Rolls Phantom Coupe vs Aston Martin DB9
It's Goldfinger revisited: TG recreates the famous Aston/Rolls car chase...
Posted: 24 Oct 2012
A Phantom Coupé is shorter by a foot in the wheelbase compared with the saloon. It also has - compared with the Drophead Coupé as well as the saloon - a firmer suspension set-up, slightly reduced steering assistance and an ‘S' button that livens the transmission programming usefully. But does all that transform it into a sports car fit for tearing up these hills? Not on your life.
For a start, it's two and a half tonnes. The aluminum space frame is weight-efficient at half a tonne, then there's half a tonne of powertrain and a similar mass of suspension and other mechanicals. That means literally a tonne of luxury. There are vehicles that can corner hard with this sort of height and weight, but they tend to be extreme SUVs with punishing suspensions. Despite its marginally firmed-up chassis, the Phantom Coupé is far from punishing, with the inevitable result that it, well, Rolls: the thing heels into sharp corners like a galleon, and the way you twirl that big wheel is a bit nautical too.
And yet the steering is precise, and it's properly fast: 0-60 is 5.6 seconds, during which that V12 clears its throat and its voice rises slightly. On normal twisting roads, the Coupe makes a decent account of itself.