2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom

For the truly well-heeled, regal comportment isn't negotiable, and with the Rolls-Royce pedigree, the Phantom seems to fit the bill. With a $495k starting price, the 2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom is far outside our frame of reference as average mortals; you can buy five Cadillac Escalades for that kind of money. Nothing as mainstream as a Cadillac could hope to compete with a Roller, but the SUV craze isn't lost on Rolls-Royce: the historic British maker of luxury cars will sell you a Cullinan if you're so inclined. For traditionalists startled by the Cullinan's divisive styling, the Phantom saves the day - but it's the last of the super-luxury full-size sedans.

With the Bentley Mulsanne gone, the cheaper Bentley Flying Spur isn't quite in the same class as the Phantom, and the Mercedes-Maybach S even less so. The velvety twin-turbo 6.75-liter V12 delivers 563 horsepower and gobs of bottom-end torque in the Phantom, motivating the 6,000-pound car with authority. The Phantom's passengers escape the outside world in cocoon-like isolation. The car's ability to move them around with an effortless grace so quintessentially Rolls-Royce still defines the class - even if it's now in a class of one.

The 2023 Phantom range still comprises the regular and extended-wheelbase (EWB) versions and goes on sale in the USA at an eye-watering $495k this year. Besides the price increase, the Phantom gets a very mild facelift with a subtly updated front fascia, restyled headlights, and a slightly modified illuminated grille that puts the Spirit of Ecstasy on more prominent display when viewed from the front. New exterior themes become available that replace the brightwork and chrome with black, and additional wheel designs round off the exterior changes. In the typically understated words of Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos, this year's changes "have all been minutely considered and meticulously executed." Inside, the steering wheel gets a slightly thicker rim, and the infotainment system gains a bit more functionality.

This year, the price of a new Rolls-Royce Phantom starts at $493,000 for the regular-wheelbase model. Upgrading to the EWB will cost you an additional $80,000; its MSRP is $573,000. These prices don't include the $2,750 destination charge that typically comes with a Rolls-Royce purchase, nor the $2,600 gas-guzzler tax.

Skimping is pointless at this price level, so we'd go for the EWB, which not only offers limousine-like rear-seat space, but also comes with the privacy suite and the Driver Assistance Systems package with adaptive cruise control and night vision.

As motorized soft-close doors click shut behind you, you're ensconced in a cabin covered in leather, wood, and metal. There's no plastic in sight, and the quality of the fittings and materials speak of the highest level of craftsmanship courtesy of Rolls-Royce's traditional hand assembly. The styling is reassuringly familiar of the brand, but it's thoroughly 21st century nonetheless, with those beautifully retro main gauges being rendered by a digital display. A center infotainment screen comes into view only when needed. Rolls-Royce used 300 pounds of insulation to shut out the world, and almost no extraneous noises or vibrations get inside, even on the move.

The front passenger can have a bespoke piece of artwork installed in front of them on the dashboard, thanks to the Gallery option. The multi-adjustable power seats are supremely comfortable, trimmed in the finest leather, and heated all around. The front seats are ventilated and have a massaging function, too. The rear-hinged coach-style rear doors open wide, and the SUV-like 65-inch roof height means you almost slide across into the car through the big door openings. Of course, there are acres of interior space, especially in the extended wheelbase version (EWB). The tall glasshouse makes for good visibility, but the rear pillars are wide to hide the VIP's face from the crowd, so you'll be thankful for the backup camera, front and rear parking sensors, and surround-view monitor if you're behind the wheel.

Passengers have loads of space to stretch out in at the front and back. Opt for the EWB with its long 148.5-inch wheelbase, and you'll outstretch even the big Maybach by four inches back there. If space is the ultimate luxury, the Phantom is palatial indeed, affording the rear-seat passengers their own private estate. You can configure the Phantom with a rear bench, but this isn't a minivan, so we'd exchange the standard three-seat 'Lounge' bench for the individual 'Immersive' rear seats with a center console that turns it into a four-seater. An in-between option with a fold-down armrest and occasional third seating position is also offered. Optional footrests that rise from the floor in the back are ideal for a mid-journey nap or to rest your feet while checking stock prices.

One would imagine the owner of a Phantom would send Jeeves ahead with the luggage, but the Phantom can, nevertheless, store a lot of luggage for a sedan. Trunk space measures about 19 cubic feet - far more than the mediocre 14.8 cu-ft in the Flying Spur or the paltry 12.5 cu-ft in the Maybach S. The rear seats don't fold to expand trunk volume, of course, and why would it? This isn't a Toyota Camry.

There are many places in the cabin to store odds and ends, starting with the usual glovebox, the four big door pockets, and a spacious covered center-console storage bin. A rear center console containing storage is standard with the individual rear seats. Optionally available are fold-down picnic tables in the front seatbacks and a rear fridge with champagne flutes.

The interior is endlessly customizable, starting with the choice of 'Environment' - or basic theme, which includes Mono, Contrast, Horizon, Signature, and Bespoke. You can choose from a vast number of primary, secondary, and even tertiary interior colors and choose the hues applied to the seat's main body, gusset, valance, and inner surface, as well as the armrest, door panels, and more. Colors include every imaginable shade of gray, blue, red, and brown, but the Commissioned Collection opens up an eye-popping array of hues from the demure to the retina-searing, such as Iceland Moss, Tailored Purple, Forge Yellow, and Peony Pink. And that's before you come to the list of Special Order colors. Leather is standard on the seats and Shooting Star headliner, but leather detailing in terms of piping, embossing, stitching, and perforation can be specified to the nth degree. Lambswool carpeting and headrest cushions are on the options list, too. For added privacy, rear-compartment curtains for the side and rear windows can be added.

The 'Gallery' dashboard panel ahead of the front passenger can be ordered to display artwork of many different designs, such as Metropolitan Skyline, Lakeshore Aurora, Cascade Steel, and Ruthenium Bloom. The clock alongside it can also be ordered in a selection of designs. The wood veneer is available in a vast selection of choices, with just a few being Walnut Burr, Smoked Chestnut, Silver Birch, and Dark Amber. Veneer finishes can be extended to larger parts of the interior, including the door panels, front seatback picnic tables, and steering wheel. Said leather-trimmed steering wheel opens up another list of options, with the three-spoke tiller offered in various mono- and duotone finishes.

Many expected features are standard on the Phantom, and if they're not, they can most certainly be added at a fee. The Phantom comes with power soft-closing doors, a power trunk lid, push-button start, and four-zone climate control. The 12-way power front seats feature heating, cooling, and massaging functions while the driver gets memory settings, and the second row is heated too. Many options can be added, such as a whiskey decanter, elevating rear footrests, a rear center-console fridge, and ventilated rear seats.

The infotainment system comprises a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster displaying classically styled dials and a 12-inch central display that discreetly folds out of the way when not needed to retain the classy ambiance. It's not a touchscreen, and the system is controlled via hard buttons and a rotary knob. BMW's iDrive software powers the system, so it comes with Bluetooth, satellite radio, navigation, and USB ports, but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connectivity is available. The audio system has 16 speakers but can be upgraded to an 18-speaker setup. The rear theatre adds dual 12-inch screens that deploy from the front seatbacks, and they are controlled via a rotary controller in the fold-down armrest.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom's engine is a twin-turbocharged V12 based on BMW's design and enlarged to the same 6.75-liter capacity as the classic L410 V8 that was used in Rolls-Royces until 1998. It was designed to be supremely refined and quiet while offering lots of bottom-end torque, and has healthy outputs of 563 hp and 664 lb-ft. This is enough to endow the Rolls-Royce Phantom with a 0-60 sprint of 5.1 seconds, which is quicker than anyone relaxing in the back seat would want to go without sending the sparkling wine in their Rolls-Royce-branded champagne flutes sloshing about. That said, a Bentley Flying Spur W12 is a lot quicker, with a 3.7-second time for the benchmark sprint, if the numbers are important to you. Top speed is limited to 155 mph, and the eight-speed automatic transmission has been set up to produce shifts so creamy that you'd hardly notice them; the muscular performance has been tuned with comfort top of mind. Unlike all-wheel-drive Bentleys, the Phantom is RWD only.

The Phantom glides like a hovercraft, with its self-leveling air suspension blotting out undulations as if they don't exist, even on 21-inch wheels. A camera scans the road surface to apportion the appropriate suspension response to the wheels for approaching bumps and imperfections, so road shocks are soaked up before they can upset anyone on board. Extensive sound deadening means you can simply not discern any road noise over the hushed hum of the engine and the faint swoosh of air rushing over the body. It can corner energetically if you must, with acceptable steering feedback and well-controlled body motions, but it's not meant for that. First and foremost, it's a cocoon of comfort, luxury, and tranquility, and on this score, it remains second to none.

Decent gas mileage doesn't make it onto the resume of ultra-luxury sedans, and so it is with the rather dismal mpg figures of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The EPA's city/highway/combined estimates are 12/18/14 mpg, so it's no wonder the agency tacks a gas-guzzler tax onto the Roller. The Flying Spur W12 does only one mpg better on highway and combined cycles.

With a 23.8-gallon fuel capacity, the expected range of the Phantom is about 333 miles.

There is no NHTSA or IIHS safety review of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, as low-volume luxury cars aren't crash-tested. With nearly 6,000 pounds of heft, a modern design, and eight airbags, the Rolls should do a fine job keeping its occupants safe, however. Of course, ABS, stability and traction control, a backup camera, and tire-pressure monitoring are all standard, but Rolls-Royce does add a few driver assists as well. Not as many as we'd like, with the regular wheelbase getting only automatic LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, front and rear parking sensors, front-collision alert, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure alert, a head-up display, and a surround-view monitor. Adaptive cruise control is notable by its absence and forms part of the Driver Assistance Systems package, along with night vision. This package is standard fitment on the EWB.

It's difficult to assess the reliability of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, as there is no JD Power rating for it. One pointer is the recall stats, and here the results are good, with the 2023 Phantom so far recalled only once for headlights that have received inadequate reflective metallic paint, reducing the low beams' light output. Last year's Phantom was recalled for an infotainment display that does not rise to the correct height out of the dashboard when deployed, partly blocking the backup camera's image. This recall also applies to the 2021 Phantom, along with another one for a passenger seatbelt malfunction.

The 2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom's warranty is comprehensive. The same four-year/unlimited mileage conditions apply to the limited warranty, the powertrain warranty, and the standard complimentary maintenance plan.

The Phantom can never be mistaken for anything other than a Rolls-Royce, refining the concept born with the first modern Phantom, the 2004 Phantom VII. The typical tall, imposing metal Pantheon grille is present and accounted for, now subtly revised to put the Spirit of Extacy on more obvious display when viewed from dead ahead, and also illuminated this year. It's flanked by restyled LED headlights.

The cabin is tall and airy, with little concession to aerodynamics and lots to passenger space, resulting in a distinctive profile. It's all beautifully proportioned thanks to large 21-inch alloys, though various designs of even larger 22-inch wheels are available, including delightfully simple and elegant disc-style wheels. A vast palette of main and contrast exterior colors is available, and the coachline color can be selected separately. Newly available this year is black-out treatment for the exterior trim. You can also specify the interior in any of five Inspired themes called Dynamism, Enigma, Cipher, Presence, and Dusk.

If your definition of good in this context includes being the last word in ultimate comfort and ride quality, elegance, and old-world charm, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is arguably the best car in the world. Nothing else approaches these levels of overall refinement. Sure, not everybody loves the traditional boxy looks, it's heavy on fuel, and you can dramatically inflate the purchase price by getting carried away adding customization options and features that should really have been standard at this price. But then we forget that money is no object in this market sector, and you can add everything a Phantom lacks and a truckload more, turning it into a unique car with your own personality stamped on it. For those who want status on wheels, this is your best bet.