Roger Harrison Saudi Gazette The 2014 Rolls Royce Phantom is, to emulate football parlance, a car of two halves. Designed to insulate the passengers from the tribulations of the outside world, it is the latest iteration of the Rolls Royce tradition of luxury and perfection. What it is not, and was never intended to be, is a driver's car. Whilst the “bridge” of this “road liner” is as equally luxurious and as flawlessly constructed as the rest of the vehicle, its paucity of instrumentation and the dashboard layout lacks the ergonomics of a car built with the driver in mind. A criticism of a Rolls Royce? Yes indeed, but these incredible cars have a purpose precisely other than the satisfaction of the driver. They were built to provide the ultimate cocoon of luxury, work or meeting space and automotive safety for the owner or at least the passengers. That of course the Phantom does magnificently well and in uncanny library quality silence in a cabin trimmed with full-grain woods, supple hand-stitched leathers, real metal trim, all of it produced with immaculate craftsmanship and attention to detail. Everything you can see, touch or smell murmurs discreetly of quality and substance. Externally, the Phantom adheres to at least the design clues of the Rolls Royce tradition its thick D-pillar, to its sloped trunk, wide bands of chrome all the way in front to the winged Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament that thoughtfully retreats into the hood when the car is parked. Inside, the Phantom is a little more modern, thanks to digital additions like iPod inputs and navigation screens. The vertical “wooden wall” of the dashboard with the very traditional “organ-stop” air vent controls maintains the traditional look but to some extent interferes with the easy operation of the half concealed climate controls. Nonetheless, the ambiance is exactly right for the car's long tradition of comfort and perfection. The Rolls Phantom without a shadow of doubt is the ultimate expression of sophistication in passenger vehicles. In true Rolls style, the Phantom creates a presence on the road that seems to spread out around it and form a “no go “ zone for other vehicles. A classically-styled and utterly unmistakable exterior with its tall, upright grille, monumental style slab-sided proportions and Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament hark back to the company's origins, while fusing that heritage with a more modern personality. Driving the car, it is hard not to notice that there is almost always a clear space in front, plenty of room beside you and decent respectful space behind. That is not just because it is a big car, and at 2.5 tons plus it is. The image and iconic status of Rolls Royce is such that the company name is used as an adjective to describe perfection and the financial wherewithal that allows access to it. Arabian Knight drove what is described as the “Phantom Experience” — a package that involved another historic name that signifies the summit of excellence — Waldorf Astoria. Never were two brands better suited to each other in the delivery of a quality experience. Should you drive the Phantom, then the fact that it was never meant to be a driver's car should modify judgement. Handling and agility are not its strengths, neither is performance. The mighty 6.75-liter BMW sourced power plant delivers surging performance through an 8-speed automatic gearbox with seamless smoothness to traditional rear-wheel drive setup. So graceful is the delivery that there is almost no sensation of acceleration — it just seems that the world outside the tinted glass is getting progressively more blurred and the analogue speedometer is indicating a rather higher speed than you expected. In the real world outside, the Phantom gets you to 100kph in rather less than six seconds with little more than a gentle exhalation of breath and a hiss of tire noise. From the driver's seat, that achievement is signalled by a respectful sotto voce murmur from the power plant and perhaps a flutter of wind-noise from the enormous wing mirrors, but these rustlings are only audible, and generally only over 150kph, because all the other mechanical and road noise has been eliminated and the cabin is ethereally silent. The Phantom is a substantial piece of machinery, made largely of steel over an aluminium space-frame that takes 300kg out of the mass. It is accoutred with nearly all of the modern systems one would expect, including traction and stability control, airbags, parking sensors, and optional front and rear cameras. Some of the latest in computerized safety features are however not available, including lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot detection. The standard features list on the Phantom is extensive; almost anything not included can be added on request. Custom paint, embroidery, wheels, headliners, upholstery styles and colors, steering wheels, drink cabinets, and nearly any technological gadget you might conceive of are all possible. Rolls Royce adopts the archetypal the-customer-is-always-right approach. Handling is almost an academic study; independent suspension, self-levelling air springs, electronic damping systems keep the Phantom incredibly stable. Cornering hard (a “never to be done” exercise for a chauffeur wishing continued employment) is an interesting exercise, especially with the feather-light large diameter steering wheel that both discourages such an outrageous maneuver yet provides just enough ‘feel'. With the enormously long front end of the car that encourages one to aim the car in the right direction rather than steer it, steady in and fast out delivers the expected effects of a slight centrifugal push to the driver, an occasional tremor to the hands and an encouraging nudge in the back onto the straight. The Phantom is surprisingly wieldy and in characteristic style it is all done with the elegance of a butler ushering a duke into his club. In the manner of buttling, the technique of driving the Phantom is simply let the car ‘float' along, and gently suggest to it where you need to go. Passengers would notice none of this activity of course, because the Phantom performs perfectly for what it was meant to do which is to deliver them without their being troubled by the exigencies of road travel; and delivery in this case was to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Ras Al Khaimah. The hotel was in many senses an extension of the ethos of the Rolls Royce. It is simply perfect, adheres to the best traditions of hospitality and is discreet in style and service. In this case, although the hotel is American in origin, it was rightly guided enough to have as the central feature in the marble-lined lobby a British made clock from Smith of Derby, a company that has been making clocks by hand for longer than Rolls Royce and Waldorf Astoria combined have been in existence. The hotel too abides by the best of its long-term traditions of physical style. Peacock Alley, named after the original internal promenade that connected the original Waldorf and Astoria hotels in New York, is still a gathering place for society and supplies the delicacies of café society. Attentive staff, whose whole existence is predicated on providing the best in discreet service, populates the main lobby, with its signature Waldorf Astoria clock. The hotel environment continues the tradition of fine craftsmanship through the fabric of the building with locally sourced marble providing the subtle colours of the interior and every fitting and fixture being flawless in its structure. Comfort, utterly reliable and discreet service and attention to detail are how the Waldorf Astoria built its reputation and in Ras Al Khaimah, that is very much evident. Even in this exotic environment, the Phantom turns heads and subtly raises the eyebrow of the cognoscenti who are familiar with perfection. To arrive at the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah in a Rolls Royce Phantom is almost a mystical experience. It is where perfect meets perfect, truly a meeting of kindred spirits. — [email protected]
