ROLLS-ROYCE Ghost Review

Pedestrians have no reason to fear the elegant lady on the radiator grille. Excepting her beauty, the Spirit of Ecstasy is harmless - there's a spring-loaded mechanism that retracts it in an instant whenever this is necessary. Oh and if the classic look is not enough, you can also have it transparent or in a gold finish.

Pedestrians should also know that the Ghost's Night Vision infrared system has a soft spot for them. This detects objects up to 985 feet (300 m) away and warns the driver if necessary.

There’s a supreme silence coming from the engine compartment behind the mascot. This audio protection is mainly owned to the double bulkhead of the car. Of course, the refinement of the 6,592 cc twin-turbo V12 is also important here.

The unit started out in life as a 6.0-liter V12 on the past generation BMW 7 Series (E66). The displacement has now been enlarged and, along with a very long list of changes, this has brought a pleasing output level. The Ghost travels courtesy of the engine's 563 HP arriving at 5,250 rpm and the 575 lb-ft (780 Nm) that are ready to serve as soon as 1,500 rpm.

The figures alone don't tell the story, as the calibration is also important. For example, the Ghost finds a rev counter vulgar, so it replaces this with a power reserve indicator, which works in the opposite manner. Imagine that not even the heaviest of feet could convince this power reserve indicator to drop below its final ten percent.

Working with a ZF eight-speed automatic, the V12 engine has to carry around the Ghost’s 5,370 lbs (2,435 kg). Make that three tons in the real world. 48.2 percent of the weight is distributed over the rear axle, while all of it is kept in good check by the massive brakes.

This Rolls-Royce comes with steel discs measuring 410x36 mm up front and 402x30mm at the back. The brakes will cater to your needs at all times, but you really can't ignore the mass of the thing.

It's easy to overlook that aspect when accelerating though. If you're the funny type, you'll notice that the Ghost's 4.7s 0-60 mph time (4.9s 0-100 km/h) makes the thing damn fast. In a standing kilometer race, you'll be able to place the Rolls on par with an Audi R8 V8, for instance. Unlike Bentley though, Rolls-Royce does limit its cars, so the fun ends somewhere at the usual German 155 mph (250 km/h).