More details: New turbo V12 for baby Rolls

ROLLS-ROYCE has kicked off the first leg of its new baby’s world tour by revealing the production version of the 200EX concept that wowed Geneva motor show crowds early this month will be motivated by a new turbocharged 6.6-litre V12 that produces more than 500hp (373kW).

The British brand has freely admitted its all-new entry-level sedan will therefore not only be more powerful than the Phantom, which is powered by a naturally-aspirated direct-injection 6.75-litre V12 offering 338kW and 720Nm of torque, but also cleaner-burning and more fuel-efficient.

Said to be unique to Rolls-Royce, the force-fed V12 will be mated exclusively to ZF’s new eight-speed automatic transmission.

The first technical details of the all-new model were announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Tom Purves at a press conference in New York on March 23, when the company kicked off a world customer tour of the 200EX concept that will also visit Singapore (April 3-4), Miami (May 19-20), Los Angeles (May 26-28), London (June 9-11) and Cannes (July 2-4).

Officially, the 200EX “experimental show car” previews the design direction of an all-new sub-Phantom model. Codenamed RR4 and sharing some of its fundamental components with BMW’s redesigned 7 Series flagship, the new entry-level model will join the Phantom model family in Rolls-Royce’s range late this year.

“There has been a great deal of interest in this car since we first talked about producing a new model series in the autumn of 2006 and the reaction 200EX received at its unveiling at Geneva was very positive,” said Mr Purves.

“As we move another step closer to the start of production at Goodwood, it is exciting to be able to share some of the specific technical details with customers and the media.

“RR4 will deliver an authentic Rolls-Royce experience to owners, so expect peerless comfort and build quality. However, we have consciously engineered this car to be more involving and dynamic for those owners around the world that will wish to drive it themselves,” he said.

Rolls-Royce sold 1212 vehicles globally in 2008, representing a 20 per cent increase on 2007 figures and the fifth consecutive year of sales growth since its new owner BMW launched the Phantom in 2003. It said it will divulge further RR4 details as the tour progresses.

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