2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan First Test: Opulence At The Track

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is the company’s first SUV

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm Kim Reynolds and this is the Rolls Royce Cullinan.

00:07 (laughing)

00:09 Hi. (laughing)

00:29 Hi, I'm Kim Reynolds and this is the Rolls Royce Cullinan.

00:33 We're here at Auto Club Speedway to test this thing.

00:40 The Cullinan is an enormous vehicle. Look at it. 6,200 pounds.

00:44 It's Rolls Royce's first SUV. It's black and it has a yellow stripe and a lot of yellow inside too.

00:51 So it'll keep you awake at night. Also, there's a headliner full of little stars.

00:57 So it looks like it's at night. It's really beautiful.

01:00 Soon you'll be seeing it in music videos and paparazzi shots everywhere.

01:04 Ours, as equipped, cost over a half a million dollars.

01:08 Though it weighs well over three tons, the Cullinan Black Badge has more than enough power to compensate.

01:13 The 6.8 liter V12 uses twin turbos to make 600 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque.

01:21 With all-wheel drive, that got the Cullinan to 60 miles per hour in 4.7 seconds.

01:26 That's over a second faster than the Subaru SDI we tested the same day.

01:31 Further down the drag strip, the Cullinan does the quarter mile in 13.1 seconds at 109.6 miles per hour.

01:38 Road test editor Chris Walton was pretty impressed.

01:41 Here we are in this giant luxury barge and it's putting down like sports car numbers.

01:50 That's remarkable. Incredible, in fact.

01:54 The braking was equally impressive at 107 feet from 60 miles per hour.

01:58 That's on par with cars weighing half as much.

02:01 Then it was time for the figure eight.

02:04 Tire squealing, the Rolls did it in 26.6 seconds at an average of 0.68 G's.

02:10 The takeaway? This Cullinan is as smooth as ever, even with the sportier intentions of the Black Badge series.

02:16 Oh, see that's the emergency belt tensioner.

02:20 Though it's huge and heavy, the 600 horsepower V12 makes this a legitimately quick SUV.

02:26 Should you need to escape a Monte Carlo casino after a night of debauchery,

02:30 the Cullinan is just too large for tight European streets.

02:34 But, if you keep a home in Los Angeles and find yourself pursued by the press, your creditors or your heirs,

02:40 few things will spirit you onto a freeway as quickly and quietly as this blacked out behemoth.

02:46 (upbeat music)

02:48 (upbeat music)