Chris Harris doesn’t like SUVs. So we sent him to drive one of the most expensive SUVs in the world. Here’s his take on Rolls-Royce’s all-new Cullinan. Subscribe to Top Gear for more videos:
Nearly a hundred years ago rolls royces would regularly go off-road, does it feel wrong to be doing this in a rolls royce? i’m not sure it does. we’ve been in it for 10 minutes and it is unquestionably the ride quality is… it’s not been seen in a car of this type before. that’s worth as much as a row of houses, in say merthyr tydfil. i suppose you should, shouldn’t
You. it’s windows up and… last night a man from rolls royce told us how the company had agonized for ages commercially, this vehicle was always going to sell because, let’s face it, and they want more and more suv’s. that’s why lamborghini makes one, now i’ll lay my cards on the table from the outset. in which i’d rather have an suv in which to live with and try
And understand why someone might want to buy this car. i stood there last night as rolls royce’s design team talked me around i thought to myself it all sounds really clever, but it’s a bit gopping. some people will make excuses for it and say it’s not too bad from this angle, now i normally shy away from discussing subjective matters, that’s it, that’s how this car
Looks. that’s just terrible, i think. they’ve been doing it for about three or four years. or a cayenne or a touareg, they all share commonality. when you’ve got a stiff structure you’ve got stability. so from the moment you get in this thing the ride comfort is a different level. wedged up inside wheel arches, in the floor, and everything else. but occasionally
There’s a big sort of transverse line, and it isn’t that dignified. it could be better, i think. it does that job better than any other car of its type that i’ve driven. the old power reserve needle goes down to naught and it just fires along. it does that just about, but i wouldn’t want it to be any more powerful, it lulls you into thinking it’s hidden all that mass,
But the person who buys it, i suspect won’t care about that. unquestionably, they drive it, this is not a phantom. i’m not that comfortable with that, but i suppose some people are. and then we’ll come back to some more bits about how it drives because you can see it, so maybe we just leave the outside alone. it’s a bit range rover, it’s quite bulky, it’s quite powerful,
But the boot itself, come have a look. it’s not that big, is it? so what they’ve done is they’ve sacrificed luggage space for, wait for it, as to whether they needed the rear legroom or the boot space. you’ve got a usb-c down in there to charge your devices. it is luxurious and there are so many different rear seat options. but you can go for individual rear seats, or
For the super luxurious ones the all-powerful driving seat. ahead of me so the steering wheel has got a thicker rim than a phantom. this is a rough leathery substance that looks like… rubber. it is a step above a bentayga in terms of the materials used. or heating because it’ll heats your bottom, or will heat the steering wheel. and the stuff on the leeward side of
Where i’m sitting, i can’t see. this nav screen, i quite like that because it’s quite small. so it’s a mixture. it’s not as expensive as a phantom, and it doesn’t feel it. and that coupled with the lack of noise and harshness in the cabin and of being in something that’s engineered to perfection… the rear three-quarters is getting better for me but it’s… i’m sure
There are lots of you out there that think it’s gorgeous. but i just don’t want to be seen in this thing, i really don’t. and if not, just do the world a favor and buy an estate car.
Transcribed from video
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan | Chris Harris Drives By Top Gear
