Ask the Best and Brightest: Re-Name Those Rolls Royce Gizmos?

by Robert Farago

Published: June 11th, 2009

ask the best and brightest re name those rolls royce gizmos

Did you know that BMW owns Rolls-Royce? Of course you did; you’re the Best and Brightest. Which means you also know that the new Ghost is not going to be a very expensive, modified 7-Series with bespoke bodywork and cabin. (Of course not.) But you’ll also recognize that the chassis technology trumpeted in today’s RR press release below is boilerplate BMW. I mean, they didn’t even change the names, dear boy. Which makes me wonder: what should they call this stuff? Active Roll Stabilisation [English spelling, Jeff] implies, well, roll. Variable Damping Control should at least have “en” in the middle of the middle word for the car’s effect on the fairer sex. Any suggestions (bonus points for clever acronyms)?

At the heart of the Rolls-Royce Ghost’s magic carpet ride will be a state-of-the-art chassis which uses an intelligent four corner air suspension system and multi link aluminium front and rear axles. Designed to be fully integrated, each of the cars dynamic handling and safety systems has been engineered to work together in harmony. Systems such as Active Roll Stabilisation, four corner air springs and Variable Damping Control operate as one, imperceptibly to the driver and passengers to provide the best possible comfort for occupants and to ensure that the tyres maintain optimum contact with the road, even on rough surfaces for driving safety.

The new air suspension system is so sensitive that it can detect even the smallest of changes; for example the movement of a single rear passenger from one side of the seat to the other, and will compensate accordingly. The complex on-board computer system reads multiple inputs from sensors around the car – the dampers alone making individual load calculations every 2.5 milliseconds. This ensures not only perfect comfort but also precise steering and dynamics for the driver. The air suspension system also incorporates a lift and kneel function, raising or lowering the Ghost by 25mm. This can either assist with entry and exit or allow the Ghost to travel over uneven ground.

Robert Farago

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Ronman on Jun 12, 2009

Although Rolls Royces are know as land yachts, they boast very similar technologies and names... this Active roll stabilization can be found on any luxury yacht, under the names, roll stabilizers, roll dampening system, or anti roll gyro... the Variabe Damping control however is usually taken care of by the sea in a yacht, and it's up to the horizontal stabiliser planes to keep the deck level. I reckon Rolls are using a lot of the names you find on super yacht comfort systems because the rich owner will think.... Hey it's got the same thing as my 30 million dollar Yacht cool no? RR even went the extra mile and put some teak decking on the Drop head Coupe... now that in the world of the yachtsmen is cool, however taking a tour around the Coupe i couldn't find the bosun's locker, but the engine bay looks more like an engine room similar to one of the small yachts i worked on...a lot of similarities, i just hope the handling is not the same...although it might be when maneuvering into a tight spot...

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Gottleib on Jun 12, 2009

"Rolls Royce now has perfected the "wafting control systems" for an even smoother and luxurious ride. Actually when reading this the first thing that came to my mind was the suspension system of the Citroen DS.

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