After Darkness Comes Dawn: A Closer Look at the Rolls-Royce Dawn from Episode 3

A Grand Tour. A tradition for some that dates back many many years. A time to go out and explore, take in the scenery and try new things. This weeks episode of The Grand Tour we all got to see just what a Grand Tour is. Italian landscape, museums, classic music, fine dining and some very pretty cars. An Aston Martin, Dodge Hellcat and a Rolls Royce.

For now though, let’s focus on the ultra luxury Rolls-Royce Dawn.

First Impressions

It’s big, it’s got a soft top, 2 doors and this one is very very blue, (Salamanca Blue to be precise). With the top down we are treated to nothing but the finest of fine options. With ‘Arctic White’ leather and beautiful wood finishes, this cabin may not only be the most comfortable but the most pretty as well.  Putting your foot down on the go fast pedal might surprise too. The Dawn has a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 that gets you to 62mph in just 4.9 seconds. Not bad for a 2.6-tonne rolling yacht.

“Quite simply, it is the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built.” – Rolls-Royce

The Exterior

With the stunning blue paint matched with the hand polished chrome, the LED running lights and the might Spirit of Ecstasy standing proud on the grille, the Dawn is one extremely gorgeous head turner. With over 60 standard paint schemes and over 40 special order, it isn’t very hard to make the Dawn your very own piece of art.

As far as changes go from the Wraith, (besides it being a convertible), the Dawn’s front grille is slightly bigger and the front bumper has been extended by 53mm. Also, the Dawn gets 21-inch polished wheels over the Wraith’s 20-inch set.

The Interior

High-quality wood, exquisite leather, matte or chromed metallic inserts and a new clock designed specifically for this model. Life inside the new Dawn really is quite a comfortable thing.  With it being a convertible you’d think that wind noise we be a factor, but, it isn’t. They managed to do this by making the surface of the roof completely flat, and they used a special type of seam that creates no noticeable wind noise. Or car maker magic-ry in my opinion.

If you’re like me you enjoy listening to music whilst driving along. For this, Rolls-Royce added a Bespoke Audio system specifically calibrated for the Dawn. Included in this stereo is 16 individually tuned speakers making music sound even better than if you were at a live concert, (I’d imagine).

The Power!

The heart of the Dawn is a massive 563bhp 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12.  Yes it’s a big V12 and has two turbochargers but you do have to give it a little pat and wait a split second for it to wake up and clear it’s throat. An interesting thing with the Dawn is that it doesn’t have a rev counter, instead it has a gauge that tells you how much power is in its reserve. That’s pretty cool if you ask me. So you have ample power but how well does it transfer to the transmission? Well, the Dawn has the same great eight-speed satellite enabled automatic transmission that is in the Wraith. What the GPS feature does is recognizes what road you are on and automatically adjusts everything for optimal use whether it’s for hills or different curves, or really whatever is up ahead.

 Overall

If luxury is your thing, it truly is hard to look away from the Rolls-Royce especially if you’re looking for a convertible drophead. That being said though, at $335,000 starting price that could get you pretty much anything luxury you wanted, (minus of course cars like the Maybach 62 Landaulet).

What did you think of the car?