Rolls Royce Cullinan Officially Enters The SUV Game

It’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here- the Rolls Royce Cullinan. Crushing the weighing scales at a whooping 2,660 kilos, its sheer size is titan-like, measuring over 5-metres in length and almost 2-metres in height. But, it had to be this big, because underneath and inside the imposing structure of Rolls Royce’s first-ever SUV, is a treasure chest of trinkets and jewels, not to mention state-of-the-art features.

Where it matters least in the case of any Roller, the engine, the Cullinan houses a massive V12 engine, turbocharged to the tune of 563 horses and 850 Nm of torque that crashes out full whack as early as 1,600 rpm. While we’re not sure how fast it can sprint, (because, well, the British luxury brand have left out the details for now), what’s certain is that the Cullinan will stride its way up to a 250 km/h top speed via its massive 22-inch wheels.

Contrary to the comical notion that the name ‘Cullinan’ pays homage to a certain vampire, it is actually in fact, named after the largest rough diamond ever discovered by mankind and we cant think of another name to call this luxury beast by.

As you can expect, the Cullinan’s interior is packed with typical Rolls Royce appointments. The cabin is romantically covered with layers of wood veneer and and hide-leather from top to bottom. If you were expecting anything else, then clearly, you don’t know how Rolls Royce writes its music. Like all Rollers before it, the real experience of the Cullinan is where most owners of this luxury SUV will find themselves in most of the time: the rear.

For the Cullinan, the British marque have come up with a choice of two seating configurations, ‘Lounge Seats’ or ‘Individual Seats’. For the Lounge Seats configuration, the crafters from Goodwood will install a fold-able lounge seat that sits three passengers. To note, this is the first time Rolls Royce is offering such a feature in a production model, but it’s clearly down to suiting some form of practically, considering that the Cullinan is an SUV first and foremost.

Whereas for the Individual Seats configuration, it is basically the usual Rolls Royce executive cabin approach. The two seats are positioned nicely on either side of a centre console, which of course, can be customised to owner’s desires to fit everything from a wine chiller to a mini wardrobe surely.In standard Rolls Royce drama, the Cullinan doesn’t come with a tailgate, no. It’s called ‘The Clasp’, which opens up to provide bountiful amounts of trunk space, although, we’d imagine many potential owners using the sheer space and size of the Cullinan’s trunk for more imaginative things, like a mobile bar perhaps? But as standard, the rear portion of the cabin is insulated properly to separate the cargo area via a nicely done glass panel.

As standard, the boot area offers 560 litres of cargo space, growing to 600 with the parcel shelf removed. Access to this is via an opening tailgate called ‘The Clasp’. In a nod to an era when luggage was mounted on the exterior of the car, the rear profile of Cullinan is a two-part, ‘D-Back’ format, with the bustle denoting the place of the luggage, with the opening and closing of its two sections done automatically, accomplished via the key fob button. The Cullinan even has a Viewing Suite.

It’s tech and safety features are also part of a long list of things that have been curated for the Cullinan package. Considering the size of this Roller, there are the important driver assist features like, active cruise control, collision warning, cross-traffic sensors, lane departure and lane change warning. It also comes with things like day and night-time pedestrian warning with a 360-camera view all on standard. Sporting the BMW DNA a little more, the Cullinan also has things like a WiFi hotspot, complete with up to five USB ports around the cabin as standard.

Take it from us though, listing all of its features is a futile endeavour. The fraction of society who will consider this SUV for their daily/weekend use will have it customised and ordered specifically to their own taste, wants and needs. I mean, no one is going to look at the Cullinan and say “Oh gee, that’s practical!”. Rubbish. The Cullinan is going to be just like all Rolls Royce coaches- pure, utter, mad luxury. So without wasting more time, here’s as many images of the world’s first Super Luxury SUV, the new Rolls Royce Cullinan