If you haven’t already started your holiday shopping, you’re probably going to begin doing that soon. Perhaps it’s been a great year for you financially and you want to treat your significant other to something lavish. Or maybe you want to get yourself something to celebrate your hard work and accomplishments. Our Pick of the Day, a 2015 Rolls-Royce Wraith, is a perfect choice, either way. My little gift to you is telling you exactly how its driving experience will be.
Before I get into that, let’s take a closer look at the Wraith as whole. Rolls-Royce introduced the ultra-luxury coupe in 2013, calling it the “the most powerful and dynamic” model in company history. It combined a 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 that produced 624 horsepower and 590 lb-ft with an eight-speed Satellite Aided Transmission that used GPS to pre-select the right gear for the road ahead.
That pairing was fitted to a fastback body with a lower roofline, shorter wheelbase, and a wide rear track. “To minimise body roll and discreetly amplify feedback when cornering,” Rolls-Royce tuned the suspension. It also calibrated the steering to be lighter at low speeds and heavier at high speeds to make driving the Wraith more engaging.
This particular Wraith you see here has an attractive two-tone silver and black finish that highlights the curvature of its swoopy roofline. Interestingly, black was also used on the grille, although the Spirit of Ecstasy is still nice and bright. That neutral theme continues inside the cabin, which is lined with black leather and dark wood and liberally accented with metal hardware all around.
So what’s it like driving a Wraith? It’s just like you’d expect it to be. It was a privilege and an experience unlike any I’d had before. Back in 2015, a Rolls-Royce product communications representative was in Austin, Texas and invited me to drive a $398,350 Wraith to the unlikeliest of places. She had a hankering for Texas BBQ and decided the Salt Lick in Driftwood was the perfect place to satisfy it.
Just getting into the Wraith was unusual to me. I had seen coach doors at the rear of vehicles, but never on a coupe. Ahead of me was a steering wheel and a column shifter – no shift paddles. The Wraith wasn’t meant to be a sports car. In fact, it didn’t even have a sport mode. The closest thing to that was pushing the button on the shifter stalk to engage “LOW” and force the Wraith to start in first instead of second gear, its default setting. I also didn’t expect the Wraith’s infotainment setup. Instead of using the infotainment display as a touchscreen and inputting the restaurant’s address, I had to enter it by spinning and pressing the Spirit of Ecstacy Rotary Controller.
After my Rolls-Royce contact and I enjoyed the Salt Lick’s brisket, smoked sausage, coleslaw, and potato salad, I started the drive back to her hotel, the Four Seasons in downtown Austin. By then, the traffic had thinned out, giving me a chance to indulge in the Wraith’s ample power. Once again, the Rolls-Royce was unlike any car I had driven before. Given its specs, I expected it to explode with power when I put my right foot down. The power came on strong, but more like a massive wave that carried us both forward. Even though the Wraith was capable of surging to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, it was not a car to be hurried. It would get you there with restraint, calm, and poise. The ride quality was similarly refined and free of theatrics. Every move I made in the Wraith felt graceful and relaxed.
If that sounds like the kind of driving experience you want your partner or spouse (or yourself) to have for years to come, click here to view the listing for this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com. Should they ask you how much this generous gift set you back, don’t tell them $139,500. Just say, “Whatever I spent, it was worth it to see that smile on your face.”
Source: www.classiccars.com