Rent Rolls Royce Cullinan 2020 in Dubai

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan 2020 is the original answer to a question the brand had dodged for over a century: what does a Rolls-Royce SUV actually look like? This was the shape that answered it, and it's the one we deliver to your hotel, villa or terminal in Dubai, usually within one to two hours of booking. Ours rents in black, five seats, all-wheel drive. Two more Cullinan model years have followed since 2020, including a facelift, but the drivetrain, the ride and the cabin size underneath are the same car. This page settles whether the first version still delivers the experience, or whether a newer plate is worth paying for.

The first Cullinan, and why the shape still works

Rolls-Royce launched the Cullinan in 2018 and 2019, and 2020 was its first full year on UAE roads. The upright grille and the near-vertical tailgate looked strange on a brand known for saloons, and plenty of people said so at the time. Every luxury SUV that followed it, including the ones from rivals, has spent the years since chasing some version of that same idea: a proper Rolls-Royce cabin sitting higher off the ground. The shape held up because the engineering under it never needed defending. A 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 makes 563 hp and 850 Nm, sent through an eight-speed automatic to all four wheels, and it moves a car of this size to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds without ever sounding like it's working. The air suspension is the real trick. It reads the road ahead through a camera and softens the body before a bump arrives, so patched tarmac and expansion joints disappear in a way no other SUV in Dubai manages. None of that changed when the Series II facelift arrived later. The 2020 gives you the same engine, the same ride and the same cabin volume, just without the updated dashboard screens.

Five seats, and the luggage a Dubai week brings

Five seats, all of them wide, with the rear bench set high enough that passengers look out over surrounding traffic instead of into it. Two adults in the back get real legroom and a seat that doesn't ask them to slouch. The boot behind the seats holds 560 litres, which covers two large cases and a couple of soft bags without folding anything down, so an airport run for a couple or a small family works cleanly. Push it to four adults with a full week of luggage between them and you're loading the boot to its edge rather than leaving room to spare. Fold the rear bench and cargo space opens up considerably, useful if you're collecting anything bulkier than suitcases, though most renters never need to.

A black Rolls in a Dubai summer

Black paint and a July afternoon are not a friendly combination. A car this size, finished dark, parked outside for a few hours, comes back genuinely hot inside, more so than a lighter colour would. The climate system earns its keep here. Cold air reaches the rear seats directly rather than trickling back from the front vents, and once it catches up, the cabin settles into the quietest, coolest seat you'll find in Dubai traffic. Give it a minute or two with the engine running before anyone climbs back in after a long park. On the road, the 173 mm ground clearance and the height-adjustable air suspension take mall ramps and speed bumps without drama, lifting further if you ask it to. Salik tolls and any RTA fines during your rental pass to you as the driver, and seat belts are required in every seat, with a proper child seat for anyone under four. Parking is where you earn your fee. At over 5.3 metres long and two metres wide across the body, wider still with the mirrors out, the Cullinan wants a wide bay and a slow approach in a Marina tower or a tight mall multi-storey. It's built with all-wheel drive and genuine ground clearance for rough ground, but nobody rents a car like this to test that, so keep it on tarmac.

Who should book the 2020, and who should pay for newer

Book the 2020 if what you actually want is the V12, the air suspension and the full-size Cullinan cabin, and you don't care whether the dashboard has the latest digital dials. Mechanically and dimensionally it's the same car Rolls-Royce still builds today, just without the Series II screen and grille update, so you're not giving up performance or ride quality to save on a newer year. Pay more for a newer plate only if the updated interior tech actually matters to you for the week, because that's the only real difference. Either way, the daily allowance is 250 kilometres, with extra distance billed at AED 0.5 per kilometre, and a substantial refundable deposit applies as it does on every car in this class. You'll need to be 25 to take the keys. For a wedding entrance, an airport pickup, or a week where the back seat is the point, the 2020 Cullinan does the job the newer ones do, for less.