Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

POLL: Is this Rolls-Royce’s sexiest car?

Post Thumbnail

The Dawn is Rolls Royce’s latest convertible, one that claims to offer enough room for four adults to travel in glamorous comfort. Indeed, the company’s CEO claims this is “the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built”. Is it just a pretty face though?

Underneath the Dawn’s long and elegant bonnet lies the same 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 that powers both the Ghost and Wraith.

In this application, it produces a healthy 562bhp and 575lb/ft of torque, less than the Wraith but on par with the Ghost.

Even weighing in at a heavyweight 2,560kg (over 100kg more than the Bentley Bentayga SUV), you can hit 62mph in 4.9 seconds before running into the speed limiter at 155mph.

This is very much a Rolls to be driven by its fortunate owner. Not that they’ll have to do a vast amount: there’s even “Satellite Aided Transmission” that uses GPS to read the road, selecting the perfect gear for any given scenario.

Although you could hustle the Dawn along at a fair rate of knots, it’s not really what this car is designed to do. Rolls may talk about the Dawn “providing superb driver feedback” but it’s no Lotus Elise, that’s for sure.

Instead, let the automatic gearbox shuffle effortlessly through the gears, get the top down and enjoy the sumptuous interior as bumps magically disappear from the road surface. Should you have the roof up, you’re promised coupe-like refinement too.

In some respects, Rolls Royce make things pretty easy for you. If you decide to acquire (buy is such a vulgar word) a Dawn, there’s one engine and one body style to pick from.

Where it gets complicated is with the vast amount of personalisation options open to oneself. Naturally you can choose the colour but being Rolls, they will literally paint it any colour you want.

Seen a particularly fetching Gucci gown you like the colour of? Rolls will match it. Interior options are just as limitless while there’s even more bespoke options should funds allow.

In terms of standard equipment, there just isn’t enough room for me to list everything that comes included for the estimated £250,000 price tag the Dawn commands.

Needless to say, there’s a cutting edge infotainment system, climate control, wall to wall leather and wood plus electric adjustment for everything. Safety is covered by a suite of airbags, stability control and the usual electronic safety nets.

RollsRoyceDawn%200915(5)

There’s also radar-guided cruise control that can operate the throttle and brake in traffic and a pop-out rollover hoop. That stiff structure bodes well for crash protection too.

Many great advances have been made in the last few years which have made even the largest of automobiles consume significantly less fuel than their predecessors.

Those expecting similar witchcraft from the Dawn will be disappointed however. Quite simply, there’s not a great deal you can do to a 6.6-litre V12 to make it sip fuel and barely exhale any carbon – especially when it’s sat in two and a half tonnes of luxury convertible.

No, the Dawn can’t even crack 20mpg on the combined cycle, coming in with a figure of 19.9mpg while emitting 330g/km of carbon dioxide.

Don’t think you can save some cash by filling up with regular unleaded either. The Dawn quaffs nothing but the finest high-octane premium unleaded.

There is some consolation with regards to the warranty however. Not only is it a longer than average four years but it’s unlimited mileage as well. How generous of them.

The Dawn is one of those cars you can’t be truly rational about. After all, if you wanted a four-seat convertible, you could buy 10 Vauxhall Cascadas for the price of a single Dawn.

In the same way a fine Swiss timepiece isn’t “just” a watch, the Rolls is so much more than “just” a car.

RollsRoyceDawn%200915Int

The Dawn is a handcrafted object of desire that will make you feel special just looking at it parked outside your mansion, let alone when you step aboard.

You could argue that a Mercedes S-Class Convertible could offer much of the luxury offered by the Dawn for significantly less money but again, it’s a different proposition altogether.

The Rolls will be built to your exacting specifications by a team of master craftsmen and it shows. Nothing else comes close to the Dawn – except maybe another Rolls Royce. For that it’s worth every penny.

THE FACTS

Model: Rolls Royce Dawn
Price: Around £250,000
Engine: 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12
Performance: 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds, top speed of 155mph
Economy: 19.9mpg
CO2 rating: 330g/km