevertheless remains cautiously optimistic, that they can build on car’s strong reception.
"We’re not convinced we’re out of this recession yet," he says. "We know what we’re going to build in the next three months, then we’ll take it quarter by quarter from there."
In any event, Rolls Royce is expected to make around 2000 Ghost models per year and if the interest for the car is any indication, we’re thinking that we’ll be seeing a lot of Ghosts our on the road soon.
In March at the Geneva Motor Show Rolls Royce brought the 200EX Concept. It was previewing a new model series, known until now as the "baby Rolls Royce." The new Ghost takes its inspiration from contemporary furniture, architecture and yachts but also in the spirit of the 1930s.
Like all the Rolls Royce models, the new Ghost comes with elevated prow, long bonnet, short front overhang, sharply raked A-pillar and elegant tail, but adds self-righting wheel centers and the Xenon headlamps and curved intakes. It will be available in 12 exterior colors, contrasting with Silver Satin finish for the bonnet, grille and windscreen surround.
The 2010 Ghost will be powered by a 6.6 liter twin-turbo V12 engine that delivers 563bhp and 780 NM of torque (most powerful car that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has ever produced). This power is enough to sprint the car from 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and to hit a top speed electronically limited to 155 mph. The engine is mated to an eight-speed, shift-by-wire, automatic ZF gearbox and has a fuel consumption of 20.8 mpg.
As if Rolls Royce hasn’t given us enough previews of the Ghost, we now have a video of Dan Balmer, the car’s production manager, taking it out on a test drive out on the road.
While we’ve all seen the countless number of teasers and previews for the Phantom, this is one of the rare times where we see the car actually being driven out of the headquarters. The car, which will be officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, has already received a mountain of interest from prospective buyers all over the world, most of whom probably can’t wait long enough for the end of the year to arrive – the time Rolls Royce is scheduled to release out in Europe. Incidentally, the rest of the world would have to wait a little while longer – spring 2010 we heard – before they can get behind the wheel of Rolls-Royce’s new pride and joy.
While the car’s release is still a few months away, nobody is stopping us from ogling over it – or getting insanely jealous at Balmer - through this video.
The upcoming Rolls Royce Ghost has been spotted while undergoing what looks like the final rounds of testing before the car’s official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, this time wearing none of that annoying clunky camouflage. Sales in Europe will begin in later this year and will be followed by U.S. debut sometime in the the second quarter of 2010.
The new Rolls Royce Ghost is powered by a brand new 6.6 Liter turbocharged V12 that produces 563 HP and combined with a ZF 8 speed automatic transmission, the future four door will be able to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.7 seconds, that is sports car territory, and reach an electronically limited top speed of 155 MPH.
As Top Speed previously reported, the upcoming Rolls Royce Ghost will feature an intelligent air ride suspension system at all four corners that will be connected to the fully independent front and rear axles which will allow for not only ride height modifications, but comfort settings as well.
The English automaker Rolls Royce has just revealed new details about the future Ghost luxury sedan that is set to make its official world debut this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new Ghost is powered by a brand new 6.6 Liter turbocharged V12 that produces 563 HP and when combined with an 8 speed ZF automatic transmission, the future four door can go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.7 seconds and reach a governed top speed of 155 MPH.
Rolls-Royce produced the Silver Ghost from 1906 to 1925, and it was the car that established the brand as a world standard. By calling the car “Ghost”, instead of using the full “Silver Ghost” name puts Rolls Royce in a peculiar situation and by dropping “Silver” from the name it no longer has to explain to uninformed customers why the car is available in multiple colors, but it also dilutes the history of the name and leaves Rolls using a the less desirable part of the identity. Either way, despite the name, when it finally does make it into showrooms, the Ghost will become an instantaneous status symbol.
Rolls Royce has launched an online configurator for their future Ghost model. So, before its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show you can start having fun designing your future dream car online.
A luxury car in white is for sure the best spy shot you can ever get. And if we are talking about the Rolls Royce Ghost, then even better! One more reason to hardly wait its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show!
Under the hood Rolls Royce placed a 6.6-liter turbocharged V12 engine with more than 500 hp mated to an eight-speed ZF gearbox. And, as reported previous, the Rolls Royce Ghost will feature an intelligent air suspension system.
Automakers with long histories have a tendency to do things a certain way, as is the case with English coach builder Rolls-Royce. For instance, after the company revealed the Silver Shadow, a vehicle that inspired the new Ghost, the company also brought the Carmargue and Corniche. In the same way, after the new Rolls Royce Ghost will be revealed, the coach builders will be preparing a coupe and a soft top version.
According to the Roll-Royce exterior stylist, Andreas Thurner: "The Ghost was designed in a way to make other body styles. We have to build up a family for the Ghost just as we did for the Phantom."
For those of you that wanted a model placed somewhere beneath the Ghost in Rolls-Royce’s future lineup, he said this will not be possible: "The Ghost is about as small as you could go for an authentic Rolls-Royce. Any smaller and it would lack the presence, comfort, space and stance that we want."
Last week the company announced the 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost will get new intelligent four-corner air suspension system. That will be the perfect touch to ensure that the Ghost floats past the competition.
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