New Rolls-Royce Ghost to gain bespoke illuminated fascia

Rolls-Royce has continued the build-up to the reveal of the next-generation Ghost by revealing the first feature for the car that will be offered by its Bespoke arm – an illuminated dashboard fascia.

The new fascia element for the luxury saloon has been developed by the British firm's personalisation arm as part of the brand's shift to a 'post-opulent' design philosophy focused on 'purity'. It uses 152 LEDs to create an illumination featuring the Ghost wordmark and more than 850 'stars' in the passenger side dashboard when the car is being operated. The display cannot be seen when the car is turned off.

Rolls-Royce claims the fascia, which echoes the 'Starlight Headliner' featured in previous models, took more than 10,000 hours of development across two years, and involves more than 90,000 laser-etched dots carved into the surface of the dashboard.

The second-generation luxury saloon is due to be revealed next month, and Rolls-Royce has already confirmed it will gain four-wheel drive and a raft of upgrades, with a number of measures taken to ensure it enhances its credentials by reducing noise inside.

Citing customer feedback affirming that interior comfort is a key consideration for customers, Rolls-Royce's designers undertook a process to minimise the noise disruption inside the cabin.

The process, which the firm called its Formula for Serenity, involved adding extra insulation to the aluminium chassis, with a double-skinned bulkhead section between the cabin and the 6.75-litre V12 engine to reduce noise from the unit. Sound-absorbing materials were also added in the roof, boot and floor.

Rolls-Royce then reviewed individual parts to minimise the noise they produced, for example smoothing the inside of the air conditioning ducts. To ensure the cabin wasn't disconcertingly quiet, the firm then undertook a process of "acoustic tuning", tuning each component to a specific frequency to create a single small noise, which it calls a 'whisper'. To do that, engineers developed new damping units for the seat frames and new ports between the cabin and boot. 

The measures Rolls-Royce has taken to reduce noise in the new Ghost's cabin were outlined in the latest of a series of animated films, in which the firm has detailed several key features of the new car. These include a video highlighting the new all-wheel-steering system, previously seen on the latest Phantom, and the switch from rear- to four-wheel-drive.

Rolls-Royce has also detailed a new suspension technology making its debut on the Ghost. Called the Planar system, it features what the firm describes as a "world-first technology" in the form of an upper wishbone damper unit mounted above the front suspension assembly for "an even more stable and effortless ride". The system has taken three years to develop.