Apparently, and I have no way to test this claim myself, the seats in the back of a Rolls-Royce Wraith aren’t very comfortable if you’re under a certain height. It’s the seats’ lack of adjustability, according to the critic, who also happens to be my sister.

She claimed that in order to get anything like comfortable she had to sit so low in the seat that it was impossible to see out but, I suspect, the real issue was people not being able to see in.

That wasn’t her only complaint, however, because she also claimed that the pile on the lambswool mats was far too deep. It turns out that you really can’t satisfy everyone.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, surrounded by swathes of leather and wood and peering out of the windscreen at the Spirit of Ecstasy proudly leading the way, I couldn’t help but think that age really had started to catch up with my sister, and that she’d turned into a rambling, confused, grumpy old woman.

Thankfully she’s not a danger to anyone. Yet.

So, for the sake of a balanced review, I’m going to assume that vanity will not prevent the majority of passengers of less than average height getting themselves settled in the back and, on that basis, I’m pleased to report that the Rolls-Royce Wraith is a very comfortable car indeed.

Being a keen driver I’ll always prefer to be sat in the front, of course, where all the action’s at and, in the Wraith, there’s certainly more drama than you’ll find in the average car.

The cabin is swathed in Moccasin leather with the RR monogram woven into the headrests using purple silk. It’s the same silk that features in the bespoke seat piping. The wood veneers appear to draw their inspiration from the classic Italian speedboats of the Fifties while overhead hundreds of LEDs bring the night sky inside thanks to the quite stunning starlight headliner.

That headliner can turn night into day, so bright are the LEDS but, thankfully, it is possible to dim them should you, for some reason, not want the entire world to see for themselves that Rolls-Royce owners are just ordinary people too.

The Wraith is a two-door coupe and the rear-hinged doors swing wide open to ease access to the back seats – my sister doesn’t need another reason to complain after all – which means that to close them would require a rather unseemly lunge to grab the door handle followed by a hernia-inducing tug to haul them shut. I say would because Rolls-Royce kindly fitted the Comfort Entry System which gently closes the doors with the press of a button. Effortless.

The luxury doesn’t end there, of course, there’s a head-up display fitted to keep the need to move your head to a minimum and a clever parking aid that uses cameras on both sides and at the rear to present a top-down representation of your surroundings onto the gorgeous high definition 10.3in display, itself revealed from behind a sliding wood panel. It makes parking far easier than it has any right to be in a car of these proportions.

A lot of the features on this, and other luxury cars, can be found on your run-of-the-mill family hatch these days – such as active cruise control, lane departure warning and even the head up display – but it’s the beautiful way in which they’re implemented that sets the Wraith, and other cars in the Rolls-Royce stable, apart from the norm.

It’s only fair to add that the equipment I’ve listed, all of it, is optional and that the only standard items on the Wraith that I tested were the navigation system, DAB tuner and the stolen vehicle tracking. It’s a sparse list but given the realms of exclusivity in which every Rolls-Royce exists, the breadth of choice on offer gives prospective owners even greater opportunity to create a bespoke machine.

The attention to detail, as you have every right to expect, is second to none and no matter how closely you examine the immaculate stitching, or how long you stare at the beautifully finished wood veneers, that impression remains.

The Wraith is as close to a sports car as Rolls are ever likely to build. While it shares the same underpinnings as the Ghost with self-levelling air suspension and adaptive dampers it has been retuned to provide more responsive, nimbler handling.

While doing that, however, its engineers have not sacrificed the trademark magic carpet ride that Rolls-Royces are revered for.

The two-door fastback body is unmistakeably Rolls-Royce despite its obvious departure from everything that has gone before. It is shorter, lower and wider than the Ghost and, as a result, enjoys a level of dynamism and fluidity that its brethren does not.

The quoted 0-60mph time is a mind-boggling 4.4 seconds. Remember, this is a car that weighs close to two-and-a-half tonnes unladen. It helps, of course, that Rolls have placed - squeezed or stuffed just sounds so uncouth - the 6.6-litre V12 from the Ghost under the bonnet and increased output by just over 10 per cent to 624bhp and 590lbft.

To describe the engine as a beast is to do it an injustice because while it can provide brutal, spine-tingling, buttock-clenching acceleration, it does so in a refined, gentlemanly manner. So well insulated is the cabin, thanks in no small part to the double front bulkhead, that you’d be hard pressed to tell how hard the V12 is working simply by sound alone.

Progress is further refined thanks to a clever feature of the eight-speed ZF gearbox which enjoys a unique relationship with the car’s sat nav. Using the information collected by the GPS it monitors which road you’re on, and where, and then ensures that you’re always in the appropriate gear for what lies ahead.

It’s a brilliantly clever system that assists in a way so subtle as to go unnoticed but its contribution to an immaculate driving experience is so huge that it cannot be overstated.

Despite appearances the Wraith’s sporting ambitions remain limited. It is, first and foremost, a luxury limousine and that’s reflected in its handling. It is, undoubtedly, the most agile Rolls to come off the production line but don’t allow your expectations to run wild.

The steering is, as always, fingertip light and while it is never less than consistent and linear feedback is conspicuous by its absence. Choose your moments, though, and the Wraith is surprisingly easy to drive quickly.

It’s most at home on major roads where its performance is effortlessly accessible but even on smaller roads, where its size and weight become more pronounced thanks to an unwelcome amount of body roll (for a coupe) and more wallow than waft, brisk progress is within reach.

The Wraith looks like a coupe, but behaves like a limousine. At least for the most part. Rolls-Royce haven’t strayed too far from the template in create this stunning fastback but they haven’t had to. It isn’t a pure driver’s car, that would require far too many compromises, but it is a joy to drive.

Rolls-Royce Wraith

Price: £190,940 (exc local taxes)

As tested: £266,530 (exc local taxes)

Engine: 6.6-litre V12

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Power: 624bhp

Torque: 590lbft @ 1,500rpm

Maximum speed: 155mph (regulated)

Acceleration (0-60mph): 4.4sec

Urban: 13.3mpg

Extra urban: 28.8mpg

Combined: 20.2mpg

Emissions (CO2): 327g/km

For more information about Rolls-Royce motor cars visit www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com