2005 Bentley Arnage R vs. 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom Interior & Exterior Photos

BMW has made digitally remastering iconic British automobiles into an art form, and the Phantom is probably its best work yet. It's exactly what you expect a Rolls-Royce to be on the outside--one imperious, outta-my-way, expensive-looking automobile--and it doesn't disappoint when you open the door and climb in. The dash looks like art-deco cabinetry, and the retro-style thin-rimmed steering wheel and pressed-tin instruments have been executed with such loving care you can't help but smile. The technology is artfully hidden: BMW's iDrive controller pops out of the center console, and the analog clock in the center of the dash tumbles like the revolving numberplates on 007's Aston DB5 to reveal the on-board computer screen. The rear seat is spectacular, from the pure theater of the rear-hinged rear doors with their umbrellas stored within, to the art-deco-style lights and mirrors in the C-pillars, to the couchlike shape of the seat itself.

The Bentley initially feels the driver's car: That big ol' V-8 thunders like a distant broadside from the USS Missouri when you nail the gas, and you find yourself grinning in disbelief as 5714 pounds of British luxury lifts its skirts and makes one giant elastic lunge for the horizon. So muscular is the engine in the midrange--peak torque is 616 pound-feet at 3250 rpm--that you find yourself gaining on traffic and approaching corners a lot quicker than you expect. Big tires (our tester rolled on the optional 19-inch chromed alloys and 255/45ZR19 Pirelli PZero Assimetrico rubber), adjustable damping, and monster brakes (it outbrakes an Escalade by 20 feet from 60 mph and a whopping 74 feet from 100 mph) keep everything commendably tidy in the twisty bits. But it's still like doing the tango with an elephant on amphetamines.

The Phantom wafts from corner to corner with little apparent effort or noise. The ride, aided and abetted by the relatively high profile tires on those giant 21-inch wheels, is sublime, with only a muted thump signaling the worst road acne. But its smoothness, silence, and size--you sit eyeball to eyeball with Tahoe drivers--conspire to make the Phantom a deceptively fast ride: We often found ourselves cruising at 100 mph on the freeway thinking we were lounging along at 80 or so. We were surprised at the track, too: With a time of 5.7 seconds, the big Phantom was two tenths of a second quicker to 60 mph than the Bentley, and at 14.3 seconds, a tenth quicker over the quarter mile. The Phantom rolls more than the Bentley through corners and is less throttle-adjustable, though it turns in better and grips just as well.

The Bentley impresses because it's faster and more fun than you expect, but the Rolls-Royce makes you feel truly special. That skinny steering wheel suddenly makes sense: You don't steer the Phantom, you guide it with your fingertips while you and your passengers are cosseted and cocooned from the vicissitudes of daily life. The Phantom evokes a sense of serenity that's unlike anything else on the road. In an era when time is the world's most valuable commodity, that makes it the world's best luxury car.