Rolls-Royce begins testing on Project Cullinan, the company’s first SUV. Project Cullinan begins development programme as engineering mule appeared in public last week. The car is named after the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever unearthed.
This early engineering mule, based on a shortened Phantom Series II body, has been created to begin the development of an all-wheel drive suspension system that “will deliver a ride that will be Effortless … Everywhere.” The body may hint at the size of the new car, but it features no design aspects of the eventual high-sided, all-terrain motor car announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in February this year.
The mule rides on the first iteration of an all-new suspension that will assist Rolls-Royce engineers in developing a final all-wheel drive system that delivers Rolls-Royce’s hallmark “magic-carpet” ride not only on the road, but off-road too.
The first series of tests will focus on Project Cullinan’s on-road behaviour from suspension throw to high-bodied stability, and will test the new suspension across all types of road surface: cobblestones, corrugated concrete, Belgian Pavé, noise development and measurement surfaces, resonance road, and acceleration bumps.
