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Black Badge becomes the first production Rolls-Royce to produce more than 1 000 Nm of torque.
Black Badge’s makeover has been discreet, but easy to sport. Image: Rolls-Royce
Having debuted the Spectre as its first-ever fully electric car two years ago, Rolls-Royce has now revealed the unofficially titled performance version which also becomes its most powerful product ever made.
Wearing the Black Badge moniker used on the Cullinan, Ghost and the now discontinued Wraith, the Spectre retains its reported 100-kWh battery pack, but with a considerable uptake in power and torque, the latter breaching 1 000 Nm as a first for Rolls-Royce.
Roll-Royce: Black suite
Externally, the Black Badge’s differences from the standard Spectre consists of black trim pieces carried over the retractable Spirit of Ecstasy mascot on the grille as well, what Rolls-Royce calls an Iced Black finish on the bonnet, and black or part polished alloy wheels up to 23-inches.
ALSO READ: Ghostly silent all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre appears for the first time
Although devoid of actual Black Badge lettering, the darkened touches further extend to the lower section of the diffuser at the rear, as well as the door sills.
A new colour option called Vapour Violet completes the changes, along with four backlight colours behind the illuminated grille; Chartreuse, Turchese, Charles Blue, Forge Yellow and Tailored Purple.
Light meets dark
Inside, the “5 500 stars” etched onto the dashboard on the passenger’s side into a black surround dubbed a piano black sky remains, though unique to the Black Badge is an Infinity (∞) logo and a choice of five themes for the instrument cluster; Ultraviolet, Neon Nights, Synth Wave, Vivid Grellow and Cyan Fire.
Completing the interior is a bespoke fibre finish consisting of diamond weaved carbon fibre and fine metal threads placed on top of a wood base.
According to Rolls-Royce, no less than six layers of the metal thread are placed within the actual carbon material, where is then sandblasted, sealed with six layers of lacquer and hand polished before being placed inside each Black Badge.
Rolls-Royce with serious shove
Taking centre stage though is the uptake in power from the regular Spectre’s 430 kW to 485 kW.
In another unique touch, the ∞ marked button on the steering wheel allows the full 485 kW to be delivered for short spells, while the equally new Spirited Mode spools up the electric motors faster to deliver 1 075 Nm of torque, an uptake of 175 Nm on the standard Spectre.
While no top speed figure was revealed, the Spectre Black Badge will get from 0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and do 493 km on a single charge.
Compared to the standard Spectre, the Black Badge gets a revised chassis comprising stiffer dampers as part of the Magic Carpet ride setup, and reduced body roll as result of not only this, but also retuned power steering.
Not yet for us
On-sale in key markets soon, the Spectre Black Badge, for the time being, remains unconfirmed for South Africa.
ALSO READ: Rolls-Royce Cullinan exposes its Black side
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