Every car maker has been getting in on the SUV game in recent years with Jaguar and Bentley launching their first ever mudpluggers in the shape of the F-Pace and Bentayga respectively.
Well now you can add another premium name to that list and they don’t get much more luxury than Rolls-Royce. The Cullinan will be not just the brand’s debut SUV but its flagship model too, costing around £230,000, when it launches around the turn of 2019.
It’ll also be the first Roller with a tailgate, as well as the first model Rolls-Royce has been comfortable calling ‘family orientated’. In fact there are all sorts of terms peppering the model’s press release we haven’t seen before, such as ‘fun to drive’ and ‘versatile’.
Performance
Under the bonnet will be a 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 petrol engine, blasting out 563bhp and up to 850Nm of torque to all four wheels, suggesting that only major natural disasters will stand in the Cullinan’s way.
We don’t know how quick it’ll be off the mark with Rolls yet to reveal a 0-62mph sprint time, but a top speed of 155mph has been confirmed. A combined fuel consumption of 18.8mpg suggests performance has been a particular area of focus – as if any Rolls-Royce owner is fussed about fuel economy anyway…
Design
Anyone who thought the Bentley Bentayga was an intimidating hulk are likely to feel similarly overwhelmed, with the Cullinan stretching for 5,341mm at 2,164mm wide and 1,835mm high. It shouldn’t be surprising that a car this massive weighs in excess of two-and-a-half tonnes (2,660kg).
Rolls’ designers poured five years into styling the Cullinan and the brand has effectively fired shots at every other SUV out there, saying the Cullinan’s ‘contemporary, functional’ look ‘gains iconic status in the face of increasingly bland SUV designs’. Ouch!
Interior
The interior is as impressive as you’d want too, with the cabin awash with the very best woods, leathers and metals.
Release
A date for first deliveries hasn’t been confirmed yet, but we could see the Cullinan on UK roads around late 2018/early 2019.
What do you think of Rolls’ mega-luxury mudplugger? Let us know down there in the comments.
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