00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 We often forget this,
00:13 but your car is far more than just transportation.
00:16 It's an outfit you get into, a costume,
00:19 an avatar that sends a message to everyone
00:21 about what type of person you are.
00:23 (crowd applauding)
00:29 (crowd cheering)
00:32 And when that avatar is a Rolls Royce, you're a celebrity.
00:40 Everyone wants to know who you are, where you're going,
00:43 what you're doing, and most importantly,
00:45 how you got to be so rich.
00:48 When that Rolls Royce is a convertible,
00:50 well, you're really on display.
00:52 So you'd better go rent a tuxedo
00:56 and be on your best behavior
00:58 because you'll be judged as harshly as Amy Schumer
01:01 in a bikini eating an ice cream covered three bean quesadilla.
01:05 (crowd gasping)
01:08 (upbeat music)
01:20 (upbeat music)
01:23 The Rolls Royce Dawn is effectively
01:30 a convertible version of the Wraith,
01:32 which is a coupe version of the Ghost,
01:34 which is basically a long, long wheelbase BMW 7 Series
01:37 lined with $100 bills.
01:39 The Dawn is, according to its maker,
01:41 the sexiest Rolls Royce ever built,
01:43 and we won't argue with that.
01:45 Then again, this isn't a company known for sex appeal,
01:47 but the Dawn has all of the sportiness of the Wraith
01:50 with all of the grace and elegance that that car is missing.
01:53 I'll tell you one thing the Dawn isn't,
01:57 and to use a British term, bespoke enough.
02:00 And for that, I blame the platform sharing
02:02 with the 7 Series.
02:03 See, it might be said that Rolls Royce customers
02:05 never get gas, but they eat Mexican food too.
02:08 And they might also one day put fuel in their own vehicle.
02:11 When they do, they will open this flap
02:13 and be greeted by the cheapest fuel cap
02:16 since a 1986 Ford Tempo.
02:19 The rest of the exterior though is really well done.
02:22 This paint is perfection.
02:24 The bright work is gorgeous.
02:25 The panel fit is perfect.
02:27 And of course it has a door that opens the wrong way
02:30 just to be different.
02:31 I really think this is the perfectly executed
02:34 Rolls Royce four-seat convertible.
02:36 Rolls Royce has already said that all of its future products
02:41 will be built on a bespoke aluminum chassis.
02:44 So I for one am hoping that any cheapo touches
02:46 like the gas cap will be relegated to the past.
02:49 Except that we're in the present now
02:51 and there are a few compromises in the interior.
02:54 The very first thing one should say
02:57 upon entering one's Rolls Royce is, "Wow."
03:00 Unfortunately, every time everyone gets in this car
03:03 for the first time, they say, "What the hell is that?"
03:07 It is, as it turns out, an interior cabin temperature sensor
03:12 for the climate control.
03:13 But I think we can all agree
03:14 it looks like it belongs to a different car.
03:16 And while we're talking about things
03:17 that don't belong in this car,
03:19 the memory buttons look like something
03:20 out of a 2008 Toyota Camry,
03:22 the steering wheel surround is cheap plastic
03:24 from like a BMW 1 Series,
03:26 and all of the stalks are just really cheap plastic.
03:30 I'm not exactly sure what it is about German car companies
03:33 that they can't get this stuff right.
03:34 Bentley does it too.
03:36 Bentley also sprays plastic buttons
03:38 with cheap-looking chrome spray and thinks it's expensive.
03:42 That's not acceptable in a $400,000 car.
03:45 What Rolls Royce did do really well
03:47 is the wood and the leather.
03:48 It is absolutely spectacular in this car.
03:51 And more importantly, this herringbone wood
03:53 covers up the navigation system.
03:56 If it's one thing that dates a car more than anything else,
03:59 it's the infotainment.
04:00 Rolls Royces are driven for a very long time.
04:03 And in 20 and 30 years from now,
04:05 this iDrive screen that's hidden here will look really old.
04:08 Ditto the iDrive controller.
04:10 So Rolls Royce rather brilliantly
04:12 made it look like a piece of jewelry.
04:14 It's clear glass, but it's still touch sensitive
04:17 so I can draw all sorts of things.
04:18 Really well done.
04:20 The rest of the interior,
04:21 other than these cheap little plastic pieces,
04:24 absolutely spectacular, as you'd expect.
04:26 Even the carpets.
04:28 This floor mat is so plush you honestly wanna hug it.
04:32 They're great, snuggie.
04:33 But enough of that shit.
04:37 Let's go see if it does burnout.
04:39 (upbeat music)
04:41 (car engine revving)
04:44 Well, if there's any complaints about styling
04:50 or the interior quality,
04:51 Rolls Royce has absolutely nailed this driving experience.
04:56 To the point where you wouldn't even believe
04:58 BMW had anything to do with it.
05:01 I mean, the steering wheel is this skinny little big thing
05:05 and I can use one finger to turn it around the corners.
05:08 Absolutely light, slow, regal.
05:11 The ride quality, well, if this were a sports car,
05:14 you'd just call it blown shocks
05:16 'cause it never stops moving.
05:18 It's always bouncing and moving around,
05:20 but it is unbelievably comfortable at the same time.
05:23 And as long as you work around the body roll
05:26 in the corners, there's actually a lot of grip.
05:28 Rolls Royce says the Dawn weighs something
05:32 approaching 5,700 pounds,
05:34 which is about the same weight
05:35 as both of my Volkswagens combined
05:38 and then another thousand pounds on top of it.
05:40 I say, hey, 5,700 doesn't feel an ounce over 9,000.
05:45 (upbeat music)
05:47 We always used to say that V12s have power delivery
05:51 like an electric motor because they're so smooth.
05:53 Well, thanks to Tesla,
05:55 we know exactly what an electric motor is like in a car
05:58 and this is nothing like it
06:00 because electric motors respond immediately.
06:03 And this, well, you hit the gas
06:06 and then you count to three
06:08 and then it starts to accelerate.
06:10 And this is programmed in.
06:11 This is the computer saying,
06:13 we don't want any abrupt motions
06:14 lest we make the passengers nauseous.
06:17 So you hit the gas, on a delay, the throttles open
06:20 and the car proceeds forward.
06:23 You have no idea if the engine's turning,
06:25 how fast it's turning, there's no tachometer.
06:27 You don't know which of the eight gears it's in.
06:29 All you know is that eventually
06:31 after you press the gas pedal,
06:32 you're going to move and fast.
06:34 See, floored and...
06:36 (coughs)
06:38 (car engine revving)
06:41 The only problem with doing that is the brakes.
06:43 This is a typical Rolls Royce trait
06:45 of the wooden brake pedal feel.
06:47 And it actually does feel like the brake pads
06:49 are made of wood.
06:51 And they have initial bite
06:52 and then you have to basically stand on them
06:54 to get any braking out of them.
06:56 But this is not a BMW driving experience.
06:59 You would never think this is a seven series underneath.
07:02 This is genuinely Rolls Royce in all of the right ways.
07:07 We so often throw around this term
07:08 that being in one of these cars is a sense of occasion.
07:11 But it really is.
07:13 This drives unlike anything else modern.
07:15 Yes, it has iDrive and navigation system
07:17 and lane keep warning and all that other crap.
07:20 But this doesn't feel like a car
07:22 that's single-handedly obsessed with performance.
07:25 This is only concerned with your comfort.
07:28 Even with the windows down and it's windy
07:31 and I'm near the beach, it's totally quiet.
07:33 I hear more noise from everyone else's car
07:35 than I do from my own.
07:37 (car engine roaring)
07:38 There's definitely a place in the world for this car
07:40 because not everyone is obsessed with sport.
07:44 I mean, yes, it has 560 something horsepower
07:46 on a Twinturbo V12.
07:47 But there is a segment of the population
07:50 for whom zero to 60 doesn't matter
07:52 and who doesn't really care about cornering,
07:54 who just wanna be coddled.
07:56 And these are the people who wanna get in their car
07:58 and think, why should my car be any different
08:00 than my living room?
08:01 I should be surrounded by the same really nice materials.
08:04 Your living room wouldn't ride like crap.
08:06 The whole point of your living room
08:07 is that it's comfortable.
08:08 Why should a car be any different?
08:10 (car engine roaring)
08:13 (upbeat music)
08:15 Unless we forget who buys these cars in the first place.
08:30 I mean, the owners of these cars are really concerned
08:31 with what's going on in the backseat.
08:33 And that means sportiness doesn't matter.
08:36 It should be smooth and quiet.
08:37 That's exactly what it's like back here.
08:39 More importantly, it's comfortable.
08:41 I mean, I don't even have my seatbelt on
08:43 'cause we're doing like 15 miles an hour.
08:45 But the point is, this is a real actual rich person size,
08:49 comfortable backseat.
08:51 There's no other car that you can do this with.
08:53 I mean, maybe you could buy like a used Chrysler Sebring
08:57 out of a enterprise car lot or like a Volkswagen Eos.
09:01 But like the Bentley Continental GT convertible
09:04 and the Mercedes S-Class convertible
09:05 that's coming this summer,
09:07 they're like two plus twos, small backseat.
09:09 This is big and comfortable.
09:12 And my sound guy is driving
09:13 and I think he does like two miles an hour.
09:14 Dude, do you have a livery license by any chance?
09:18 No?
09:18 Have you ever gone drag racing?
09:20 Cruising at jogging speed along the ocean is lovely,
09:25 but it doesn't showcase what this Rolls Royce
09:27 is so epically good at.
09:29 Sustained high-speed cruising on the open road.
09:32 (car engine roaring)
09:35 (car engine roaring)
09:38 Can't believe how quiet this car is,
09:45 even at 120 miles an hour.
09:47 Just the thoughts in my head, echo.
09:50 That's so cool.
09:52 Oh, my stomach is killing me.
09:53 Why did I have to have that second serving of refried beans?
10:03 (upbeat music)
10:06 The name Dawn implies a new beginning.
10:09 Indeed, right in Rolls Royce's press information,
10:11 there's the Thomas Fuller phrase,
10:13 "It is always darkest just before dawn."
10:16 If we read between the lines,
10:17 maybe it means Rolls Royce's forthcoming move
10:19 to its own bespoke platform,
10:21 means even better things are in store
10:23 for the wealthy and the prominent.
10:25 And that my friends is pretty hard to imagine.
10:28 Because while you might never know
10:29 who that person is driving the Rolls Royce,
10:31 where they're going or how they got so rich,
10:34 you'll know one thing, they are very, very comfortable.
10:38 (car engine roaring)
10:43 (laughing)
10:54 That's amazing.
10:59 Action.
11:00 Action.
11:07 (laughing)
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