TIED to its testing progression, it seems Rolls-Royce's all-electric vehicle (EV) will represent a first of many for the marque.
Naturally, the Spectre will be considered the most connected and intelligent Rolls-Royce to date as it'll need to rely on computing technology to capitalize on its fully electric powertrain.
Computing power and application of advanced data-processing technologies is said to feature 141,200 sender-receiver relations, has more than 1,000 functions, and more than 25,000 sub functions - in all supposedly having around three times more sender-receiver signals than its siblings.
The dramatically increased intelligence of its electronic and electric powertrain architecture will enable a free and direct exchange of detailed information between these functions with minimal centralised processing.
Additionally, its software engineering specialists have developed a decentralised intelligence for Spectre to further unlock the potential of this technology.
This is based on data being processed closer to its source rather than being handled in its entirety by a single central processing unit.
What this means for the car is that its reaction time is significantly faster and more detailed when more sophisticated data packets (that not only describe a variable but propose a response) are transmitted.
This carries on to the creation of a newly approved suspension technology following months of continual testing to ensure the Spectre delivers Rolls-Royce's hallmark 'magic carpet ride'.
Currently being refined and perfected at the Autodrome de Miramas and on the roads of the French Riviera, the technology uses a suite of new hardware components to leverage on the car's high-speed processing capabilities.
The sophisticated electronic roll stabilisation system uses data from the Spectre's Flagbearer system to read the road surface ahead, and its satellite navigation system to alert it of upcoming corners.
The system automatically decouples the Spectre's anti-roll bars on straight roads to allow each wheel to act independently.
This is said to prevent the rocking motion that occurs when one side of a vehicle hits an undulation in the road and also dramatically improves high-frequency imperfections in ride caused by smaller, more frequent shortcomings in road surface quality.
The components are then recoupled, the suspension dampers stiffen, and the four-wheel steering system prepares for activation to ensure a smoother entry and exit once a corner is confirmed as imminent.
More than 18 sensors are monitored as steering, braking, power delivery and suspension parameters are adjusted accordingly so that car remains stable while cornering.
Spectre's body rigidity is also a 30 per cent improvement over all existing Rolls-Royce motor cars - making it the most rigid body in the brand's history.
This is achieved by integrating the extremely rigid structure of the battery itself into Spectre's aluminium spaceframe architecture.
Its all-aluminium spaceframe architecture is reinforced with steel sections combined with aluminium body sections that represent the largest of any Rolls-Royce yet.
The one-piece side panel, which extends nearly four metres in length from the front of the A-pillar to behind the rear tail-lights, is the largest 'deep draw' part ever produced by Rolls-Royce.
Its pillarless coach doors are also the longest in brand's history at nearly 1.5 metres in length.
With its new body structure and a redesigned Spirit of Ecstasy, the Spectre is also predicted to have a drag coefficient (cd) of just 0.26, making it the most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce ever created.
This figure has been further reduced to just 0.25 following rigorous wind tunnel testing, digital modelling and continuous high-speed testing in Miramas.
Phase two testing
With at least a million kilometres of further testing to go, the programme has since moved to the more scenic French Riviera region of southern France after the extreme testing conducted in Arjeplog, Sweden earlier this year.
In contrast to the conditions set just 55km from the Arctic Circle, the French Riviera and its roads are said to present a perfect combination of the types of conditions that will be demanded from Spectre's clients as it ranges from technical coastal cliff roads to speedy inland motorways.
A total of 625,000km is to be driven on and around the French Côte d'Azur as part of the car's 2.5 million kilometre global testing programme.
This phase which tests the Spectre for its everyday drive is split into two parts, with the first beginning at the historic Autodrome de Miramas proving ground thats located in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône in Provence.
The 1,198 acre state-of-the-art test and development facility which incorporates 60km of closed routes and 20 test track environments was once a circuit that played host to the 1926 Grand Prix.
Here, the Spectre will be put to a range of road conditions that make use of the irrigation units that create standing water, demanding handling circuits with tight corners and adverse cambers, as well as a heavily banked 3.1 mile three-lane high-speed bowl for continuous high speeds testing.
Part two takes place in a region thats said to be enjoyed by many of Roll-Royce's clients that is in the provençal countryside surrounding the Autodrome de Miramas.
It is said that a significant 55 per cent of testing here has taken place on the very roads that many production Spectres will be driven on following first customer deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023. This provision for testing under local, real-life conditions is repeated in key markets around the world.
Over the course of the Riviera Testing Programme, the marque's experienced engineers will attempt to create a dedicated control for each of the Spectre's 25,000-plus functions - by incorporating variations of response depending on factors including weather, driver behaviour, vehicle status and road conditions.