6 Things about the Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge
Earlier this week, the folks at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Kuala Lumpur (Quill Motorcars Sdn Bhd) virtually introduced their latest addition, that being the Cullinan Black Badge.
The Cullinan completes the Black Badge Range by joining in the ranks alongside the Ghost, Wraith and Dawn. This also sees Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Kuala Lumpur standing as the first RR establishment in the region to house the Black Badge range in full.
With that, we take a deep dive and see what’s what with the latest ‘murdered-out’ Rolls to make landfall…
1. It has more power than the ‘regular’ Cullinan
We’ll start with our favourite bit, that being the fact that this Black Badge Cullinan’s twin-turbo 6.75-litre V12 heart boasts 593bhp and 900Nm – 30bhp and 50Nm more than the ‘regular’ Cullinan in fact. The result sees the Cullinan Black Badge able to despatch 0-100kph in just 5.2 seconds – 0.3 seconds quicker than the base car too.
Much of this comes from tweaks Rolls-Royce made to the mill itself, which now boasts an entirely new exhaust system too. The latter even adds “a deep, authoritative basso profundo” according to Rolls-Royce. Yup, the extra go does come with a little bit of extra ‘noise’ to match, if you could call it that…
2. It’s made for drivers
To match the power bump, Rolls-Royce also tweaked both the Cullinan Black Badge’s transmission and chassis. The 8-speed ZF satellite-aided automatic box now boasts a ‘bespoke’ (read: sharpened) mapping and throttle response. The brakes have been beefed up too, and now feature a higher bite point and shorter pedal travel.
Those, by the way, work in tandem with both the Cullinan Black Badge’s front and rear steered axles, which responds to both throttle and steering inputs. There’s also new adaptive suspension hardware that ensures an “appropriate balance between dynamism and refinement” as stated by Rolls.
3. It’s not just aimed towards the typical RR customer
Given the last two facts, it's now obvious that the Cullinan, as well as its siblings in the Black Badge range, have a different sort consumer group in mind. To be more specific, it’s made for “the risk takers and disruptors who break the rules and laugh in the face of convention” in Rolls-Royce own words.
Notably, these folks are noticeably younger, most being in their earl-to-mid 40s according to Rolls-Royce’s global comms reps. However, Quill Motorcars Sdn Bhd's executive director Anas Zawawi Khalid (pictured below) was keen to share that the most recent Black Badge car delivered locally was to an individual in their early 30s.
We are seeing a distinct change in the Super-luxury arena within Malaysia. Increasingly, we are welcoming younger, adventurous Rolls-Royce customers alongside our more established clientele.
Anas Zawawi Khalid, Executive Director for Quill Motorcars Sdn Bhd
4. It doesn’t just come in black, but…
Despite the range’s apt naming, Rolls-Royce says you can still commission the Cullinan Black Badge, or any of its Black Badge cars, in any of the 44,000 ready-to-wear options it already has. Nevertheless, the Black Badge’s signature hue will always be the solid black you see pictured.
Mind you, this isn’t your typical black paintjob. In fact, Rolls-Royce says it’s produced through the meticulous application of multiple layers of paint and lacquer that’s also hand-polished at least 10 times. Rolls-Royce says that this is the most comprehensive surface finish process the firm has ever applied to a solid paint colour.
5. It has something called ‘Technical Carbon veneer’
As you can imagine, with the consumer group stated earlier, their eclectic tastes and desires sees Rolls-Royce go the extra mile in delivering their signature bespokery with the Cullinan Black Badge. One example of which is the 23-piece ‘Technical Carbon veneer’ trim panels lining the cabin instead of traditional wood panels.
Inspired by masterpieces of urban architecture, it’s a naked-weave carbon-fibre finish developed to create highly accurate repeating geometrical shapes that produce a powerful three-dimensional effect. Each leaf of Technical Carbon is finished with six coats of lacquer before being cured for 72 hours and hand-polished to Rolls-Royce’s hallmark mirror finish. This whole process takes 21 days and is only deemed complete once every piece is inspected to ensure complete reflective uniformity.
6. It’s priced from RM1.7 million*
As mentioned, the Cullinan Black Badge is now present through Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Kuala Lumpur, and ready to welcome avid prospects to commission it. As for price, well, if you had to ask how much, then you’re definitely not in the right league…
…But just to sate your curiosity, the base price sits at a figure of RM1.7 million *before options, duties, taxes and on-road costs. Realistically, you’d best double or triple that figure to commission yours. You’ll also need some patience as it will take some time for it to arrive depending on how much bespokery you’ve chosen…
