New Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge is the most powerful Roller ever

The latest model from Rolls-Royce represents something of a sea change. Where stately homes and the aristocracy once informed how a Rolls might look or feel, the new Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge appears to take its inspiration from more mischievous counterculture. Not only is the new model the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever, its styling and details also diverge most from the conservative values that typically defined the brand’s cars.

The Spectre Black Badge ups the standard Spectre’s 577bhp output to 649bhp. This peak power is only accessible in a new Infinity drive mode, which is as close as Rolls-Royce would ever get to a Sport mode, but in effect does the same thing.

This power figure is joined by a huge 1,075Nm of torque that’s only available in another new mode called Spirited, which is Rolls-Royce speak for launch control. With this setting selected, the Spectre Black Badge can bolt to 62mph in 4.1 seconds. 

All of this new-found performance is delivered by a dual-motor electric powertrain fed by a 102kWh battery pack. Range is rated at up to 329 miles, while peak DC fast charging maxes out at 190kW, topping up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 34 minutes.

The chassis has been tweaked to suit the Black Badge’s sportier character, too, with more steering weight, plus revised tuning for the active anti-roll systems. The air suspension has also been revised to help reduce pitch and dive under hard acceleration and braking, and all this has come without sacrificing the car’s much vaunted magic-carpet ride, according to Rolls-Royce. 

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However, the intricacies of the electric powertrain are only half the story with the Black Badge, because Rolls-Royce has also introduced a range of new design elements that give this edition a look and feel distinct from its more stately siblings. Rather than the new version being a Blenheim Palace on wheels, Rolls-Royce says that the Black Badge’s inspiration has been taken from the club scene of the eighties and nineties, referencing the neon-striped Miami strip or Studio 54. 

With that in mind, there’s an emphasis on the use of colour in new elements such as a purple-tinged back-plate that sits behind the illuminated pantheon grille. This contrasts against the black finish on the usually chrome brightwork, and can also be finished in one of four other vibrant colour options. 

A new Vapour Purple paint finish has also been created for this new model, adding to the near-limitless palette of around 44,000 shades currently available. There is also a brand-new set of 23-inch alloy wheels in a dramatic five-spoke design, plus new options for the hand-painted coachline. 

Inside, Rolls-Royce has developed a new three-dimensional carbon weave for many of the interior trim elements, and there are more customisation options for the digital interfaces and illuminated dash. Plus the famous starlight headliner is paired with more fibre-optics placed in both the doors and second-row seats. 

Rolls-Royce says that its customer base has been so enthusiastic about a potential Black Badge variant of the Spectre that a select group was chosen for a so-called ‘clandestine agreement’. This has seen them already take delivery of a specially commissioned model in secret in advance of the car’s official unveiling. For everyone else, deliveries will commence from today, with a base price in the vicinity of £350,000. 

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