There’s no shortage of exotic vehicles that cost more than the average US house, but the Rolls-Royce Dawn convertible stands out as a rather special one. Most convertible vehicles in this price range prioritize speed and performance, but the Dawn envelops its occupants with decadent luxury while presenting an elegant face to the outside world.
In the Rolls-Royce lineup, the Dawn is relatively outdated next to models like the Ghost, Cullinan, and Phantom, while compared to its closest rival, the Bentley Continental GT Convertible, it’s downright ancient. Newer Rolls vehicles ride on the carmaker’s contemporary Architecture of Luxury platform, while the Dawn still uses an older BMW setup shared with the previous-generation BMW 7 Series. Don’t let this hold you back from buying one; the Dawn still relies on a silky 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 engine producing up to 603 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque in Black Badge guise. It’s mated to one of the finest eight-speed transmissions in the world, yielding an effortless driving experience. In the realm of drop-top luxury, the Rolls-Royce Dawn exists in a class of one.
2021 is the Rolls-Royce Dawn’s final year in the US, so we spent a week with a Black Badge on review to see if it’s still worth purchasing. Spoiler alert: it is.
2021 Rolls-Royce Dawn Changes: What’s the difference vs 2020 Dawn?
There are no upgrades when buying a new Rolls-Royce Dawn for 2021. In fact, there’s only bad news. The Dawn and its closed-top sibling Wraith are being axed at the end of the year. The platform that the pair is based on is now causing legislative issues in the USA, resulting in the decision to discontinue. However, the two models will be sold internationally for a further two years.
2021 Rolls-Royce Dawn Changes: What’s the difference vs 2020 Dawn?
There are no upgrades when buying a new Rolls-Royce Dawn for 2021. In fact, there’s only bad news. The Dawn and its closed-top sibling Wraith are being axed at the end of the year. The platform that the pair is based on is now causing legislative issues in the USA, resulting in the decision to discontinue. However, the two models will be sold internationally for a further two years.
Dimensions
Rolls-Royce doesn’t make small cars, even at the more accessible end of its model range. To refer to a Roller as “entry-level” seems wrong, even though the Dawn sits towards the lower end of the company’s price ladder. The Dawn is based on the same platform as the Wraith, which borrowed some components from the F01 BMW 7 Series, discontinued in 2015. Rolls-Royce reworked the platform thoroughly, however. So much so that the wheelbases don’t even match.
The Dawn has an overall length of 208 inches, riding on a 122.5-inch wheelbase. That’s longer than many midsize SUVs. It’s 76.7 inches wide, 59.3 inches tall, and has a curb weight of a whopping 5,644 pounds.
Exterior Colors
The possibilities are endless. In addition to browsing the existing color palette, you can select a coachline color and whether you want twin coachlines or a two-tone feature line. There are also nine hood colors to choose from, ranging from a tasteful basic black, beige or blue, to the simply outrageous Mandarin orange. There isn’t enough space here to list every single color. Still, we can tell you that the palette is broken up into five categories: Standard, Commissioned Collection, Special Order, Crystal Finish, and Iced Finish. Each category has at least nine colors to choose from. Since this is a bespoke product, Royce will also do paint to sample. If you want a Dawn that matches the 1971 Silver Shadow already in the garage, Rolls-Royce can do that for you. Our Dawn Black Badge showed up wearing a wild orange hue called Saint Tropez, making sure every single head turned as we drove past in it.
Rolls-Royce Dawn Performance
A twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V12 powers the Dawn. Sounds epic, right? It is. The power is sent to a rear-wheel drive system via an eight-speed automatic transmission featuring nearly imperceptibly smooth shifts. Though the Dawn weighs more than most three-row SUVs, it scoots to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, or 4.6 seconds in Black Badge specification with more power and torque. Both versions will silently waft around at their top speed – an electronically governed 155 mph – with little effort.
We wouldn’t call the Dawn a performance vehicle, but it has more sporting pretensions than the four-door Rollers. A Bentley Continental GT Convertible would out-accelerate it, but Rollers have never been about outright performance or providing scary nausea-inducing acceleration. In fact, there’s a slight delay in the throttle to ensure maximum acceleration smoothness. The engine provides all of its torque between 1,500 rpm and 4,750 rpm (1,650 rpm in the Black Badge), meaning the power reserve gauge (what you get in lieu of a tachometer) rarely dips past 80% under normal driving. Few cars can move along with such ease, which is why the Dawn commands the big bucks.
Engine and Transmission
The twin-turbo 6.6L V12 produces 563 hp and 605 lb-ft of torque in standard guise. Those numbers jump to 603 hp and 620 lb-ft of torque in the Black Badge as we had on test. We’ve never heard 12 cylinders sound so quiet, as the Dawn barely sounds like it has an engine when driving along moderately. If, however, you’re in the mood for some uncouth driving, the V12 emits a smooth rumble at full tilt that feels elegant yet somehow sporty.
An eight-speed automatic is in charge of transferring all of it to a RWD system with no AWD option, with sportier tuning on the Black Badge model. There are no driving modes to choose from, save for a low transmission mode that dials in slightly more aggressive shifts. Aside from that, you get drive, reverse, and park. This doesn’t mean the gearbox doesn’t have some trickery up its sleeve. It works in conjunction with the GPS, so it knows when a corner or uphill is imminent. If a downshift is required, the car will handle it before you even need a lower gear. There is no need for pedestrian paddle shifters here, as the Dawn simply wants you to sit back and enjoy the pinnacle of open-top motoring.
Handling and Driving Impressions
More than any other vehicle in the Rolls-Royce lineup, the Dawn begs to be driven rather than driven in. The steering is the typical Roll-Royce feather-light affair, but there’s a genuinely direct connection to the road with no vagueness. There’s a slight delay from the throttle, which is likely put there to stop occupants from spilling their sparkling water. It’s not meant for performance driving, but the Dawn can get up to speed in a hurry. We enjoyed putting the transmission into its low setting to hear the dignified growl from the turbocharged V12 with the roof down. Stopping it, even with the Black Badge’s larger brakes proves to be a bigger challenge, as bringing this much weight to a speedy halt feels like a war with physics.
Speaking of the roof, the Dawn is easily the quietest convertible we’ve ever been in, and even with the roof lowered and the double-thick windows up, the wind disturbance in the cabin is minimal. Comfortable driving is this car’s forte, and it does so with more grace than nearly any other car on the market. Bumps are more or less erased by the pillowy suspension, but you can feel the road a bit more than other Rollers. From the driver’s seat, the Dawn is our favorite Rolls-Royce.
Handling and Driving Impressions
More than any other vehicle in the Rolls-Royce lineup, the Dawn begs to be driven rather than driven in. The steering is the typical Roll-Royce feather-light affair, but there’s a genuinely direct connection to the road with no vagueness. There’s a slight delay from the throttle, which is likely put there to stop occupants from spilling their sparkling water. It’s not meant for performance driving, but the Dawn can get up to speed in a hurry. We enjoyed putting the transmission into its low setting to hear the dignified growl from the turbocharged V12 with the roof down. Stopping it, even with the Black Badge’s larger brakes proves to be a bigger challenge, as bringing this much weight to a speedy halt feels like a war with physics.
Speaking of the roof, the Dawn is easily the quietest convertible we’ve ever been in, and even with the roof lowered and the double-thick windows up, the wind disturbance in the cabin is minimal. Comfortable driving is this car’s forte, and it does so with more grace than nearly any other car on the market. Bumps are more or less erased by the pillowy suspension, but you can feel the road a bit more than other Rollers. From the driver’s seat, the Dawn is our favorite Rolls-Royce.
Dawn Interior
Rolls-Royce interiors are about as good as it gets. You’d have to look long and hard to find a piece of material that wasn’t meticulously crafted to be as good as it possibly can be. The only piece of hard plastic is the top of the seat belt buckle, and it’s legally required to be there. The rest of it is also wrapped in leather. Talking of leather, Rolls-Royce peels only the finest bulls to create its leather interiors. It has trusted the same farm for two decades, and the bulls are treated like British royalty.
Rolls has three standard interiors – or Environments as it refers to them – to choose from: Horizon, Signature, and Atmospheric. A fourth and final option exists called Bespoke, in which case you can select the color of the seat main body, valance, seatbacks, gussets, and seat inners. Even the existing Environments offer a wide variety of customization options, ranging from a wide selection of wood and metal veneers to the kind of clock you want. There simply is nothing short of a coachbuilt experience that allows you to customize every element in the same detail as this, leading us to believe that luxury isn’t just determined by the final product, but rather the experience in getting there.
Seating and Interior Space
Few two-door vehicles genuinely offer comfortable seating for four adults, but the Rolls-Royce Dawn is the best you can get when it comes to 4-seater droptops. Much of the Dawn’s length is taken up by a massive hood, but the car still manages to offer 41.5 inches of legroom up front and 36.9 inches in the rear. Headroom in the back is rather generous as well with 37.9 inches. Rolls says the Dawn can accommodate three of your six-foot-tall friends in comfort for some top-down driving around Miami or Monaco. Buyers who plan to never use the rear seats can opt for the Aero Cowling tonneau cover, which reduces the seating down to two. Don’t worry, the cover is removable in case the in-laws come to visit.
Interior Colors and Materials
As is the case with the exterior hues, there are far too many options to mention. The primary color selection is broken up into Standard, Commissioned Collection, and Special Order. The Standard selection consists of nine restrained colors, including Black, Dark Spice, and Mocassin, to name just a few. The Special catalog consists of 20 options, including superb options like Pine Green and Fawn Brown and ridiculous options like Blushing Pink. Once you select the primary color, you choose the secondary color, which consists of similar colors available in the primary selection. Royce helps you out a bit by making suggestions on which colors work well together. Our tester shipped with clean white leather, paired with bold orange accents to match the exterior.
In terms of metal trim, the two options are Brushed Aluminium and a Dark Brushed metal finish. Wood remains the favored trim option. There are nine wood options to choose from, ranging from a darker Smoked Chestnut to a lighter Ash Burr. Carbon Fiber comes standard on the Black Badge, but to us, it doesn’t fit in well with the brand’s identity. We’d have Rolls-Royce custom make our trim using a unique material, like volcanic ash. Write a blank check to Rolls-Royce, and you can have nearly anything.
Dawn Trunk and Cargo Space
The Dawn may ride on a large platform, but the exquisitely crafted convertible top eats into what little space there is in the trunk. Rolls-Royce claims the Dawn has a 10.4 cubic foot trunk. To put that in perspective, the BMW M8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class Convertibles provide more than 12 cubic feet. Luckily, being rich means getting around this by sending luggage ahead and only keeping two overnight tailor-made suitcases in the car.
Interior storage depends on the Environment. Naturally, you can opt for a wine cooler, but the standard configuration comes with storage compartments between the two front and two rear seats. Cupholders are hidden beneath a wooden veneer, and a smartphone can be clicked into a wireless charger in the front armrest.
