Rolls-Royce starts testing the Project Cullinan SUV in extreme weather
Rolls-Royce has released another update on the development of its upcoming SUV, code-named the Project Cullinan. The development car is undergoing final testing before it goes on sale in 2018.
Rolls-Royce will start testing the Cullinan mule on public roads soon. Don't be surprised if you're bombarded with spy shots on social media platforms.
The British company says that this very development mule will travel to the Arctic Circle to take part in cold weather durability as well as traction testing, in late December. Later in 2017, the mule will also travel to the Middle East "to endure the highest of temperatures and challenging desert conditions". Rolls-Royce claims that the testing phase will ensure the development SUV delivers ride "on a variety of surfaces and that it is resilient to extreme weather conditions".
Rolls-Royce first announced that it would be building an off-road vehicle like the Bentley Bentayga in 2014. One year later, the carmaker released images of the Project Cullinan, based on its Phantom Series II platform, albeit a shortened version. The Project Cullinan, as Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, says, will bring together "the new four-wheel drive system and the new 'architecture of luxury'".
The Project Cullinan is another stab by a bespoke carmaker at producing an SUV. Lamborghini will also have its Urus SUV ready by 2018-19 while the Bentayga is already on Indian roads, with the diesel-engined counterpart expected next year. Expect a reworked engine from the existing portfolio of Rolls saloons to be used in the Cullinan SUV. Â The Project Cullinan, of course, will be priced closer to the Bentayga, and the Urus will be even more exclusive.