This week I bring you the most beautiful AND expensive SUV I’ve ever reviewed, the 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan. It was named after the Cullinan diamond found in 1905 weighing in at over 3100 karats.
So, if you are Warren Buffett and can buy whatever SUV you want, is ANY SUV worth over 400 Grand? Let me say yes. OK, that’s not strong enough…let me say HELL yes!
Even though I do this for a living, I’m not sure where to start writing about this almost 6000-pound SUV.
Rolls-Royce vehicles are all hand-made in Great Britain with pride. You can order a Rolls any way you want it, what they call bespoke. There will never be two Rolls-Royces just alike. If you want your company logo on the headrests, that is not a problem. If you can dream it, they can make it.
Every engine is hand-made too, like the 6.75-liter V-12 under the hood of this big SUV, the first SUV Rolls-Royce has ever produced. It has twin turbochargers and is putting out 563-horses and is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. It is also all-wheel drive.
The exterior is nothing short of gorgeous, with large windows, a huge grill, massive tires and wheels, and it features suicide doors…the rear doors open from the front. Oh, and the Rolls-Royce wheel centers always stay in the upright position, perfectly straight.
In fact, the doors open so wide that there are power buttons to close them so you don’t have to reach so far. The driver has buttons for both the driver and passenger door, and both rear seat occupants have a button to close their respective doors, too.
When you open the door, you get a glimpse of the sumptuous Rolls interior, and the leather looks as smooth as butter. Across the dash is soft-touch black and tan leather that is beyond rich.
The gauges are animated and easy to read. In the center console, you can control everything on the screen that is situated mid-dash and controls all functions in the Cullinan. It reacts quickly and is very functional giving access to navigation, apps, sound system, and Bluetooth.
My favorite part is the $4500 lit Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. You can raise it, lower it, or have it set to automatic so it lowers when you stop the engine, and raises when you start it. The back seat is cavernous, and it has picnic tables which drop from the back of the front seats and allows the back seat passengers to control everything, including what is on the sound system. The screens are the size of a good-sized laptop computer.
Should it start to rain, no worries. There are deployable umbrellas built into the doors that match the interior of the vehicle. Better yet, when you put them back in position, the compartment is heated to dry them out so you don’t get any mold and the water drops magically disappear.
The power liftgate and mid-gate open up a very generous cargo area, but no third row seat.
Look, for over $400,000 dollars, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan comes completely loaded as you would expect. The list of options and standard safety features just goes on and on.
I’ve reviewed a number of Rolls vehicles, but this is the first one to have an off-road button. Although it would be a little scary to take it off-road for fear of damaging it, you get the strong sense it could handle it with no problem. The ground clearance is exceptional.
Let me just say, the power from the V-12 is exhilarating, yet not like a muscle car, just strong and steady acceleration. Floorboard the big SUV and the front end rises, the back end squats, and it just goes.
Wondering about fuel economy? It is rated at 12 in town, but 20 on the highway, and 14 overall, but who cares, right?
I can’t quite get over how smooth it is, even on rough streets or railroad tracks, and the interior quietness amazes. I’ve never driven any vehicle that felt as solidly built as the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
The question of the day: is any SUV or car for that matter, worth $406,225? Probably not, but if there ever was one, this is it.
Credit: Rolls-Royce
