Road Test - Rolls-Royce Dawn

VOLUME 4 ISSUE III

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CODECASA 164’ GAZZELLA / OCEAN ALEXANDER 112’ / RIVA PERSEO 76’ / VICEM 65’ FLY

BY INVITATION ONLY

“I am the master of my fate , I am the captain of my soul ”

William Ernest Henley

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The Dawn’s Supremacy Rolls Royce Dawn

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The launch of any new Rolls Royce model is one worthy of eager anticipation and when INVICTUS flew into Cape Town for the first drive of the new Dawn, we were in no way disappointed. Amidst the grandeur of South Africa’s geography we experienced the stirring warmth of a phenomenal Rolls Royce, one that has been designed for a new era INVICTVS

Words: James McCarthy Pictures: James Lipman

2016 ROLLS-ROYCE DAWN Engine: 6.6-litre V12 Power/Torque: 563bhp @ 5,250rpm / 780Nm @ 1,500rpm Transmission: Eight-speed, dual clutch automatic Weight: 2,560kg Performance: Top speed 250km/h (governed) / 0-100km/h in 4.9 sec Price: AED 1.4m

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Four cosseting seats sit replete with gloriously vibrant orange leather, adding a sense of whimsy that juxtaposes the canadel wood trim.

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Everything in South Africa seems a little more, well, vast. From its aweinspiring landscapes to the chest measurements of its rugby players, things south of the equator tend to be just a little more prodigious.

So it seems somewhat appropriate that it was high up in the Stellenbosch Winelands, at the sumptuous Delaire Graff estate, that Rolls-Royce decided to host the launch of its latest model, the Dawn.

Against a mountainous backdrop so mesmerizing that it would have made Ansel Adams pack up his camera and call it a day, Rolls-Royce’s ebullient Director for Global Communications, Richard Carter, waxed lyrical about the origins of the 1952 Silver Dawn Coupé, and the sense of optimism it inspired across war torn Europe, returning to its owners a sense of la Dolce Vita.

This was the car that served as inspiration for the Goodwood design team to create “that rarest of things: a new Rolls-Royce,” he said.

The timing of this resurrection of the Dawn moniker and the move away from the company’s more usual spectral nomenclature is by no means a coinci-

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The Dawn’s canvas can be raised or lowered at speeds up to 30mph in an operation that takes 22-seconds. When covered the cabin is as quiet as any hardtop Rolls Royce.

dence. Following the global economic crash in 2008, the luxury automotive market was widely affected, but in the past few years, that stagnancy has all but abated. This new Dawn, then, signals a more optimistic outlook for the company, not least because it has already filled Goodwood’s order book for the next year-and-a-half.

And it’s not surprising why. Its beautifully proportioned body is adorned with subtle lines that mimic that of the ostentatious 1950s car that served as muse. There’s a sweeping waist line that starts at the drooping prow, upon which sits the rakishly angled Spirit of Ecstasy, and culminates in the muscular haunches of the rear quarter, resting over softly flared wheel arches. It all adds up to give this new Dawn a sensual, yet purposeful air.

Then, there is the interior. Four cosseting seats sit replete with gloriously vibrant orange leather, adding a sense of whimsy that juxtaposes the dark canadel wood paneling that covers the rear deck, doors and flows through the center of the cabin. It is breathtaking in both its confidence and beauty.

So, as the sun rises on a gorgeous autumn day in the southern hemisphere, I get to embark on a “Tour de Cap,” circling one of the most visually stunning spots, not just in South Africa, but the arguably the world, in this magnificent motor car.

Like its monolithic surroundings–that of the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve mountain range–the Dawn is vast. At six feet wide, 17 feet long and north of two-and-a-half tonnes when empty, it’s fair to say that like all Rolls Royce it has a certain presence that’s hard to ignore.

However, when I slide behind the wheel and close the large coach-style door (automatically with a button, of course), the Dawn seems to shrink around me, but maybe that’s down to the high belt line that encloses the cabin, and the seats which hug you in all the right places, and even massage you, should you be feeling a little stressed after a day at the coal face.

As one would expect from a Rolls, they adjust hydraulically in every direction with silky ease, to a

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The impeccably engineered eightspeed, dual clutch automatic gearbox delivers immense amounts of torque, 780Nm from just 1,500rpm.

driving position more conducive to my five-foot, nine inch height, than the languid attitude adopted by all six-foot and ten inches of my co-pilot’s frame.

With all the equanimity of a butler gently clearing his throat to discreetly get his master’s attention, the mighty 6.6-litre V12 sighs awake at the push of a button. As I pull out into the Sunday afternoon traffic, like any of its kin, the Dawn commands respect, and other road users happily concede position to let me in.

The first thing that strikes me is how big the wing mirrors are–seemingly the size of a small television–and how high up they sit. They appear directly in my field of vision as I look right to check the flow 104

of oncoming traffic, and sit rather awkwardly just to the left of the A-pillar on the opposite side of the car, again encumbering my view. It’s a damned nuisance, but, as it’s so succinctly pointed out to me by my lanky driving partner that I’m “a bit of a shortarse,” I just get on with it.

Fortunately, there are enough hidden driver aids in the Rolls to make up for the lack of visibility out of the quarter-light, ranging from rear-facing cameras, proximity alerts, lane adherence warnings, automatic braking, satellite-aided transmission... the list goes on. In retrospect, finding a negative counterbalance in the interests of objective journalism early on, makes the superlative-laden prose which is set to follow easier to deliver.

Traversing the, frankly, epic Chapman’s Peak Drive and the monumentally fabulous Faure Marine Drive towards Rooi Els–both vertiginous coastal roads that run the length of False Bay and Gordon’s Bay respectively–is a joy. While the proportions of the Dawn are more akin to the Ghost, the steering dynamic is most definitely Wraith; I can easily control

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the car with just thumb and forefinger on the wheel, but when I take a particularly blind and sweeping corner at speed, I sense a nominal amount of the Dawn’s heft, which provides some feedback as to where the car is positioned on the road.

I find myself in an almost trance-inducing rhythm, as I swing the car from bend to bend. The power delivery is smoother than a freshly oiled chinchilla playing jazz flute, but when I bring all 563 West Sussex ponies to bear under more forceful acceleration, there’s an immediate pick up from the Dawn. It rears back, albeit gently, and that understated V12 growl, familiar to Wraith drivers, emanates mischievously from beneath the magic carpet as it takes off with fleeting purpose.

All this occurs with the most imperceptible of gear changes from the consummately engineered eight-speed, dual clutch automatic gearbox, and with immense amounts of torque – 780Nm to be precise – at my disposal from just 1,500rpm.

Through all of this, with the windows up and the top down, it’s still easy to have a conversation at a civ-

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ilized volume. However, when I raise the canvas, which can be done in around 22-seconds while still moving at 30mph, the cabin is as quiet as any fixed roof Rolls-Royce. In fact, the company claims that noise levels are a few decibels lower than that of the Wraith, and I’m inclined to believe it.

Every great masterpiece bears the artist’s signature, and the road where I spend my last hour piloting this tremendous machine twists and turns as if it was a flourish left by god himself. And, like a diamond-tipped pencil dipped in golden ink, the RollsRoyce Dawn traces it beautifully.

It’s a car that exudes affluent confidence and a youthful, sybaritic vigor, while still maintaining an air of sophistication. Experiencing it in these phenomenal surroundings–from well-heeled Camps Bay to countryside so staggering that it’s enough to make an atheist like me start to wonder–seems perfectly appropriate. In fact, it occurs to me as I pull up to my destination that I have not really been enjoying a “Tour de Cap” as much as I’ve borne witness to the advent of a glorious tour de force.

Driver aids include rear-facing cameras, proximity alerts, lane adherence warnings, automatic braking, satellite-aided transmission... the list goes on.

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