BLACK BADGE REVIEW

Is a car that costs more than a house really better than the average luxury sedan? We drive the 2023 Rolls-Royce Ghost to find out.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge is what happens when the luxury automotive giant sets its sights firmly on younger buyers. These buyers want the best, but want it to be subtle. At least as subtle as a 12-cylinder 600-horsepower sedan the size of a Chevrolet Tahoe can be. And even then, that subtlety applies only on the outside.

Think of the average Roller owner and you’re probably thinking of someone like Thurston Howell III (if you’re older than 50), or maybe Bill Gates (if you’re younger). The actual Rolls-Royce buyer, though, is far younger. Younger than a BMW or Mini shopper, and even younger than Mazda or Volkswagen. The age we heard from Rolls-Royce PR people put Rolls buyers in their 20s and 30s.

Back in the day, it was your typical multigenerational, high-wealth client buying such a vehicle. Today a Rolls-Royce is the car of choice for musicians, athletes, and tech startup winners who are ready to show off. But only a little bit. That younger demographic actually explains a lot about how Rolls can do what it does inside of its vehicles.

To keep up with what ultra-lux buyers want, Rolls has what it calls the Luxury Intelligence Unit. No, that’s not a “Law & Order” series you missed. It’s the group that tries to keep up on changing trends within its buyer group. These days it’s saying the trends are bold in design, assertive in character, and dark in trim.

Black Badge means dark chrome trim replaces the brightwork of a standard Ghost. The dark-mirror gloss comes from a special electrolyte used in the chrome process. You won’t find mere paint or tinted clearcoat at work in a vehicle like this.

It also means carbon fiber wheels: not the wheel face, but the barrel, where 22 layers of carbon fiber sheet are folded over to make the 44-layer-thick wheels.

There are other highlights of the Black Badge spec, but because this is a Rolls, most of them aren’t mandatory. A key part of this car is the ability of the owner to make every piece unique. From choosing one of 44,000 paint colors to picking your umbrella handle color to getting whatever text you want on the illuminated sill plates. This makes us wonder how many Rolls dealers have had to try and talk a customer out of a cryptocurrency reference that was dated before the car hit the showroom.

The only other mandated accent is the Lemniscate. We would call the icon the infinity symbol, and it glows in the dash with 152 LED lights. A light guide has 90,000 laser-etched dots to make sure the illumination is dispersed evenly.

OK, there is one other Black Badge perk, and you’ll find it under the extremely long bonnet. Rolls-Royce has tweaked the 6.75L V12 engine to make 591 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque. The company used to simply say its power figures were “sufficient” — which makes this one more than sufficient.

Want to hire a Rolls Royce for your special day? Get a quick, affordable quote now by contacting one of our friendly team!

Blog credit: https://gearjunkie.com/motors/2023-rolls-royce-ghost-black-badge-review