Rolls Royce has finally announced the final performance figures for the new car : http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars-email.com/05/
I still do not understand an 8-speed gearbox on a luxury sedan that produces high-torque at low engine speed. 575 foot-pounds at 1,500 rpms. Fantastic, but won't that make it constantly shift from one gear to another? I honestly don't get that.
Talked to one of the development guys recently and he claimed that the car is not just about performance,the "waftability" factor is not affected negatively but rather even more enhanced then the Phantom's.
It is a bit excessive..wonder how it will drive. Anyone make it out to the NYC preview a few months ago?
Don't get me wrong, I love the car. I guess I'm just looking at it from a long-term perspective. I want them to remain reliable and at the top and I'm fairly certain modern owners of the Ghost will have no problems. But as we can recall, the older saloons put out similarly alarming figures of torque at very low RPMs, but they used 3 and 4 speed auto gearboxes which make sense to me. All the thrust is on the low end of the spectrum, so shifting is minimally required, but with 8 gears and torque maxing so low in the range, won't the transmissions be constantly moving between gears? As I say, I'm sure they will be silky smooth for modern years, but at what cost to keep them that way and how long-term reliable is that to be? Just a curiosity. Did not see the NYC preview, however over Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta they did have a preview of the car for current RR owners. With its stablemates -- the Coupe/Phantom/Drophead. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Meant to post this earlier. RR emailed me this last Sunday. For those that are intrigued by the Ghost, like myself, here are some official stats on it -- Dimensions Number of doors / seats 4 doors / 5 seats Vehicle length 5399 mm / 212.6 in Vehicle width 1948 mm / 76.7 in Vehicle height (unladen) 1550 mm / 61.0 in Wheelbase 3295 mm / 129.7 in Turning circle 13.4 m / 44.0ft Track, front 1622 mm / 63.9 in Track, rear 1660 mm / 65.4 in Width at shoulder height, front 1510 mm / 59.4 in Width at shoulder height, rear 1418 mm / 55.8 in Leg room, front 1060mm / 41.7 in Leg room, rear 1075mm / 42.3 in Head room, front 1030 mm / 40.6 in Head room, rear 990 mm / 39.0 in Boot volume (DIN) 490 ltr / 17.3 cu ft Fuel tank capacity 82.5 ltr / 18.15 Imp gal Weight Unladen weight (DIN) 2360 kg / 5203 lb Unladen weight (EU) 2435 kg / 5368 lb Axle load ratio, rear (unladen) 48.20% Gross vehicle weight 2940 kg / 6482 lb Payload 580 kg / 1279 lb Axle load limit, front 1445 kg / 3172 lb Axle load limit, rear 1575 kg / 3472 lb Engine Engine / cylinders / valves V / 12 / 48 Fuel management Direct injection Displacement 6592 cc / 402.3 cu in Stroke 88.3 mm / 3.48 in Bore 89.0 mm / 3.5 in Power output @ engine speed 563 bhp / 420 kW / 570 PS @5250 rpm Max torque @ engine speed 780 Nm / 575 lb ft @ 1500 rpm Compression ratio / fuel type 10:0 / premium unleaded² Transmission Transmission type ZF 8HP90 Transmission ratios 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4.717 / 3.143 / 2.106 4th / 5th / 6th 1.667 / 1.285 / 1.000 7th / 8th 0.839 / 0.667 Reverse 3.317 Final-drive ratio 2.813 Steering & brakes Steering type Rack & pinion, speed-sensitive variable-rate power assistance Steering wheel revolutions lock to lock 3.1 Steering ratio 19.9:1 Brakes front / diameter Ventilated disc / 410 mm / 16.1 in Brakes rear / diameter Ventilated disc / 402 mm / 15.8 in Aerodynamics Drag Cd 0.32 Drag Cd x A 0.863 m2 / 10.6 ft2 Performance Top speed 155 mph / 250 km/h (governed) Acceleratation 0-60 mph 4.7 sec Acceleration 0-100 km/h 4.9 sec Acceleration 0-1000 m 23.1 sec Acceleration 1/4 mile To be confirmed Fuel consumption Urban 20.5 ltr/100 km / 13.8 mpg (Imp gal) Extra urban 9.6 ltr/100 km / 29.4 mpg (Imp gal) Combined 13.6 ltr/100 km / 20.8 mpg (Imp gal) CO2 emissions 317 g/km Exhaust Emissions standard EU5 Wheels Tyre, front Goodyear EMT 255/50 R19 103Y Wheel size, front 8.5" x 19 Tyre, rear Goodyear EMT 255/50 R19 103Y Wheel size, rear 8.5" x 19 Wheels (option) Tyre, front Goodyear 255/45 R20 101Y Summer Wheel size, front 8.5Jx20 EH2+ IS25 Alloy Wheel (width 255 mm) Tyre, rear Goodyear 285/40 R20 104Y Summer Wheel size, rear 9.5Jx20 EH2+ IS33 Alloy Wheel (width 285mm) Filling capacities Radiator incl. heater / engine oil 17.2 ltr / 10.5 ltr Transmission fluid / final-drive fluid Lifetime filling And a beautifully-produced film of the car can be viewed here http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/#/ghost/film/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
My guess for using an 8 speed auto is for extracting the most performance and fuel efficiency out of the car. Merc does it with their cars by using a 7 speed auto, and it's one way to get a 4500lb or more automobile or truck to do a 4.5 to a 5.5 sec sprint from 0-60 and also get 20mpg or more while curising on the highway. 575lbs of torque at 1500rpm is enough power to run an extremely tall gear at freeway speeds at basically an idle engine speed. The car will probably start out in 2nd gear, unless you're in a sport mode then it would start out in 1st. You probably won't even know the car is shifting between gears, and it might even skip gears after a time as it will probably adapt to the drivers driving style. Jim
