Automotive

Rolls-Royce Black Badges sneak up on Goodwood

Rolls-Royce Black Badges sneak up on Goodwood
The blacked-out, Black Badged Rolls-Royce pair
The blacked-out, Black Badged Rolls-Royce pair
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The Rolls-Royce Wraith on the move outside the brand's Goodwood factory
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The Rolls-Royce Wraith on the move outside the brand's Goodwood factory
The blacked-out, Black Badged Rolls-Royce pair
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The blacked-out, Black Badged Rolls-Royce pair
The Black Badge gets a power boost compared to regular models
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The Black Badge gets a power boost compared to regular models
Rolls-Royce says the Black Badge paint job is the deepest, most intense finish ever applied to a production car
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Rolls-Royce says the Black Badge paint job is the deepest, most intense finish ever applied to a production car
The Black Badge Ghost sits on new 21-inch wheels
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The Black Badge Ghost sits on new 21-inch wheels 
Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith will run up the hill at Goodwood
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Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith will run up the hill at Goodwood 
The Black Badge might melt into the background if you're not careful
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The Black Badge might melt into the background if you're not careful
The Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament has been blacked out
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The Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament has been blacked out
The Ghost's blue leather is the only bright color on the car's design
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The Ghost's blue leather is the only bright color on the car's design
The cabin is finished in a special carbon-composite
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The cabin is finished in a special carbon-composite
The Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce
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The Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce
The Infiniti symbol under the clock is unique to the Black Badge
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The Infiniti symbol under the clock is unique to the Black Badge
There's no shiny chrome, it's all blacked out here
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There's no shiny chrome, it's all blacked out here
The unique carbon weave on the dashboard of the Black Badge cars
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The unique carbon weave on the dashboard of the Black Badge cars
Both cars sit on unique 21-inch wheels
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Both cars sit on unique 21-inch wheels
A far more subtle Spirit of Ecstasy
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A far more subtle Spirit of Ecstasy 
View gallery - 16 images

Driving a Rolls-Royce is an exercise in being seen, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to shout with chrome and flashy wheels. To reinforce that point, Rolls-Royce will be running Black Badge versions of the Wraith and Ghost up the hill at Goodwood, with more torque and a paint job to make a stealth bomber jealous.

Wraith Black Badge

The Rolls-Royce Wraith on the move outside the brand's Goodwood factory
The Rolls-Royce Wraith on the move outside the brand's Goodwood factory

The 465-kW (624-hp) Wraith was already the most powerful Rolls-Royce, but it's been given a handy 70 Nm (52 lb-ft) torque boost to 870 Nm (642 lb-ft) for the run up Lord March's driveway. Perhaps they were worried the standard car would run out of puff halfway up?

Rolls-Royce engineers have also revised the suspension and gearbox to better deal with sporty driving, making it easier for driver Justin Law to put on a show for the Goodwood crowd.

Eagle-eyed readers will have already noticed the Black Badge is, well, black – right down to the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. That color is actually called Black Badge Black, and involves multiple layers of paint and lacquer being extensively hand-polished as they're applied. The result is, according to Rolls-Royce, the deepest, darkest and most intense black ever seen on a production car.

Inside, things aren't quite so dark thanks to black-and-red contrast leather, as well as the aerospace-grade carbon fiber composite surfacing on the dashboard fascia.

Ghost Black Badge

The Black Badge Ghost sits on new 21-inch wheels
The Black Badge Ghost sits on new 21-inch wheels 

Like its smaller counterpart, the Ghost has been tweaked for sportier driving up the hill at Goodwood. Peak power is now 450 kW (603 hp), a boost of 30 kW (40 hp) compared to the standard car, while there's also 820 Nm (605 lb.ft) of torque available to the Rolls-Royce team member behind the wheel, which is 40 Nm (30 lb-ft) more than before. All that power is more readily available, thanks to a remapped eight-speed automatic gearbox.

On the outside,the Ghost has been granted the same Black Badge Black paint job and 21-inch wheels as the Wraith, while the Spirit of Ecstasy badge has again been finished in a high-gloss black to match the black grille, air intakes and exhaust.

Unlike the red-and-black interior on the Wraith, the Ghost's cabin is finished in blue-and-black leather, although the carbon-composite dashboard trim is unchanged.

Both these cars will be on display at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, which is currently underway.

Source: Rolls-Royce

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