Like Cadillac in the 1990s, Rolls-Royce is battling an aging customer base.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom brought the BMW-owned company back from the brink in 2003, but did so on the back of 50 and 60-year-old buyers. The smaller and more obtainable Ghost, which launched in late 2009, managed to trim a few years from Rolls’ average buyer age, but the world’s youngest millionaires and billionaires were still flocking to Bentley showrooms for the sexier Continental GT.

Enter the Rolls-Royce Wraith.

Riding on a modified Ghost platform, Wraith offers typical Rolls-Royce levels of luxury but in a much more stylish package. But is that enough to woo the world’s youngest jet-setters from their Bentleys? Come with us as we find out.

New direction
Rolls-Royce designers aren’t known for stepping outside of their three-box comfort zone, but that’s exactly where you’ll find Wraith. Although classic Rolls-Royce up front, the Wraith’s bodywork quickly tapers into a slinky silhouette that is more fast-back than traditional coupe.

Wraith’s styling isn’t quite as graceful as the Bentley Continental GT‘s, but it has an undeniable presence. Adding to its visual drama, the Wraith stretches more than 17 feet in length and features Rolls’ signature power-operated coach doors. Wraith’s optional two-tone paint job is also quite striking.

Step inside and you’ll be greeted by acres of only the finest leather and genuine wood. No two Wraiths are exactly the same, but each encompasses a sense of craftsmanship that is unrivaled in the automotive arena. Every Wraith is truly hand made by artisans; the Rolls-Royce factory doesn’t even have a motorized conveyor belt to move the car along during the production process.

Although targeting a fresh demographic, the Wraith hasn’t lost Rolls-Royce’s old world charm. Wraith’s instrument cluster employs gauges that could pass for high-end watch faces, including a power reserve meter in place of a typical tachometer. Every switch and knob has a feel of weight and quality, with most finished in chrome. Rolls-Royce has even gone to the lengths to form most of the Wraith’s inner door panel out of solid wood.

But the Wraith isn’t some relic from a bygone era. Thanks to corporate parent BMW, Rolls-Royce has access to some of the most advanced electronics on the market, including a GPS-assisted automatic transmission (more on this later). The Wraith also boasts a throughly modern infotainment system, although in true Rolls-Royce fashion, it can be covered with a slab of wood at the touch of a button.

The Wraith comes standard with features like adaptive cruise control, collision prevention and lane departure warning, but blind spot monitoring is a glaring omission on the Wraith’s feature list, particularly for a vehicle of this price and size. Strangely, cooled seats are not standard on Wraith; now that they’re optional on a Kia Forte, we feel they should be included here.

In the driver’s seat
Many high-end vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz’ latest S-Class, are now using some form of autonomous driving, but the Wraith still leaves the driving to the carbon-based life form behind the wheel. This isn’t a matter of being stubborn, but listening to its clientele; Rolls-Royce says that its loyal buyers have overwhelmingly vetoed the idea of a self-driving car. And after spending a few hours behind the wheel of the Wraith, we can see why Rolls’ buyers insist on taking the wheel for themselves.

Make no bones about it – Wraith is not a sporty car, despite what its rakish appearance might suggest. In fact, Rolls-Royce only uttered the word “sporty” when describing Wraith’s thicker steering wheel.

What the Wraith is, however, is an extremely comfortable cruiser that soaks up the miles. The coupe’s suspension is optimized to smooth out any road imperfections and all of that leather and wood adds up to a vault-quiet interior. All sense of speed is lost in that silence, with 80 mph feeling more like 55.

Wraith is truly a pleasure to drive, wafting you down the road in a cocoon of comfort and luxury like nothing else on the road.

Rolls-Royce is famous for making drivetrains that are powerful yet don’t feel frenetic, and that tradition continues in the Wraith. With a 624 horsepower twin-turbocharged V12 under-hood, Wraith is the most powerful road-going Rolls-Royce ever built, but it delivers with restraint. No head-snapping acceleration here, just a wave of power that pushes you firmly into those supple leather thrones.

On our test loop just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, we found Wraith’s GPS-aided eight-speed transmission to be smooth and seamless. By using information from its on-board navigation system, Wraith can select the optimal gear for the road ahead. Say, for instance, a hill is upcoming: Wraith can downshift to the correct gear to keep the engine in its power band. From behind the wheel the shifting in imperceptible, but promises instant power by eliminating “gear hunting”.

On a side note, Rolls-Royce says the technology – which was developed by a couple of F1 engineers in their spare time – doesn’t require any extra hardware, so it’s possible we could see GPS transmissions trickle down to lesser vehicles in the coming years, with the BMW brand obviously being the first in line. In addition to the technology’s performance benefits, Rolls says the system also improves fuel economy.

A step up
The Conti GT and Wraith check many of the same boxes, but there is one major factor that set them apart – price.

With a starting price around $290,000, the Wraith is more than $100,000 more expensive than the Bentley. That’s a pretty vast chasm for two vehicle that compete in the same general space, but a calculated move on Rolls-Royce’s part.

Just like Lexus is positioned above Toyota, Rolls-Royce views the Wraith as a step up from the Continental GT. And rightfully so – while the Continental GT is certainly a luxurious vehicle, the Wraith trumps it in terms of all-out opulence.

That classier image should also play a role in the Wraith’s sales. After all, who among the super wealthy would want to be stuck at a red light in their lowly Continental GT alongside the more prestigious Wraith?

Leftlane’s bottom line
Combining chiseled good looks with Rolls-Royce levels of luxury, Wraith is sure to be a winner. Although not a driver’s car like a Bentley, piloting the Wraith is rewarding in its own right.

Chances are slim that we’ll even have the necessary bankroll to purchase a Wraith, but if we ever win the lottery, we’ll certainly consider the Roller over the now ubiquitous Continental GT.

2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith base price, $289,000.

Photos by Drew Johnson.