Rolls-Royce Spectre: I drove the best car in the world

Which, by the way, is electric. Concentrates all the luxury of the world's most exclusive brand at a price of almost £440,000

By: Lorenzo Curatti

Jun 17, 2024 at 5:09am ET

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The Rolls-Royce Spectre is the closest thing to a private jet without wings, or a yacht with wheels, if you prefer. After all, the clientele is just that, and in my opinion in defining the driving experience of this coupe, the latest among Goodwood's luxurious creatures, the designers wanted to evoke just that kind of journey.

For here, yes, there is a steering wheel, of course, but then the similarities with other cars are pretty much done. The Spectre is a planet apart, even in the Rolls-Royce family itself.

And, should you be curious as you should be, I'll tell you straight away: the Spectre you can admire in this report costs €520,000 (approx. £440,000), VAT included. Over half a million euros. Is it worth it? I'll tell you below.

Rolls-Royce Spectre, there's nothing like it

The Rolls-Royce Spectre is based on a platform called the Architecture of Luxury, made of aluminium and specific to Rolls-Royce models. It is five and a half metres long, almost two metres wide and has a streamlined silhouette providing an aerodynamic profile like no Rolls before it: Cx of 0.25 thanks to various solutions, including a restyling of the Spirit of Ecstasy.

Rolls-Royce Spectre

And so the Spectre is quieter than that plane or yacht we mentioned earlier. Here the huge wheels touch the asphalt but you don't really notice them. Set-up tuning has always been a Rolls flagship, especially since a front camera can read the tarmac to prepare each individual wheel to fill in or accommodate irregularities. The Spectre takes this a step further, with an anti-roll bar that disconnects on a straight road, giving the individual wheels more freedom to articulate.

And, conversely, when a corner is coming up - and the Spectre knows this because it exploits the navigation system's mapping - the bar reconnects, the dampers stiffen up and the rear steered wheels intervene. Twenty different parameters, including steering, suspension, power, are monitored and adjusted continuously for each trajectory.

Rolls-Royce Spectre

And thank goodness for four-wheel steering. With a wheelbase well over 3 metres, a steering diameter of around 13 metres is almost a miracle. The steering is light and absolutely filtered, zero vibrations, apart from those it wants to send you with the lane-keeping system, given that we are talking about the first Rolls-Royce with level 2 assisted driving.

Going back to the soundproofing, there are about 200 kg of sound-absorbing materials to filter out the outside world, leaving out practically any frequency, especially from the area of the huge 23-inch tyres. And then there's the engine. Or rather, the engines. Two. 360 kW at the rear, 190 kW at the front, for a total of 430 kW combined, which is the equivalent of 585 PS, and a whopping 900 Nm. All immediately, for a 0-62 mph in 4.5 seconds, but still controlled, sumptuous. This is a Rolls-Royce, not a drag race car. And in fact it weighs about 3 tonnes.

Rolls-Royce Spectre

No driving modes, as this isn't Rolls-Royce stuff. Everything here is already tuned as it should be. The only concession is the B mode that increases regeneration on release, making it slow down.

Shall we talk about the interior, then? Something unique, there is no word that better describes them. The materials are all of the highest quality and there are very few plastics. The customisation possibilities make each Spectre different from the next, but still cosy like no other.

Rolls-Royce Spectre

An example? The driver's door closes by itself once you press the brake, just as the opening is electro-assisted, you just need to keep your hand on the handle. A bit like having a valet even when he's not there.

The first electric Rolls, certainly not the last

I had the good fortune to drive a Phantom some time ago, and even then I thought having a twelve-cylinder in the front was almost a waste. You can't hear it, neither with your ears nor with your foot, because even then the delivery is muffled and the shifts non-existent.

Rolls-Royce Spectre

If then, going back to the Spectre, thanks to an enormous 102 kWh net capacity battery, the declared range is around 311 miles - which then perhaps drops to 250 miles in real life - then the question of range doesn't really arise either. And not because the peak recharge is 195 kW, but because, firstly, a typical customer tends to do about 3,000 miles a year with his or her Rolls. Secondly, because on average he has seven other cars in his garage and among them he will find one more suitable for the journey, perhaps with a driver. Third, I would add, if you have to drive more than 250 miles, it's time to take that famous jet, isn't it?!

Rolls-Royce Spectre

"The electric car is perfectly quiet and clean. It doesn't emit any smells or vibrations, and will be ideal when there are fixed charging stations'. Charles Stewart Rolls said this in 1900, even before he met Henry Royce. He was a visionary, no doubt, but now his vision is reality. From 2030 all Rolls-Royces will be exclusively electric.

The Spectre, then, is only the first, but if it has long been said that a Rolls-Royce is the perfect car, then the Spectre is the perfect Rolls-Royce.