New Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge review: a car devoid of compromise

Verdict

If you ignore the inevitable price hike – as most “clients” will – the Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge feels alarmingly close to being a car totally devoid of compromise. It’s no less comfortable than the standard model, yet it’s noticeably sharper and faster on the road. No wonder the maker reckons the Black Badge could account for up to 50 per cent of Spectre sales.

This is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built. Yet, being a Rolls-Royce, the Spectre Black Badge isn’t about straight-line speed or Nürburgring lap times. This “motor car” is different – and quite unlike anything we’ve ever driven before.

How does it compare to the already quite potent standard Spectre? Well for starters, there’s an extra 73bhp – with power elevated to a record-breaking (for Rolls) 650bhp. It also gets a good dose of additional torque with the conventional car’s 900Nm boosted to 1,075Nm when you engage the Black Badge’s ‘Spirited’ launch mode.

This is activated by pushing the ‘Infinity’ switch on the steering wheel, before placing one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator. Lift the left pedal and the 2,890kg Spectre will pin you back in your seat, sprinting to 62mph in 4.3 seconds and onto a limited top speed of 155mph. It wasn’t until 80mph or more that we got any sense that the power was tailing off, and even then it kept pulling strongly well past the imperial ton.

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That ‘Infinity’ button itself is worthy of discussion, actually. Usually, a Rolls is set up just so – with no fiddly switches or drive settings to fine-tune elements like the suspension or chassis. But this flagship Spectre is unlike other models, so while you can’t configure the car exactly to your tastes, you can turn things up a notch to sharpen its responses and give the driver a little more feedback.

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And while it does just that – the Black Badge gets revised anti-roll bars and feels noticeably tauter and less prone to body roll – it absolutely refuses to sacrifice that typical Rolls-Royce ride. This is still one of the quietest, most comfortable cars on sale at any price. The fact that price is expected to start with a four (bosses have hinted at a 20-30 per cent uplift over the normal Spectre) and followed by five zeros will be a moot point for most buyers.

The only area where we thought the Black Badge felt like it could do with a bit more bite is the steering. You’d be hard-pushed to call it vague, but there’s not much feedback and it’s perhaps lighter than you might expect for the sportiest model in the range. Furthermore, at nearly five-and-a-half metres long, this is still a very big car – and on all types of road, bar maybe a three-lane motorway, it feels it.

The brakes are strong, and the intuitive B-mode on the column-mounted gear selector is capable of bringing the car to a controlled stop when lifting off the throttle. We preferred driving in this manner, in fact; the deep-pile carpets can make switching between pedals a little clumsy, so relying on the regenerative braking works well.

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Not only set apart from the standard Spectre in the way that it drives, the Black Badge has been designed to look more menacing, too. CEO Chris Brownridge refers to this car as the Spectre’s “alter-ego”, aimed at clients who have “rejected tradition” and want an “alternative take” on what might typically be available through the company’s ‘Bespoke’ programme. 

As such, the new model comes with a darkened aesthetic; much of the mirror-polished trim – including the grille surround, badges and door handles – has been switched out for a black finish. The new look even applies to the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot that rises from the nose when you unlock the car.

Other visual changes include a new 23-inch wheel design, available in a part-polished or gloss black design, plus the option of a new ‘waft’ coachline, which runs along the base of the door between the front and rear wheelarches. A painted ‘Iced Black’ bonnet has also been introduced, but as the old adage goes: if you need to ask, you probably can’t afford it.

There’s also a new Vapour Violet paint finish for the Black Badge, although when you consider the company already offers a palette of 44,000 ‘prêt-à-porter’ colours, it seems somewhat superfluous. In short, you can have your Spectre in just about any shade you desire.

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You climb aboard through the usual, but no less dramatic, rear-hinged coach doors – noting the new illuminated kick plates on entry. Ahead of the driver is a digital instrument panel – customisable in five colour schemes – with the ‘Infinity’ logo emblazoned within it. On the other side of the central touchscreen sits a new illuminated fascia with, apparently, over 5,500 stars of “varying proportions and intensity”. It’s not immediately obvious in bright sunshine, but along with the fibre-optic Starlight headlining, we thought it added a classy touch at night.

Quality is absolutely flawless, as you’d expect from something costing as much as the Spectre Black Badge does. The colour and material combinations – including the new 3D carbon weave – have to be seen to be believed, and while the harmony of some variations may be subjective, there’s no arguing the level of craftsmanship that goes into each and every model that leaves Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood facility in West Sussex.

Rolls says the average buyer drives their Spectre approximately 4,000 miles per year, presumably because there are several other cars in the garage – each serving a different purpose, occasion or mood. But even so, the unchanged 120kWh (102kWh usable capacity) is officially rated to cover just over 300 miles on a charge, and can charge at up to 195kW for a 10-80 per cent top up in just over half an hour. This isn’t a car that’ll win any efficiency marathons, however; we saw little more than 2.3 to 2.4mi/kWh on our test.