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2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn Makes Full Debut, Steals S-Class Cabriolet's Show

It's true that Rolls-Royce Dawn and Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet are not direct rivals, but you can't help feel the new drophead Rolls puts a dent in Mercedes-Benz's celebrations in Frankfurt.
2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn Drophead 22 photos
Photo: Rolls-Royce
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By all intents and purposes, the new Rolls-Royce Dawn is part of the Ghost slash Wraith family, pushing its ranks to three by adding a convertible option. However, Rolls-Royce felt it was sufficiently different to call for a new, less ethereal name.

They chose "Dawn", a name that "perfectly suggests the fresh opportunities that every new day holds." Beautifully put, but more important than that, very beautiful car. The inspiration goes all the way back to 1952, a year when the Silver Dawn drophead was launched, the first Rolls-Royce with a factory-built body. At that time, it marked a new beginning for the British brand and so the name was more than suited.

You don't have to agree with Rolls-Royce's boxy design and large, open surfaces to like the new Dawn. The car already had a good starting point in the Wraith coupe, a visually balanced car not only in Rolls-Royce's terms, but it takes their newly found suppleness one step forward. However, it doesn't go astray from the classic Rolls-Royce design principles: 2:1 wheel height to body height, long bonnet, short front overhang and a long rear one and a high shoulder line.

The front end has some minor, but effective transformations compared to the Wraith, with a slightly enlarged grille and bumper that make the car look more focused even when standing still.

From the side, the harmonious canvas roof lacks any concave surfaces or struts sticking out as seen with other soft top convertibles, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the car. If the soft fabric were to turn suddenly into metal, the Dawn would have no problem passing as a coupe. The rear follows the "boat tail" philosophy of early Rolls-Royce drophead coupes to great effect.

It's what's on the inside that counts

Inside, there's a world of luxury awaiting all four possible occupants with things like high-quality wood, exquisite leather, matte or chromed metallic inserts plus a new clock designed specifically for this model.

It's also eerily quiet on the inside, with the new roof providing the kind of soundproofing previously considered impossible for a convertible. To achieve that, Rolls-Royce pulled two tricks out of their hat: they made the surface of the roof completely flat, and they used a special type of seams that creates no noticeable wind noise. The noise level is kept to a low Rolls-Royce level even when travelling with the top down. Lowering the roof can be done at speeds up to 31 mph (50 km/h) and only takes 22 seconds.

You can enjoy the silence provided by the excellent soundproofing, or you can take advantage of it and enjoy Rolls-Royce's Bespoke Audio system specifically calibrated for this car. It comes with 16 individually tuned speakers and offers a "larger than live" aural experience.

While keeping the road noise out is an important part of ride comfort, it's not everything. Rolls-Royce went to great lengths to make the Dawn's chassis as stiff as possible without increasing its weight too much, and they're happy to announce they've created "the most rigid four-seater convertible." To counter-balance this, they've also tuned the suspension to offer the same "magic carpet" experience we've come to expect from Rolls-Royce.

As for the oily bits...

Humming gently under the long hood is the usual 6.6-litre V12 powertrain with a power output of 563 hp at 5,250 rpm and a torque rating of 780 Nm or 575 lb ft @ 1,500 rpm. This makes the Dawn the most powerful full four-seat drophead motor car to date.

Listing all the technology available in the new Dawn would take too long and would probably bore everybody to death, but just think of the stuff BMW offers and put it through an aristocratic filter. It's got full LED headlights that, with the high beam on, would probably make it seem like dawn was coming for the oncoming traffic. There's also thermal vision available on the head-up display that identifies both human and animal heat signatures.

The color combination chosen for the launch might make some waves among the more conservative Rolls-Royce owners, but we like it: it instantly shaves about 15 years off the average age of the potential buyer. Of course, it will come in black and brown as well, so everybody needs to keep calm and carry on.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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