Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge debuts with more power

The Rolls-Royce Black Badge family is officially complete with the Cullinan's pending 'Black' treatment.  

Rolls-Royce began the Black Badge chapter with the launch of the Wraith & Dawn Black Badge versions in 2016 and soon followed it up with the same treatment to the Dawn in 2017. Now though, the chapter is complete with the arrival of the Cullinan Black Badge - quite literally, the darkest version of Rolls-Royce's super-luxury SUV, to date.

Those thinking that the Black Badge treatment is only aesthetic in nature cannot be more wrong. For the Black Badge Cullinan, Rolls-Royce has tweaked the mammoth 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 so that it now produces 599bhp & 900Nm of torque. That's 36bhp & 50Nm more than the standard Cullinan. Of course, all this extra power means the suspension & brakes have also had to undergo some upgrades. The 8-Speed ZF automatic gearbox and the throttle have been retuned for more intuitive power delivery and better response. The brake pedal also offers less travel and, in turn, an earlier braking bite point. To add a bit of drama, a 'Low' button on the gear shift lever gives the completely new exhaust unit a heavier, deeper rumble.

As the name suggests, the Black Badge Cullinan comes with a signature Black exterior paint option that is hand-painted and hand-polished (about 10 times!) at the marque's home in Goodwood. However, the Black Badge Cullinan can also be commissioned in any of the marque's 44,000 'ready to wear' paint options. The Black version is immediately distinguishable from its silver-badged sibling, thanks to the Spirit of Ecstasy and its mounting plate finished in High Gloss Black Chrome. Further, most of the chrome trim pieces have also been given a black finish and the black-on-silver theme (the Rolls-Royce badge) has been inverted, wherever possible. Peeking through the bespoke 22-inch Black Badge design alloy wheels are Gloss Red-painted brake callipers (a first in the history of Rolls-Royce).

Inside, the Black Badge Cullinan uses a Technical Carbon trim finisher (with a naked-weave carbon-fibre finish) and customers also get to experience the famed Starlight Headliner. The headliner has been handwoven out of fine Black leather and incorporates 1,344 individual fibre optic lights to create the night sky effect. Building on the fact that most Black Badge customers tend to choose a high-contrast interior colour palette, Rolls-Royce has developed a new shade - Forge Yellow - to create the same high contrast in the Black Badge Cullinan's interior.

With the official reveal, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge is available to commission.

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Rolls-Royce Cullinan launched at Rs 6.95 crore