Do you take risks? Do you break rules? Do you build success on your own terms? If so, then Rolls-Royce has the SUV for you—or at least that’s what the press release tells us about the Cullinan Black Badge, the latest Roller to get the brand’s darkened aesthetic treatment.
So what are the signs that a Cullinan has walked out of the light to join what Rolls Royce implies is its own seedy underbelly? For starters, The twin-turbo V-12 is bumped up to 592 horsepower and 664 lb-ft, figures which represent increases of 29 horses and 37 lb-ft. It also gets a new exhaust that emphasizes the engine’s bass notes. The chassis has been stiffened, the transmission reprogrammed for sharper shifts, and the brakes have been redesigned for a higher bite point and less pedal travel. Big brake calipers painted with heat-resistant red paint peek out from behind bespoke silver-and-black wheels, as well.
You might expect the glossy-black paint to be part and parcel of the Black Badge package, but you’d be wrong: Buyers can choose from any of Rolls-Royce’s 44,000 paint colors, or they can specify their own. They”ll probably want that hand-painted accent stripe—or “coachline” in Roller-speak—but whatever else they choose, they’ll get badges done up in blackened chrome, as well as a dark-chrome Spirit of Ecstasy riding atop the radiator.
Inside, the Cullinan Black Badge is trimmed with hand polished “Technical Carbon” veneer and infinity symbols. As with the paint, customers can pick the interior color they like, but the Rolls-Royce interior designers came up with a new shade of yellow leather to highlight the jet-black cabin. Of course, you’ll get the spectacular fiber-optic celestial headliner because Rolls-Royce, man.