Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge Makes South East Asian Debut In Singapore

The presentation of the car at the recently-concluded Fullerton Concours d’Elegance also marks the arrival of Rolls-Royce Black Badge in Singapore, a transformative moment for the local luxury landscape.

Black Badge is for the disruptors, the innovators, the risk takers; those that accept no limitations. They are the people that challenge the status quo, live on their own terms and blaze their own trail in life.

As a truly Bespoke response to their desires, the interplay of brand and these customers’ demands has had a transformative effect on the appearance and substance of Rolls-Royce Ghost, Wraith and Dawn.

The result is Ghost Black Badge, Wraith Black Badge and Dawn Black Badge, a permanent Bespoke series of motor cars with darker, bolder and edgier appeal, coupled with subtle engineering refinements that do not compromise on Rolls-Royce’s signature magic carpet ride.
These cars are a clear indication of how Rolls-Royce intimately understands and responds to customers’ demand with a modern, shifting luxury landscape. Advanced aerospace luxury materials meet
Rolls-Royce’s signature craftsmanship, underpinning Black Badge’s ethos to super-luxury. Each model has received carefully calibrated performance enhancements, without sacrificing the hallmark ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ and craftsmanship excellence.

According to Renee Chua, Managing Director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Singapore, “Rolls-Royce is now attracting a wider and younger customer base than ever before in Singapore. We see a new breed of successful young trailblazers emerging, who seek commanding presence in the objects they commission.”

“Dawn Black Badge, with its enigmatic grace and gorgeous drop-top looks, is Rolls-Royce’s new and youthful expression of luxury, the perfect symbol of success for these young and highly successful individuals.” Ms. Chua says.

Dawn Black Badge stands as the most luxurious, social and sensual space from which to take in the night air. This most glamorous, uncompromising expression of open-top luxury is given a new and darker sensual dimension through its suite of Black Badge engineering and design treatments.

Dawn’s sensuous lines are coated in the deepest, darkest and most intense black to ever grace a production car surface. However, that is not to say that Black Badge cars come only in Black; a selection of crystal and iced paints are ready for commission, and patrons can personalize the colour of their Dawn Black Badge in any of the 44,000 colours available from the Bespoke department. The roof, which opens in a ‘Silent Ballet’ is only available in black canvas, whilst the rear deck is finished in black leather.

In creating Black Badge, Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke designers have sought to create true signifiers of this more assertive alter-ego for the marque. Dawn gets this same treatment.

The Spirit of Ecstasy – itself a mascot that has taken many different forms throughout the marque’s history – transforms into a high-gloss vamp, finished in a perfectly executed black chrome. This transformation to a darker aesthetic extends to certain chrome surfaces including the front grille surround, boot lid finisher, exhaust pipes and air inlet finisher. The effect is an authentic transformation that speaks of a bolder, more confident sensibility. Finally, the ‘Double R’ signifiers on the Rolls-Royce badges are inverted in colour, confirming the creation of a true alter-ego of the marque.

This bold, edgy design ethos extends beautifully into the interior – an exquisitely appointed staging point for patrons who seek to discover the night’s elements with the roof down.

Evoking Sir Henry Royce’s founding philosophy to ‘design what does not exist’ – a collaboration between the marque’s design and engineering departments has seen the creation of a new luxury material. Inspired by Rolls-Royce’s aviation heritage and echoing advanced production techniques for stealth aircraft, a beautiful and highly innovative new treatment for the car’s surfaces has been conceived.

Its construction displays every hallmark of Rolls-Royce’s fastidious attention to detail. Threads of aircraft grade aluminium, a delicate 0.014m in diameter, are woven together and then bonded in carbon fibre. Surfaces are then finished with six coats of lacquer before being left to cure for 72 hours and hand-polished to Rolls-Royce’s hallmark mirror finish. The result is a highly contemporary finish, perfectly attuned to the darker more menacing aesthetic today’s patrons of luxury demand.

This exquisite expression of noir informs every conceivable detail. For example, innovative production techniques such as Physical Vapour Deposition, a highly technical surfacing method, perfectly darkens the air-vents throughout the interior in a manner that will never discolour or tarnish.

A final touch, again, in a nod to one of Rolls-Royce’s great pioneer patrons, Sir Malcolm Campbell, finishes the rear interior space. His famous ‘Infinity’ rating logo beautifully embroidered into the car’s rear waterfall, gives a subtle nod to a man very much possessed of the restless spirit that so defines the Black Badge attitude.

Like its stablemates Ghost and Wraith, the distilled essence of Dawn is amplified through the engineering that underpins the Black Badge philosophy. In the case of Dawn, the engineering substance that leads to more spirited driving is accentuated by the creation of an entirely new exhaust system, that when deployed by the press of the ‘low’ button, celebrates Rolls-Royce’s hallmark V12 engine with a menacing bass baritone, announcing its arrival with authority rather than hysteria.

The exhaust tone adds an aural dimension to a suite of engineering enhancements. Indeed, Black Badge stands as a truly Bespoke collaboration between design and engineering, answering the demands of a new breed of patron of luxury who seeks a more spirited, involving driving experience which retains the peerless quality of ride that has driven Dawn’s success.

To achieve this, the engineers have exploited the flexibility of Dawn’s magnificent 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 to generate an extra 30bhp over the car’s already ample 563bhp, bringing the total to 593bhp. That hallmark sense of one infinite gear is also given bolder expression with the addition of a further 20Nm of torque available from 1,500rpm, bringing the total to 840Nm.

Fundamental changes to the transmission and throttle strategy give Dawn an enhanced feeling of urgency without diminishing its position as the world’s most luxurious open-top tourer. The refined drive-train and steering-rack work together to create a more spirited drive depending on throttle and steering input. The result is a perfectly stately Rolls-Royce touring experience at low speeds and a highly engaging drive when the driver seeks to ‘push on’. Fundamental changes to suspension settings and components also ensure an appropriate balance between Rolls-Royce comfort and driver focus, felt in flatter cornering at high speeds.

The increased urgency of Dawn Black Badge has led to the development of new brakes with an increase in diameter of one inch. During deceleration, a fundamental remapping of the transmission strategy leads to downshifts a few rpm sooner under braking, offering engine braking when driving in a more spirited manner.

The steering-rack has also been quickened and engineered for more feedback. Speed-dependent adjustments also embolden Black Badge drivers as they enjoy an added sense of security and feel derived from increased steering weight at high speeds.

The Dawn Black Badge presented at the Fullerton Concours d’Elegance was finished in a Diamond Black exterior, with a Black/Arctic White interior and a White Coachline. Dawn Black Badge is now available to commission from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Singapore.

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