Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Reviews

Rolls-Royce has slashed the price of its most basic model to, er, a little more than half a million dollars. Want to drive a bargain? Rolls-Royce has slashed $100,000 off the price of its most affordable model, the Ghost sedan. There is just one catch: it will still cost $545,000 (drive-away, no more to pay) or roughly the average price of a house in Australia. The British brand unveiled the new model in Sydney on Tuesday, announcing that it deleted several luxury items to trim $100,000 off the price. RELATED: Will privately imported cars really be cheaper?MORE: Luxury buyers the big winners if import rules change The updated Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II no longer comes standard with lambs wool floor mats, a sunroof, remote central locking, electrically-adjusted rear seats or aircraft-style tables that fold down behind the front seats. Instead, these items are now individual options. “We want to make Rolls-Royce more accessible to younger buyers,” said Paul Harris, the Asia-Pacific regional director for Rolls-Royce cars. The price cut comes as figures show Rolls-Royce sales are on a roll in Australia -- up by a staggering 183 per cent -- from, er, 12 deliveries in the first 10 months of last year, to 34 deliveries nationally so far in 2014. Rolls-Royce insists the price cut is not a knee-jerk reaction to the Federal Government’s plan to allow buyers to import new cars privately. When asked if Rolls-Royce was concerned about the Federal Government’s proposal to allow buyers to privately import new cars to save thousands of dollars, Mr Harris said: “It wouldn’t make a difference, our prices are the same across the region, before taxes are included.” When asked if someone imported a new Rolls-Royce from the UK, where they are significantly cheaper, Mr Harris said: “Then the customer wouldn’t have a warranty. The warranty comes with the car delivered by a dealer in Australia.” It may be prudent to have a factory-backed warranty as almost every Rolls-Royce sold in Australia over the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 was recalled two years ago because the brakes could fail, or the car could catch fire. The car industry is fighting the Federal Government’s plan to allow private buyers to import their own cars. Initially, the government thought it would lead to cheaper prices for mass market models. But numerous studies have shown that prices for cars less than the $61,884 Luxury Car Tax threshold are similar to or cheaper than overseas models. However, a large gap emerges above $100,000, where almost all cars are cheaper in Europe and the USA than in Australia.

Anonymous internet hoons Tax The Rich mow the lawn with a Rolls-Royce Wraith.The last time we heard from Tax the Rich, they were setting a Jag XJ220 on fire.  Now they've graced the internet once again with a video of a $645,000 Rolls Royce Wraith being taken...well...out of its comfort zone.If you’ve ever wondered how Rolls’ latest mega coupe would handle a hay bale slalom over the manicured lawns of an English country estate, wonder no more thanks to Tax The Rich.In spite of how well the Roller appears to handle this most unusual of assignments, it is quite unlikely we'll be seeing it line up in Coffs Harbour for Rally Australia next year. Which is unfortunate as that would be quite the spectacle.For the uninitiated, Tax the Rich are rather fond of taking supercars out of their smooth-bitumen native environs and thrashing them around their farm.Along with trying to set it on fire Tax the Rich have taken the XJ220 on a traipse through the countryside, played tug-of-war with a pair of Ferrari F50s, spent a wet afternoon going sideways in an Enzo as well as giving us a taste of what the Ferrari 288 GTO would have been like had Group B rallying not been killed off.

The New York motor show in April will see the announcement of which vehicle has won the 2014 World COTY, and there looks to be a tough -- and very varied -- field of finalists.Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Golf, which also took awards in pretty well every country on the globe. But this year it could be anything from the little electric BMW i3 to the offroading Jeep Cherokee and even the Citroen C4 peoplemover, judging by the shortlist.A panel of 69 motoring experts from around the world -- including Carsguide's Paul Gover and National Motoring Editor Joshua Dowling -- will choose the winner from: Audi A3, BMW 4 Series, BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Ford Fusion/Mondeo, Infiniti Q50, Jeep Cherokee, Lexus IS, Mazda3, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia.The 10 finalists for the 2014 World Luxury Car are the Bentley Flying Spur, BMW X5, Cadillac ELR, Cadillac Escalade, Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Macan, Range Rover Sport and Rolls-Royce Wraith.Due to a tie, there are 11 finalists for the 2014 World Performance Car: Alfa Romeo 4C, Audi RS 6 Avant, BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ford Fiesta ST, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche 911 Turbo and Volkswagen Golf GTI.A separate panel of five 'green' experts will choose the 2014 World Green Car from Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas), BMW i3, Honda Accord Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Volkswagen XL1.Similarly, a panel of five design experts will decide on the 2014 World Car Design of the Year, from among: BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volkswagen XL1.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Dubai is well known for its supercars, with even the police having their own fleet, and the university student carpark being crammed with the likes of Bugatti Veyrons and Rolls-Royces.And while those cars are the province of the wealthy in the booming economy, there's also increasing car ownership by the average less-monied residents -- and that means increasing traffic congestion.But Dubai's civic leader has a novel suggestion for clearing the roads: limit car ownership to the wealthy. "Everybody has their luxury life, but the capacity of our roads cannot take all of these cars without ownership laws," Director general Hussain Lootah said in a conference address in Germany that was reported in Arab Emirates news site The National.Lootah said one option to clear the roads would limit car ownership to those who had a monthly income above a certain level, yet to be decided. He added that car pooling would not work for the less wealthy, as the country had such a diverse population -- with more than 200 nationalities represented (many as indentured workers) -- so a public awareness program would be difficult.He believes restricting the ownership of cars would encourage the less-wealthy to use public transport such as buses, taxis and a new tram system in the process of being rolled out.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

We all know the Middle East has a healthy abundance of big-dollar luxury and supercars, but this video juxtaposes the typical ‘bunch of hoons hanging in a carpark' situation with exotica from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Rolls Royce.This Ken Block-wannabe Ferrari 599 driver clearly has the budget of Block, but the skill level of a P-plater in a Gemini in the mall carpark after Coles shuts, as he slides precariously past a Ferrari 458, a pair of Californias, a Porsche 911 Cabriolet, a drop-top Aston and a Rolls-Royce Ghost - and a relatively pedestrian C7 Corvette.However unlike many Hagwalah drift videos, the gathering survives the clip unscathed, so perhaps the graduation from the usual Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord fare is just the ticket to successful Middle Eastern drifting.Watch the Ferrari drifting around other exotics video on our desktop site. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

Rolls-Royce has joined Bentley in a performance push at the top end of motoring and has upgraded the output of its 6.6-litre Ghost, which was already “more than adequate”, to a high-performance “perfectly adequate”.The car’s V12 engine has been tuned to liberate an extra 22 kiloWatts, with 80 per cent of the power available from idle. The result is a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.7 seconds, despite the heft of a car that qualifies as a full-scale limousine.Rolls-Royce has tagged the result as its Ghost V-Specification and has upgraded it with everything from 21-inch polished alloy wheels to ‘visible’ chrome exhausts and a number of V-Specification logos on everything from the pinstriping on the body to the seats.“Wraith has built on the success of Ghost in attracting younger, more dynamic group of successful men and women to the marque. Ghost V-Specification’s contemporary aesthetic reflects this,” the global production communications manager, Andrew Boyle, tells Carsguide.Production has already begun on the V-Specification cars and will run until June, although Boyle cannot confirm final pricing or numbers for Australia despite acknowledging the car will top the $645,000 sticker for a regular Ghost.The V-Specification comes as Rolls-Royce works to lower the age of its owners, a number that’s been coming down since the arrival of the Ghost in 2009 and the arrival of the Ghost-based Wraith coupe last year. But Rolls-Royce denies any long-term performance push.“It is a one-off vehicle available for a limited period of time. We have asked our engineers to deliver a small power increase to add to its exclusivity,” says Boyle. “V-specification does not change the character of a Rolls-Royce; it merely offers another bespoke Collection to our connoisseur and collector customers.But what about a V-Specification car based on the Wraith, which already starts with a harder edge. “We have no current plans to announce in this direction. In short, no. Ghost and Wraith engineering teams are separate. The company also resists any comparison with Bentley, or suggestions that the two brands are engaged in any sort of arms race.“Rolls-Royce and Bentley are two very different marques that operate in two distinct market segments. As the world’s leading super-luxury goods company our competition comes from goods outside the automotive sector such as helicopters, fine art, yachts.“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars would never 'push the power' of its models. We engineer our cars with a commitment to fine engineering and craftsmanship. Mass-luxury segment model marketing techniques never inform our thinking. And there is a sideswipe for Bentley, too.“We do not chase volume. Our customers value the rarity of these automotive works of art and do not wish to see them on every street corner. A volume driven approach may be appropriate to other organisations, but is not appropriate for Rolls-Royce.”But Bentley has just sharpened the power of its Continental GT V8 S and is coming off a record sales year, with global deliveries in 2013 up by 19 per cent to 10,120 cars. According to Bentley’s chairman, Wolfgang Schreiber, the S - available as both a coupe and convertible - is more of the same for the GT.“It is more agile, with with a lower and uprated suspension, faster, with more power and more distinctive with its signature S styling and a unique V8 S soundtrack,” he says. Power is up to 389 kiloWatts, with peak torque of 680 Newton-metres for a 0-100km/h that just edges the V-Specification at 4.3 seconds.

There's rich, and then there's completely over-indulged. Undergraduate students at a university in Dubai stuff the carpark with a fleet of supercars that are their daily drivers. The American University of Dubai students turn up for classes in a range of exotic and expensive metal that looks like a convoy from a Top Gear episode.  Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Porsches and Maseratis have all been photographed in the carpark by one of the students, Meeka Nasser, who has posted them on Reddit.Nasser has told media he was astounded by the high-end level of vehicles in the carpark. "Because $200,000 Cayennes and Range Rovers are a dime a dozen here, I only included a few of them in the album. Keep in mind, almost all of the students are between 18 and 24 years old, as the graduate programe is pretty tiny here. The students that drive the insanely expensive cars (Rolls Royces and Bentleys etc.) are usually local (Emirati) for those wonderin," he wrote.The American University in Dubai is a private university that has been operating in the United Arab Emirates capital for nearly 20 years, and aims to offer an American-style education to both Emirates residents and expatriates. Tuition starts at a base level of around $12,000 per semester.

We've seen Tax The Rich punishing a Ferrari Enzo before, but this time they're giving us a closer look at the action in all the grace of slow-motion.It's the latest in a series from the mystery team, who take supercars to places they're never supposed to be. Over the past couple of years we've seen the Enzo, a Ferrari 288 GTO, Bugatti EB110 SS, Rolls Royce Phantom, twin Ferrari F50s and a Jaguar XJ220 thrashed through farm paddocks and down crumbling rural bitumen, dirt and gravel roads.While the identity of the Tax The Rich driver is officially unknown -- and despite his denials -- it's becoming increasingly obvious there's a connection to Harry Hunt, the rally driver son of Brit real estate magnate Jon Hunt, who's the owner of the palatial Heveningham Hall manor estate identifiable in some of the videos.Watch the Ferarri drifting, sliding and doing burnouts.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Ken Block makes do with a specially-built Ford Fiesta Gymkhana thrash machine for his video ventures, but the anonymous souls at Tax The Rich like to create their sideways sequences using museum-grade thoroughbred supercars or ultra-luxury machines.Over the past 18 months we’ve seen a Ferrari 288 GTO, Bugatti EB110 SS, Rolls Royce Phantom, twin Ferrari F50s, a Ferrari Enzo, and a Jaguar XJ220 thrashed mercilessly around their agricultural playground, to the chagrin of supercar fanciers and the guilty pleasure of everyone else.For their latest and tenth instalment, the mega-dollar 288 GTO returns to the Tax The Rich farm, where they put it through the usual opposite-lock action across mud, gravel and tarmac, all to the tune of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.The 288 GTO was developed for Group B rallying, but never raced due to the disbanding of the category, and the 272 road cars are now worth serious money. Perfect for the Tax The Rich treatment then!The highlight this time are the slo-mo figure-eights the GTO executes within the tight confines of a hay shed, with its composite body slewing sideways just inches from brick walls.And as with recent entries, it looks like there’s a clue to the subject of the next Tax The Rich instalment, with what looks to be a prototype Ferrari F40 (chassis 74047 as seen below) appearing through smoke at the end of the film. If so, it will be the most precious to be pummelled yet.While the identities of the Tax The Rich progenitors officially remain a mystery, the elaborate gates shown in the Phantom film just happen to signify the entrance to Heveningham Hall, a palatial 25 bedroom manor that makes Downton Abbey look like an outhouse, set in 460 acres of lush Suffolk farmland. Significantly, Heveningham Hall is owned by real-estate magnate Jon Hunt, and his rally driver son Harry…This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn Watch the desktop version of the Tax The Rich Ferrari 288 GTO video here.  

No, this isn't another of those hoaxes showing a supposedly diamond-covered car owned by a Middle-East sheik -- which always turn out to be a crystal covered show car created for a US customisation house.These are real diamonds, and the car has been built by Rolls-Royce's in-house special options team. The one-off edition Celestial Phantom was unveiled overnight at Dubai international motor show with a whole new level of bling.The skilled handcrafting team in Rolls-Royce's Bespoke department have set 446 jewelry-grade diamonds in the Phantom's doors, centre console and rear seat privacy divider -- proving there is probably no limit to what can be ordered from Rolls-Royce as a personal modification.Like other Rolls-Royces, the Celestial Phantom has the option of a 'starlight headliner' -- an inner roof set with more than 1000 fibre optic lights to mimic the night sky. But on the Dubai show car, the headliner is a precise sky map of the exact positions of those stars as seen over the brand's British headquarters on January 1, 2003: the date the first Celestial Phantom was handed over to its new owner.Rolls-Royce worked with a UK planetarium to map out the roof, guaranteed to be as astronomically correct as the car's price is guaranteed to be astronomically high. They're not revealing the price tag, but the car is likely to go into a serious collector's garage.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott