Posted on March 6th, 2008 by Auto News
Famed design studio Zagato has modified everything from Ferraris to Aston Martins in its illustrious history. Now, at the 2008 Geneva auto show, Zagato is presenting a modified Bentley Continental GT Speed.
The Zagato GTZ appears far more aggressive than a regular GT Speed. Hood scoops, a front splitter, lower side skirts, and new wheels make the GTZ look more like a sports car than anything Bentley builds from the factory. Zagato??™s signature ???double bubble??? roof is present, too.
At the 2007 Geneva auto show, Zagato showed off a modified Spyker C8 with aggressive bodywork and a more powerful engine called the C12 Zagato. It sported a gorgeous leather interior with a brushed aluminum dashboard, and the body touted aggressive scoops, vents, and splitters. Zagato also replaced the C8??™s 4.2-liter Audi V-8 with VW??™s 6.0-liter W-12, upping output from 400 to 493 horsepower. That was reportedly enough to improve the Spyker C8??™s 0-to-62-mph time from 4.5 to 3.8 seconds.
If the Zagato uses the twin-turbo W-12 engine from the GT Speed, the GTZ will have 602 horsepower on tap and be good for more than 200 mph. Based on Zagato??™s history of making fast cars even faster, we expect it to up the output for the GTZ.
Don??™t expect to see many Zagato GTZs on the street. The C12 Zagato cost $650,000, and only 24 were to be built. We expect the GTZ to be similarly expensive and rare. Our eyes thank Zagato for that.
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Posted on December 27th, 2007 by Auto News
Well, Bentley has rectified that situation by creating the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed, a special variant meant to recall Bentley Speed models of yore and one that has been engineered to achieve 203 mph.
More power spews from the Speed??™s twin-turbo 12-cylinder engine than that of any other Bentley ever made, and its 602 horsepower at 6000 rpm represents an eye-meltingly large increase of 50 horsepower over the base Conti GT. You can credit increased airflow, a recalibrated ECU, lighter connecting rods, and decreased internal friction for the extra power, which Bentley claims will send the GT Speed to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds??”quite a feat for a car that weighs nearly as much as a couple of houses.
But creating a Speed model, which has traditionally been the highest performance Bentley since the moniker??™s introduction on the 3.0-liter Bentley in 1923, requires more than just fiddling under the hood. The steering has been retuned, and the suspension is revised with a dropped ride height, more aggressive spring and shock settings, and stiffer anti-roll bars.
The Speed??™s 20-inch wheels are 0.5 inch wider than the base GT??™s 9.0-inch-wide wheels, and they wear 275/35 Pirelli P Zero rubber all around. (The lesser car has optional 275/30 20-inch rubber.)
Regular GTs also get a few changes for 2008, including revised shocks and a claimed 80-pound weight reduction from lightening suspension components and the cooling system. Power for that model remains at 552 horsepower, and top speed stays at the, ahem, rather pedestrian 198-mph figure.
All GTs will now be available with optional carbon-composite brakes, too, a feature sure to add even further to those hefty commission checks that now await you, our faithful Bentley speed merchant, as discerning drivers discover the allure of a Flying B that can finally rocket past the double-century mark.
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Posted on October 31st, 2007 by Auto News
Interesting that in the literature for the new Bentley Brooklands, a limited-edition, even-more-upscale version of the Arnage, there??™s little mention of the last Bentley Brooklands, a sedan sold from 1992 to 1997 that replaced the Mulsanne as the marque??™s flagship.
Of course, this was a moderately dark period at Bentley, before the Volkswagen takeover in 1998, when, from a distance, the Great Unwashed couldn??™t tell much difference between a Bentley Brooklands and a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
This time around, the Bentley Brooklands is a coupe, a ???stylish, four-seat, grand touring coupe,??? says the company, that is debuting at the Geneva auto show. The Brooklands is, Bentley insists, more than an Azure hardtop. This would probably be a good time to get your order in for a Brooklands, as 550 will be hand-assembled. Not 551, no matter how much you beg, Bentley says. Expect yours in about a year. Price is likely to be about $400,000.
Decidedly old-school??”at least compared with the undeniably new-school Continental Flying Spur, GT, and GTC, which are powered by a 552-hp twin-turbocharged W-12??”there??™s a 6.8-liter V-8 (412 cubic inches, if you??™re really old school) under the hood of the Bentley Brooklands, also twin-turbocharged, pumping out a sobering 523 horsepower, and a ???prodigious??? (Bentley??™s word, and who are we to argue?) 774 pound-feet of torque. It is the most powerful V-8 Bentley has produced. Big oval, chrome-tipped dual-exhaust outlets leave no doubt as to what just passed your Mini Moke.
It??™s the latest version of the Crewe-built V-8, which began life in 1959 under the hood??”or bonnet, sorry??”of the Bentley S2. It was 6.2 liters then, an advanced all-aluminum engine with a five-bearing crankshaft, overbuilt in that delightful British tradition but still good for almost 200 horsepower. In 1969, the engine grew to its present size of 6.8 liters, but it wasn??™t until 13 years later that it grew a turbocharger. The result was the almost 300-hp Mulsanne Turbo, a car that helped put Bentley back into the vocabulary of performance enthusiasts. The engine got a second turbo in 2002, and Crewe V-8s since then have gained power more through tuning than dramatic updates.
As in the Arnage, the Brooklands has a six-speed automatic transmission that has been beefed up for the extra ponies. There??™s a provision for manual gear selection if you so desire.
The wheels are chrome-plated 20-inchers, which should be fine until 50 Cent can replace them with his own. The pedals and the driver??™s footrest are aluminum. Customers can choose from a variety of carpets, woods, and leather hides. There??™s a new rear center console, and back-seat passengers have power-sliding cushions.
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Posted on October 29th, 2007 by Auto News
Murphy??™s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will. Bentley??™s PR types might have considered that before having board member Ulrich Eichhorn demonstrate the power top of the Continental GTC to the assembled press at the car??™s introduction in Napa, California.
Naturally, the top raised its leading edge in a feeble wave of apology before the whole showy production shuddered to a halt, thwarted by a microswitch snagged on the ample headliner. No big deal, really, except that you can??™t turn back time. Then, of course, the cars on hand for evaluation erected and stowed their tops all day without drama, proving the demo car was the exception that verifies Murphy??™s Law.
The elegantly fashioned top is the product of coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann. The roof is constructed of high-grade materials, with a triple-layer headliner that is truly remarkable for its rich texture, uniform contours, and insulating properties. Fabricated in Germany, the roof is sent to Crewe, England, for installation in the GTC.
The top has four mounting bolts at its base, and the unit is carefully calibrated to deploy toward theoretical points in space where the Bentley??™s windshield header mounts should be. To make sure that relationship is perfectly maintained, a dimensional jig called a Karmann spider is lowered onto the car??™s body during the framing process to keep everything in register.
The Bentley??™s unibody underwent an intensive engineering program to regain structural integrity lost in the decapitation process. Substantial reinforcement was added to the rocker sills, the structure around the doors and rear passenger cell, and the windshield, adding about 240 pounds to the vehicle. Cross braces were added below the car to tie the sills, frame rails, and subframe mounts together. Finally, tubular reinforcement was added to the windshield frame so it could join forces with two pop-up rear hoops to provide rollover protection.
Making space for the top ate into luggage space, which dropped from 13 cubic feet in the coupe to 8 in the GTC, and reduced elbowroom in the back seat from 58.6 inches to 52.6. Bentley claims body-shell torsional stiffness of 30Hz, which is excellent for a convertible. That claim was largely borne out during a day??™s drive; only once did alternating front-wheel bump impacts produce a brief shiver in the car??™s cowl. It must have been the perfect sequence to excite the structure??™s natural frequency, because the car felt as stiff as a board the rest of the time.
Not the ride. That??™s as smooth and tranquil as its fixed-head sibling??™s, or perhaps even better because of changes made to the chassis to accommodate the articulating top. The rear shock absorbers were moved from the upper suspension arms to the lower links to make room for the roof??™s stowage bay, and the front-suspension subframe is bolted directly to the body shell. That required retuning of the front elastokinematics, producing ??” if anything ??” even better steering quality.
What hasn??™t changed is the tidal surge of irresistible torque from the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W-12, or the creamy four-wheel drive. But you can now enjoy these things alfresco and be visible to the public in the accepted aristocratic style. Even Murphy would have approved.
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Posted on October 29th, 2007 by Auto News
Until the new Rolls-Royce convertible becomes available next year, the Bentley Azure sits alone as the only open-top four-seater in the $300,000 class. As those who are inclined to automotive extravagance might say, ???It??™s reassuringly expensive.???
Those of us who can only look on with envy or incredulity may think the Azure looks and sounds familiar. A car of this name and type was Bentley??™s flagship from 1995 until 2002; 1300 were made. But although the old Azure was an elegantly cut-and-shut Continental coupe related to the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit that dates back to the 1980s, the new one is based on the current Arnage sedan.
The reborn Azure does have the same engine as its forebear, albeit developing 450 horsepower, as in the 2006 Arnage T. When it took over Bentley in 1998, Volkswagen was keen to drop the BMW turbo V-8 of the original Arnage and replace it with the antique 6.8-liter pushrod Rolls-Royce V-8 coupled to a four-speed GM autobox of similar vintage. The engine was extensively reworked with twin turbochargers in 2001.
This is also the first two-door Arnage, requiring a completely different cabin and rear-end structure from the sedan??™s. The vast three-layer fabric roof is raised and lowered electrically in 30 seconds and stows under a flush leather-covered deck panel.
The Azure convertible weighs 240 more pounds than the Arnage (making it nearly three tons). The inevitable loss of torsional rigidity from removing the roof is compensated to a degree by carbon-fiber stiffeners added to the underbody ??” a large cruciform structure at the front and a smaller one at the rear.
Bentley claims the body shell is four times stiffer than the old Azure??™s. True, this car doesn??™t suffer from cowl shake, but neither does it feel sporty on the road. It is fast, but the claimed 168-mph top speed and 0-to-60 of 5.6? seconds are not really relevant, nor is the unrelenting understeer when driven hard on a winding road. The Azure is happiest wafting along the boulevards at moderate speed, its four comfortably accommodated occupants seeing and being seen in all the right places.
Not to be outdone by relative newcomers from Rolls Royce and Maybach in the stupidly expensive and stupidly fast luxo-yacht class, Bentley pours another bucket of power into its flagship Arnage range as it continues its ???intensive development??? of the aging saloon.
With a body that dates back to the time when Rolls-Royce remained a freestanding automaker with both the Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands in its care, the Arnage is stately and elegant??”and old-school. Even with its new updates (see below), which are hard to detect even with the trained eye, the Arnage looks as much like the big Rollers from the Sixties and Seventies as anything from the New Millennium.
But updates are updates, and that??™s what we??™re here to report. In the case of the Arnage, 2007 brings:
> More power: 500 hp and 767 lb-ft of torque for the Arnage T; Arnage R and RL models keep the same 450 hp and 645 lb-ft.
> Improved six-speed automatic with manual shift control.
> Less intrusive stability control parameters for more spirited driving.
> Standard tire pressure monitors.
> Oh-so-subtle styling enhancements: dark-finish grille on Arnage T, chrome finish on R and RL models.
> Bentley badges on the C-pillars.
> Reverse camera.
> Various rear-seat accoutrements.
Will this be enough to regain primo status among the glitterati? For P. Diddy??™s sake, no??¦they like Flying about in Spurs and bippin??™ around in ???Bach better anyway if for no other reason than they fit bigger wheels. But for the true aristocrat, any new Arnage, particularly the ???torque-monster T,??? seems better than ever as a stealthy luxury torpedo that, in the hands of the right pilot, could be quite an effective substitute for a corporate jet.
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