2013 Rolls Royce Wraith review, test drive

Unlike a lot of cars that are capable of such speed, the Wraith’s centre console is refreshingly clear of buttons and controls to customise the driving experience. The eight-speed ZF gearbox is smooth and seamless, but rather than giving in to the temptation of adding paddle shifters to reinforce the Wraith’s sporting credentials, the engineers took a less visible but much more high-tech approach. The Wraith debuts the company’s new Satellite-Aided Transmission, which connects the gearbox to the GPS and navigation systems. The unit senses the car’s location on the road, anticipates what lies ahead almost in real time and uses the information to pre-select gears accordingly. Like a good butler, the SAT does its work unobtrusively so that the car always has immense reserves of power and traction for the driver to call on. But you can’t help but wonder what would have been possible with some manual control.

Where you won’t want for any manual control is the suspension. Our drive from Vienna through the Austrian Alps featured a good mix of cobbled and rutted city roads, wide open highways and some quick and narrow mountain roads, and the Wraith showed itself to be more than capable on all surfaces. It carries over the Ghost’s suspension layout (double wishbone front and multi-link rear) and there are a lot of electronic gizmos working away in the background, constantly adjusting the stiffness and travel depending on speed and lean angles.

The company says the Wraith is the easiest car in the world to drive quickly, and honestly, they aren’t far off the mark with that, even if visibility, especially on these narrow mountain roads, can be a bit challenging. While it is virtually impossible to completely eliminate pitch and roll in a car the size of a small yacht, the trade-off is acceptable, especially because the Wraith never stops providing the splendid cabin isolation and ride quality that defines the brand.

The Wraith delivers everything you expect from a Rolls-Royce and enough new elements – like the stunning looks and surprising level of driver involvement – to make it a worthy addition to a discerning gentleman’s garage.

And he’ll have to be a very wealthy gentleman too, given the Wraith’s ex-showroom price in India of Rs 4.6 crore. No Rolls is ever going to be considered value for money, but to the rarefied strata of society that the company caters to, this car offers a stylish and sporty alternative to the slightly old-school image that other Rolls-Royce cars portray.