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Rolls-Royce Wraith hits the road video


Fresh from its appearances at the 2013 Geneva and New York auto shows, Rolls-Royce’s new Wraith finally gets a chance to stretch its legs.

Here we see the elegant coupe take to some of Britain’s country roads, with the car’s product manager, Philip Harnett, sitting behind the wheel.

He lets us share the journey by providing an intimate explanation of what it feels like to drive the new Wraith.

We also learn about the extensive testing program the car was put through before being signed off for production. Durability and performance testing took place at the Nürburgring while extreme weather tests were done in the heat of California’s Death Valley and the cold of northern Sweden.

The end result of Rolls-Royce’s hard work is the marque’s fastest and most powerful model to date. The Wraith, which is powered by a 616-horsepower version of the Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan’s twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V-12 engine, needs just 4.6 seconds to reach 60 mph.

One other standard feature of the Wraith worth mentioning is its unique Satellite Aided Transmission. Using GPS data about the road ahead, the Wraith pre-selects the correct gear for the terrain--effectively shifting intelligently based on topological, road map, and other key data.

Hopefully we’ll have a chance to experience it firsthand when deliveries commence in the fourth quarter of 2013.

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