2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn Review

Rolls-Royce prides itself on creating the smoothest driving experience, and we have no reason to doubt the Dawn will be any different. Don't think of it as a sports car, rather an incredibly smooth and comfortable cruiser.

Aside from simply being a Rolls-Royce, the Dawn's chief selling point is as a convertible four-seater. Rolls-Royce made sure that four adults could fit in complete comfort, and that the top opens and closes in complete silence.

With about as much leather and wood as a luxury steamship, the Dawn's interior is inviting, warm and comfortable. It's not a jetplane cockpit-like experience, but more a tea room or cigar lounge. Large reverse-hinged doors making entry and exit an event.

Trunk space is deep and perfect for two people's luggage, but unless you travel with light packers, fitting four people's worth of stuff might be tough. You won't have to worry about bringing an umbrella — it's included. Silk-lined door pockets are perfect for holding delicate items.

Though you can't touch the screen on the Dawn, the touch surface on top of the Spirit of Ecstasy Rotary Controller features handwriting recognition. Otherwise, luxury-car staples such as night vision and adaptive cruise control are standard.

With just one Dawn version to pick from, the only recommendation we could make would involve specific builds. If you're a responsible type who can handle white leather interiors, we recommend one of the new for 2017 Inspired by Fashion configurations. Cobalto Blue, Mandarin and Mugello Red on the seamless fabric top and interior leather combine with white and black leather and piano white lacquered pieces. The piano white pieces take nine days to lacquer, and they are embedded with aluminum particles, giving the pieces a silky effect. Of course, there's also real silk inside the door pockets.

The Dawn may come in one mechanical specification, which is a two-door, four-seater powered by a turbocharged 6.6-liter V12 engine (563 horsepower, 575 pound-feet of torque) driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. But the owner gets to pick how the rest of the car is built. Thankfully Rolls-Royce made sure the Dawn includes all the technology and customization options that luxury car owners expect. This includes a 16-speaker Bespoke Audio system, a 10.3-inch navigation display based on BMW's familiar iDrive system, and adaptive cruise control. This system was chosen specifically for its ability to provide a button-free aesthetic thanks to voice command and a multitouch compatible pad atop the "Spirit of Ecstasy Rotary Controller" (yes, that's what it's called) that recognizes touch and handwriting inputs. The Dawn lacks touchscreen capability due to the obvious unwanted side effect of fingerprints on the screen. All the better, so you can have more square footage of natural or lacquered-finish wood paneling. Adaptive LED headlights light up the way, and radar cruise control aims to take the edge off of bumper-to-bumper seaside traffic. When you get out on the open road, a clever GPS-based system can fine-tune the engine and transmission for ultimate smoothness by knowing the grade and radius of the road ahead. Finally, the doors hinge from the back, and as is typical with Rolls-Royce, an umbrella is stored in the forward doorjamb in its own vented compartment.