By Shin Takei
Cullinan, the first, Super Luxury SUV from Rolls Royce came about because of demands from a customer base whose profile includes young or young at heart, affluent, demanding, cutting edge, stylish, leaders in their own fields and successful like the many readers of The 360 Magazine. You want to go all over the place without compromising comfort or quality whether on the highway or off road like in a Rolls Royce kind of way. The Cullinan is imposing as it stands tall and is unmistakably a Rolls Royce. Unlike the familiar two-box SUVs the Cullinan is a three-box design with a trunk area that extends beyond the tailgate. This is reminiscent of Rolls Royce from the 1930s which were equipped with an outside travel trunk for your belongings. The rear luggage area of the Cullinan is separated from the passenger compartment by a glass wall so that the passenger compartment noise level and temperature is controlled for maximum comfort. It will definitely stand out from the crowd and you will be noticed. It is powered by a 6.75 Liter twin-turbo V12 with 563bhp and 627lb-ft of torque with all-wheel drive and all wheel steering. Part of the All Aluminum Architecture shared with the new Phanton and future models, it offers incredible rigidity and features that expands the parameters of the flexible chassis.
The Cullinan features doors that open and close by a touch of the remote key or the door handles and the bottom curves inwards so that no trousers or long skirts can be soiled by dripping residue from the rain or having fun mid romping. The car also lowers itself 1.6 inches to make ingress and egress easy. Open the door and a whiff of exclusive leather aroma titillates the olfactory nerves. Beautiful wood veneers, jewel like finish on switches and knobs grace the interior. The high quality of the materials are what you come to expect from Rolls Royce and again Bespoke is the word here and there’s no end to what you can achieve to individualize your very own Cullinan. The central infotainment screen is now touch sensitive but there is the Spirit of Ecstasy dial in case you prefer to use it manually. There are two configurations for the rear seating; the Lounge Seat for owners with family that sits three across of the Individual Seats with a fixed center console that incorporates a drinks cabinet, Rolls Royce crystal whiskey glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and refrigerator. This luxurious feature come in handy when you deploy two rear-facing seats from below the rear luggage area by a touch of a button. These are no cheap jump seats but made to match the other leather material and interior feature sand is called a Viewing Suite. This is an elegant way to watch a cricket match or waves crashing near the ocean. It’s what we call a tail gate party on this side of the pond. By the way, rear seat passengers sit higher than the front so they have a commanding view out the large windows.
The Cullinan is at home on every terrain with the Magic Carpet Ride. There’s a Off-Road button commonly called the Everywhere Button that takes care of surfaces like rough road, gravel, wet grass, mud, snow and sand. This delivers torque to each wheel smoothly and without interruption. With input from electronically controlled shock absorbers, steering inputs, camera info and body and wheel acceleration, the air suspension system adjusts to current conditions a million times a second. In addition to the Off-Road button, there is a Hill Descent button and Air Suspension ride height button that makes it real simple to adjust.
The 2019 Rolls Royce Cullinan is a welcome addition to the Super Luxury SUV class with its elegant yet imposing looks and commanding presence. We anticipate the Cullinan to land on our shores late fall so we will be giving it a test drive then.
For more information, visit www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
