Saar: Com’on Rolls-Royce, even we knew. How come you didn’t?

Everyone seems to have found their valued books of fancy vocabulary to try and define Rolls-Royce’s latest offering. Just because it is a Rolls-Royce, doesn’t mean all you lot need to brush up your English literature and try blending it with something as raw as, what is technically a machine. But on the other hand, we do understand how products with double Rs can have an impact on a regular person’s thinking, writing or even logical ability. And the Cullinan is no exception.

But before we dive into the details, allow us to explain why our title is what it is. Throughout the development phase, Rolls-Royce restricted itself from using the abbreviation SUV to define what the Cullinan is. All this while, the company was adamant to just tag it as a “high-bodied” Rolls-Royce. It seems then, the Brits have finally caved-in to the pressure from everyone else calling the Cullinan an SUV. In its own press release, the decision makers themselves have tagged the Cullinan as an SUV.

Now, to matters that matter more. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan brings a lot of company-first and industry-leading features to the party. When we say party, it is a luxurious party. The one where Rolls-Royce Cullinan gets to compete with its homeboys Bentley Bentayga and the Range Rover LWB.

Rolls-Royce wants it so bad that even in the Cullinan’s world premiere press release, it has mentioned the latter of the two direct rivals. Desperation? A little bit. By the way, Rolls-Royce compared the practicality of its boot design with that of the Range Rover Vogue Extended Wheelbase. Gutsy? Surely, because the split tailgate design of the Cullinan, which Rolls-Royce calls as “The Clasp”, is immediately reminiscent of the Range Rover’s iconic split rear tailgate.

So then, what aspects of the Cullinan comprise of company-firsts? Here’s the gist:

• The Cullinan is the first SUV that Rolls-Royce has ever made
• It is also the first Rolls-Royce ever to have a 4×4 drivetrain
• It is the first time that “The Clasp” tailgate design has ever made it to a Rolls-Royce
• For the first time, the rear passenger seats can be folded down
• The central infotainment unit is, and this will be a shocker to many, for the first time touch sensitive
• Although this doesn’t fall into the category we are focusing upon but we’ll give it to Rolls-Royce – The Cullinan is the first “three-box” car in the SUV segment.

As you’d expect, the whole point of the SUV is that it should work almost everywhere, no matter how tough the terrains get. For that, Rolls-Royce has built the Cullinan on the same aluminium platform that also underpins the Phantom. Also borrowed from the Phantom are the 6.75-litre, twin-turbo V12 engine and the 8-speed automatic transmission. For the Cullinan, Rolls-Royce kept the power figure at 571PS but reduced the max torque by 50Nm to 850Nm. That must be because the transmission transmits the power to the road via an all-wheel-drive system and is tuned to transfer all the torques at just 1.600rpm. By the way, to help the Cullinan in times when the going gets tougher, Rolls-Royce has also thrown in all-wheel steering tech.

Needless to say but all those things add weight. Even though the Cullinan is nearly 1.5 feet shorter than the Phantom and over 2 feet shorter than the Phantom Extended Wheelbase, the SUV still weighs 100kg and 50kg (unladen) more than them respectively. Rolls-Royce hasn’t bothered to share the 0-100kmph time but it will be around the 5 seconds mark. Governed by electronic nannies, the top-speed is limited to 250kmph.

In case you are wondering why we haven’t touched upon the industry-leading features of the Cullinan that’s because they are part of the standard features! No? Okay, let’s get on with it. Since you’ll be spending multi-crores on this thing, it ought to have a lot of kit. And it does. Two rear configurations are offered – Lounge Seats or Individual Seats. If you opt for the first one, you get a three-seat layout at the back and if you choose the latter, the middle seat is replaced by a centre console that houses a drinks cabinet, whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and a refrigerator.

As far as features go, here’s a small list of them:

• Night Vision and Vision Assist including daytime and night-time wildlife and pedestrian warning
• Alertness Assistant
• A four-camera system with a Panoramic view
• Active Cruise Control
• Collision Warning
• Cross-Traffic Warning
• Lane Departure and Lane Change Warning
• 7×3 high-resolution Head-Up Display (industry-leading)
• WiFi Hotspot
• Panoramic glass roof (industry-leading)
• Wireless mobile phone charger

As for the price, it will be north of Rs 10 crore in India. Is it coming here? Oh yes, definitely. There are many here who would want to flaunt their wealth around, Cullinan style.