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First look at the Rolls-Royce’s new Cullinan luxury SUV
Less than a year after the launch of its eighth generation Phantom, Rolls-Royce Motors has revealed its first ever SUV, the highly anticipated $325,000 Cullinan. The off-road car is expected to boost slow sales for the luxury automaker, particularly in the Middle East, where demand for SUVs is among the highest in the world in countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Named after the largest diamond discovered to date, the Cullinan is the latest in a number of SUV releases from the world’s most prestigious automakers.
The Cullinan stands six feet off the ground—four inches taller than its closest competitor, the Bentayga. At 5,864 pounds, it’s more than 500 pounds heavier than the Bentayga, too.
Angular sides and that high, flat top make it look more imposing than the rounded Bentayga or even Lamborghini’s crouching, super-sporty Urus.
Its front grille has the same steel vertical slats and flat, stark form as the one on the new Rolls-Royce Dawn, but it’s elevated to regal height in the new SUV.
Futuristic LEDs surrounding each headlight give it a slightly new, rectangular shape.
The first thing you notice, though, are the four doors, which close in the traditional coach format. A rear tailgate automatically opens in two sections with the touch of the key fob button. Massive 22-inch rims flank each of its four corners.
Inside, the Cullinan offers space sufficiently broad and open to fit a regent and retinue though officially, it can seat only up to five people. The rear seat comes in two configurations, with two cockpit-style seats in the rear or a single lounge seat that allows seating for three – or, when folded down, up to 600 liters (21 cubic feet) of storage space, equal to that of the Urus. That’s enough to hold a small dog house or a week’s worth of safari-style luggage.
Rolls-Royce has also made a new, smaller, and thicker steering wheel for the Cullinan, augmented with a high-resolution, heads-up display and all the technology expected in the family: night vision, including daytime and night-time wildlife and pedestrian warning; an alertness assistant that helps avoid drowsy driving; a four-camera parking system with panoramic view, all-round visibility, and helicopter view; active cruise control; myriad crash-avoidance systems; Wi-Fi; and the standard navigation and entertainment systems.
As expected, from hints the company dropped in recent months, the Cullinan comes with a 6.75 litre, twin-turbo V12 engine that gets 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque.
All-new, all-wheel drive and an all-wheel steering system—the first in Rolls-Royce history – come standard. Top speed is 155 miles per hour.
