Rolls-Royce Dawn (2016 – present) | Expert Rating [hide]
Summary
After being unveiled at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show, the Rolls-Royce Dawn arrived on UK roads in early 2016 as a luxury two-door convertible.
With the subsequent discontinuation of the Phantom Drophead Coupé, the Dawn is now the only open-top model on offer from Rolls-Royce. It’s based on the Wraith coupe and powered by a 6.6-litre V12 engine that puts out 571hp in standard form – a Dawn Black Badge model launch in 2018 uprated the power to 601hp.
Like most Rolls-Royce models, there are regular special edition and bespoke models that go anove and beyond the already extensive specification of the regular versions.
Reviewers are highly positive about the Dawn, a car Parkers describes as “highly impressive automotive art as well as a means of getting from A to B.”
At more than five metres long it’s a massive car which means plenty of room for four adults to travel in ultimate luxury. However pity the driver, because you won’t be squeezing this giant into a typical supermarket parking space.
The car is considered elegant in looks, the electrically folding soft top exquisite in operation and the interior top class. “This is feelgood motoring with a capital F,” says Car. “The interior has a clear focus on pampering: the seats are huge and plump and upholstered in the finest leather front and rear.”
There are minus points – for an adult, getting into that roomy rear is not that easy, while some of the tech grates a little, interior details such as the drive controller and key rather too reminiscent of the BMW 7 Series they are evolved from. “While Rolls has added its own fonts and colours to the infotainment system, fundamentally, it’s still BMW’s iDrive,” says Auto Express.
Overall, however, the Dawn is considered a one-off experience, summed up by Top Gear; “It’s not for shrinking violets and is a jaw-dropping thing to behold in the flesh: needless to say, the quarter-million pound price tag is just the starting point.”
As of November 2021, the Rolls-Royce Dawn holds an Expert Rating of 83% based on 17 reviews.
Rolls-Royce Dawn highlights
- Spacious four-seater
- Smooth and powerful
- Highly luxurious
- Impressive electric soft-top
Rolls-Royce Dawn lowlights
- Gargantuan car is hard to park
- Big car, tiny boot
- Tech detailing slightly low-rent
- Hugely expensive
Key specifications
Body style: large convertibleEngine: petrol
Price: From £282,000 on-road
Launched: Winter 2015/16Last updated: Summer 2021
Replacement due: TBA
Image gallery
Rolls-Royce Dawn ‘Inspired by Music’
Rolls-Royce Dawn ‘Inspired by Music’
Rolls-Royce Dawn with aero cowl
Media reviews
Reviews, road test and comparisons from across the UK automotive media. Click any of the boxes to view.
Auto Express
Model reviewed: Score: 8 / 10“The Rolls-Royce Dawn is the brand’s most opulent and extravagant drop-top ever, but such luxury doesn’t come cheap.”
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Model reviewed: Score: 8 / 10“The Rolls Royce Dawn manages to mix complete luxury with surprisingly adept driving manners.”
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Auto Trader
Model reviewed: Score: 8 / 10“There are plenty of luxury convertibles on offer these days, but none quite like the Rolls Royce Dawn. Hand-built from the finest materials, and with the on-road character of a luxury limousine, the Dawn is a car with virtually no direct rivals.”
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Autocar
Model reviewed: Score: 8 / 10“The Rolls-Royce Dawn’s silken refinement, debonair sense of deportment and traffic-stopping roof-down presence can’t be matched by any other maker of convertibles, and so its price is – believe it or not – perfectly justifiable for anyone looking for such qualities above all else.”
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Car
Model reviewed: Score: 10 / 10“The Rolls Royce Dawn has real substance behind it – with quality, roominess and a fabulously hushed drive to make you feel special every single day.”
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Carbuyer
Model reviewed: Score: 7.6 / 10“The Rolls-Royce Dawn is incomparable to any other convertible in its luxury and extravagance.”
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Daily Mail
Model reviewed: Score: 10 / 10“When you travel in such luxury, in such a marvellous machine, you feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven.” (Chris Evans)
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Model reviewed: “If you could bottle up sex appeal from a motor car, Rolls-Royce could be on course to make a mint from the Dawn convertible.”
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Eurekar
Model reviewed: “The Rolls-Royce Dawn is a superbly elegant long-distance tourer powered by a 6.6-litre turbocharged V12 that whisks it effortlessly and silently to 62 miles per hour in just five seconds. Despite its size, the Dawn handles superbly. There is a little body roll but it’s all beautifully controllable.”
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Evo
Model reviewed: “The Rolls Royce Dawn blends the very best in refinement with the finest of opulence.”
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Honest John
Model reviewed: “The Dawn is the most elegant recent Rolls Royce.”
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Parkers
Model reviewed: Score: 9 / 10“Cabriolets don’t come more luxurious than the Rolls Royce Dawn.”
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The Sun
Model reviewed: “The Rolls-Royce Dawn is truly special and as calm and relaxing as a spa. It has four full-size seats lavished in butter-soft leather, sumptuous carpets, the finest wood and a fabric silk-lined roof that opens and closes in complete silence.”
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The Sunday Times
Model reviewed: Score: 8 / 10“The Rolls Royce Dawn is in a class of its own.”
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The Telegraph
Model reviewed: Score: 10 / 10“The Rolls-Royce Dawn represents a crushing demonstration of luxury motoring, easy-yet-invigorating to drive, beautiful to behold and an event to even be around, let alone travel in. Sublime.”
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Top Gear
Model reviewed: Score: 9 / 10“Another incredible achievement from Rolls. The Dawn is immeasurably fine.”
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What Car?
Model reviewed: Score: 10 / 10“The daunting sums involved buying a Rolls-Royce Dawn will not concern its tiny pool of buyers one bit; they’ll simply be interested in its comfort, refinement and quality – and in that regard, the Dawn sits in a class of one.”
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Safety rating
No safety rating
To absolutely no-one’s surprise, the Rolls-Royce Dawn has not been crash-tested by independent safety authority, Euro NCAP. Having to buy a few Dawns for testing would probably blow Euro NCAP’s budget for the whole year, so it’s unlikely to ever happen.
Eco rating
No eco rating
The Rolls-Royce Dawn has not been lab tested by Green NCAP. Again, not expecting it to happen anytime soon, so you’ll have to use your imagination to work out how environmentally friendly an enormous convertible powered by a 6.8-litre petrol V12 might be.
Awards
Trophies, prizes and awards that the Rolls-Royce Dawn has received
2017
- UK Car of the Year Awards – Best Luxury Car
2016
- Telegraph Cars Awards – Best Luxury Car
Similar cars
If you’re looking at the Rolls-Royce Dawn, you might also be interested in these alternatives
Bentley Continental GT Convertible | Mercedes-Maybach S 560
There really is no obvious rival to the Rolls-Royce Dawn. Buyers spend this kind of money because they want a Rolls-Royce and they choose the Dawn because they want a soft-top with the Spirit of Ecstacy badge.
The nearest luxury offering, the Bentley Continental GT Convertible, is a very different kind of car and if you are looking for ‘proper’ four-seat convertibles you go to the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz – and you could buy two or three or four for the price of a single Dawn…
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Keyword: Rolls-Royce Dawn