► More potent Cullinan SUV driven
► Power and chassis tweaks
► Is it still a proper Rolls-Royce?
Black Badge is Rolls-Royce’s mean, moody sub-brand. It’s a stretch to call it sporty, as much of the difference is in the trim and colours, but Black Badge models do get a bit more power and a louder exhaust note when you work the throttle.
The Black Badge treatment was applied to the Cullinan in late 2019, not that long after the basic Cullinan arrived.
Its aim is to offer a ready-customised version for younger, edgier clients, albeit ones able to find about £50k more than buyers of the regular Cullinan. And it’s worked. Black Badge has helped Cullinan become the top-selling Rolls-Royce, and in some markets Black Badge models account for around half of all Cullinan sales.
Non-Black Badge models can still be customised, either from the regular options list or by working with the Bespoke department. And indeed Black Badge models can themselves be customised further. But straight from the showroom, a Black Badge model will say: I’m rich, I appreciate a finely engineered car, and get out of my way.
The Black Badge version of the mid-2024 facelifted Cullinan, dubbed Series II in Rolls-speak, arrives at the same time as the regular version.
Production starts after the summer break, with deliveries likely to commence next spring.
At a glance
Pros
Comfortable, quick and making a big statement about you
Cons
Expensive, thirsty and vulgar
What’s new?
Like the regular Cullinan, the new Black Badge has minimal mechanical changes, but a worthwhile set of cosmetic evolutions. There are more black accents than before, and the air intakes now have their vanes angled differently from those in the regular car.
The black door handles make a big difference to the proportions, breaking up the slab-sidedness – except, that is, in the case of a Black Badge that is actually black, where they have the opposite effect.
And the sills are now body colour, rather than the regular car’s gloss black.
On all new Cullinans, the main change is to the appearance of the front end. The new grille has crisper edges, less roundness, more sheer surfacing. There’s a new V-shape to the area under the grille. And there are new daytime running lights, which have a slightly slimming effect on the front end. There are reshaped air intakes.
The rear end also gets some visual tweaks – new surrounds for the exhaust exits, a more prominent bash plate – and the sides.
Inside, there’s a new facia, similar to that already seen in the Ghost and Spectre.
Mechanically, very little has changed. The increase in wheel size from 22 to 23 inches has required the engineers to recalibrate the air suspension.
What are the specs?
Under the vast bonnet you find exactly what you found before: a 48-valve twin-turbo 6.75-litre V12, essentially the same as that employed in the Phantom and Ghost. Here it makes 591bhp and 664lb ft.
There’s no hybridisation. Unavoidably, because it’s a big V12 pulling a heavy, unaerodynamic car, it’s not clean or frugal.
The official fuel consumption figures are 16.8-17.7mpg, and the CO2 emissions 363-380g/km.
The engine drives all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. There’s no manual gearshifting by paddles or stick – you engage gear with a stalk on the steering column.
It’s a whopper – a foot longer than the Range Rover and slightly wider, but not as tall – and the occupants benefit hugely from this cubic capacity.
The aluminium spaceframe is a version of the hardware also used in the Phantom, Ghost and Spectre. The body is predominantly aluminium too.
The air suspension system uses a double-wishbone front axle and a five-link rear axle. It has electronically actuated active anti-roll bars and electronically controlled dampers. The road ahead is scanned to help the suspension system anticipate the condition of the surface.
In Off Road mode, the air suspension increases the car’s height by 40mm to improve clearance over rocks and ruts. The gearing and traction control are automatically adjusted to cope with loose surfaces.
There’s also a hill descent control system to take the strain out of going downhill off-road, by precisely controlling the engine for you in a low gear setting, rather than using the brakes.
The air suspension can be lowered at the touch of a button to make it easier to get in and out without losing your dignity.
Compared to the previous Cullinan, the air suspension has been recalibrated to account for the fact that the standard wheels are now 23 inches in diameter, up from the previous 22.
How does it drive?
For such a tall, heavy car, it rides and corners well. The calibration adjustments to the suspension have been done very well.
The brakes, as before, could be more powerful; don’t be fooled by the red calipers fitted as standard to the Black Badge – these are nothing trick. There are times when you’d want a bit more power and a more direct-feeling connection between pedal and retardation.
Low button on the gear stalk is a sport mode in all but name. It holds on to a low gear for longer, letting the revs go higher, and firms everything up slightly. On the Black Badge, Low lets a little more noise into the cabin. Not sporty sounding, exactly, but certainly mechanical.
The steering is natural and accurate. It’s a big car, but you get a good view of the extremities, helped by cameras if need be, and you soon learn the trick of using the Sprit of Ecstasy’s wing tips as a guide to how close to the edge of the road you are. You just point the prow where you want it to go and it goes there.
In the back it’s divine. Take your shoes off, enjoy the carpet, adjust the air-con to your precise requirements, and revel in the vast amounts of room in every direction.
It all very hushed, even at those times when the driver is making haste. It feels more like floating than riding along on big wheels. And you get to look up at the fake night sky, which can be oddly calming.
Front and rear, the seats are not particularly plush but they are multi-adjustable and well shaped to support you comfortably over long distances.
Black Badge’s minor calibration differences make it feel a little chunker, firmer and more responsive than the regular Cullinan, but still deeply in the realm of the super-comfy.
What about the interior?
The boot is a useful 600 litres, or 1930 with the rear seats folded, and access is easy thanks to a top-hinged hatch and a bottom-hinged lower section, pick-up style. That lower section is sturdy enough to be sat on while you watch the polo etc.
You can specify four seats or five – and if you go for three seats in the back, there’s still plenty of room for all.
The cabin is more digital than before, but that’s still mixed with a lot of physical switches and dials. The driver’s instruments are digital, with a central screen that can be operated by touch or by the iDrive rotary controller, and many functions can also be operated by voice.
There are soft keys under the touchscreen for quick access to most-used functions. It’s a big car, so it has room to offer this belt-and-braces approach without feeling cluttered. The heater controls are entirely physical, making them very esay to accurately adjust on the move without taking your eyes off the road. Interior changes include the new pillar-to-pillar glass dash treatment.
Before you buy
There are two versions, the regular Cullinan (reviewed here) and the Black Badge.
Black Badge is a hugely successful sub-brand that has brought a younger, edgier bunch of clients into Rolls-Royce’s world, with the Ghost and Cullinan in particular. There are few substantial differences between the two versions of the Cullinan.
Cosmetically, on the outside the Black Badge has more black, or a grey hue in some cases. It’s on the door handles, the grille, the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet mascot (and the one inside), the window surrounds and the rubbing strip. The wheels are also different. They’ve also gone up from 22 to 23 inches, but it’s a new 10-spoke design finished in gloss black and silver, giving a good view of the red brake calipers (although buyers can go for various other caliper finishes, including black).
On the inside, the dash is carbonfibre. This involves 23 leaves of carbonfibre, each finished with six coats of lacquer before being left to cure for 72 hours then being hand-polished. The whole process takes three weeks.
The Black Badge has more power and torque – up by 28bhp and 37lb ft on the regular car, giving a token 0.1sec improvement in the 0-62mph time – and a slightly louder exhaust note.
The cumulative effect is to give the Black Badge a slightly meaner, younger, more urban attitude.
There is, however, the caveat that a wealthy customer can work with the Bespoke department to turn a Silver Badge into something closely akin to a Black Badge, or vice versa.
There are other big and expensive SUVs, other SUVs that don’t like being called SUVs, other SUVs from extremely prestigious brands, but there is nothing very close to the Cullinan. The Bentley Bentayga and Range Rover do many of the same things, but in their feel and details they offer a slightly different kind of luxury, and they’re dynamically sharper. A lot less expensive too. The Ferrari Purosangue has the glamorous name and the price, but is much lower and less roomy, and isn’t pretending to have any significant off-road ability. For more rivals, check out our list of the best luxury SUVs.
And from Rolls-Royce’s point of view, its customers tend to be so very, very rich that they don’t need to choose between a Rolls-Royce and a Ferrari – they buy both.
Verdict
You will know at a glance whether or not Black Badge is the Cullinan you want. The carbonfibre dash is nicely executed, but at odds with more traditional ideas of how a Rolls interior should look and feel. The extra power over the basic Cullinan is largely irrelevant, as you’re only ever going to drive an Rolls-Royce SUV at part-throttle. But if it makes you feel good about yourself, it’s worked its magic well.