Finally! After all the hyping and teaser photos and videos, Rolls-Royce has unveiled their foray into the SUV market with the Cullinan. For those of you who are uncouth swine, Cullinan is the name of the largest diamond ever found and which happens to reside in the British crown jewels. The newest Roller is not only a functional palace on wheels, but an extremely capable off-road handling machine. I have seen the test mule vehicles all over Los Angeles these past few months and can say that the Cullinan has a presence that is unrivaled. Now that I think about it, the Cullinan makes the Bentley Bentagya (stupidest name ever) look like the cheap Volkswagen garbage that it is.
Armed with a 6.75 liter twin-turbo V12, the wholly Rolls-Royce engine delivers 563bhp and a whopping 627lb-ft of torque. This is of course matched to the all-new Rolls-Royce All-Wheel Drive that makes climbing any mountain a sheer pleasure.
As for what is to be found inside the Cullinan, the rear passenger compartment comes in two flavors – Lounge Seats or Individual Seats. The Lounge Seat configuration is of course the more functional of the two options. With space for three passengers in the rear, it will likely be more attractive to families. The rear seats also fold down – a first for Rolls-Royce. The seats fold electronically in a number of configurations by pressing the appropriate button in the boot or rear door pocket. One press sees each backrest effortlessly fold down, whist at the same time moving the headrests upwards to avoid making an imprint on the seat cushion. Both seat backs can be folded completely, creating a flat load area or in a 2/3 and 1/3 split, increasing practicality even further. Rear passengers can still travel with a long load, or use the carpeted seat back as an occasional table on which to rest their own set of crown jewels.
For those who intend to transport large items back from their adventures (still waiting to see if a body can fit), the rear of Cullinan offers a large amount of space in different arrangements. The rear compartment or boot area offers a standard 560 liters of space, growing to 600 with the parcel shelf removed. Furthermore, the base of the rear seats sits higher than the boot floor, so even with both rear seats folded, the items in the boot cannot slip forward and are safely contained, unlike in any other SUV. But for those wishing to carry a long item back from their trip – whether it be a Jackson Pollock stolen from the Tate Modern or a newly discovered artifact from the latest archaeological dig – a loading length of 2245mm and load capacity of 1930 liters is accessed by electronically raising the boot floor to meet the seat base, allowing the item to slide through effortlessly.
Stay tuned as we will get a more in-depth look at the Cullinan very soon!
thesnobmag.com 
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