Bentley

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Bentley GT Speed W12 or Aston Vantage V12 – you choose

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So, here’s the thing. I have an Aston Martin Vantage S V12 parked outside Car Couture Towers – with the Bentley GT Speed next to it. Which one would you choose?

I love the passion, drama and craziness of the Aston. It’s obviously lighter, more agile and exhilarating than the Bentley, which is such a large amount of metal, it’s best experienced in a straight line. And wow, does it shift.

But the Aston is beautifully flawed, thanks to the latest Speedshift auto gearbox. Aston would tell you that it is more ‘driver focussed’ – ie designed to be at its best at speed. But quite frankly, it sucks.

There’s such a lag as it flicks up a gear that you are physically pushed forward through each cog of the seven-speed box. It’s uncomfortable and tiresome.

This doesn’t happen rivals supercars, which usually have a double clutch system and are super smooth. The Bentley change is seamless, as is the Porsche 911, Audi R8 etc

So, while I would always choose the Vantage over the big, bad Bentley (heart rules over head), it could be so, so better…

  • Car Couture is off to Switzerland for the annual hols – we’re back from the grand tour on August 21

 

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The spider-like headlights of the Bentley Continental isn’t for arachnophobes

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The Breitling clock, the quilted leather seats… there’s no doubt the interior of the GT Speed is more like a gentlemen’s club than the cabin of a car. But what about the exterior?

A friend of mine is ‘freaked out’ by the front end. She says the big, round headlights remind her of a spider – and that’s not a good thing.

I find the rear end slightly more troubling. It’s that lip spoiler that distorts the smooth flow of the boot line.

There’s a new, hidden spoiler, that only pops out at high speed on 2016 model year Speeds. I would have thought that was enough to keep the GT on the road at 200mph?

Either way, the back of the Continental isn’t the prettiest. I’ve never seen the back end of a spider close up but perhaps there is a similarity…

 

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The Bentley sounds like two Lesbians moaning in a bucket…

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The acoustic exhaust system is a modern phenomenon. A button that opens valves in the exhaust pipes for dramatic effect is an option on most top end cars, from Porsche to Maserati.

Bentley is no different – although it’s nothing quite so vulgar. For the full effect you just press the ‘sport’ button and let your Continental growl and guffaw at pedestrians.

And of all the supercars we’ve driven here at Car Couture, the Bentley is by far the most pleasing on the ear.

AA Gill once labelled it as sounding like ‘two Lesbians, moaning in a bucket’. I think it’s more like a Spitfire at low revs and low level.

To be honest, it’s the finest sound I’ve heard from any car. It’s not a spit and a cackle, like the Jaguar F-Type, but a monumental groan on a W12 engine flexing its muscles. Wow…

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What’s it like to live with the fastest ever Bentley? Read our review…

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Four days in to the Bentley and I’m starting to appreciate a whopping engine and tons of road presence. That’s about 2.3 tons – but enough grunt from that huge engine to scare the pats off passengers.

It’s surprisingly agile despite the weight and I guarantee your nerve will go before the Bentley squeaks. Driving a left hand-drive car on British roads can be interesting at times but in a Bentley, it’s sure to keep any driver on his toes.

Issues? Well, of course. There is no USB socket! Quite incredible when you consider the rest of the technology on board.

Plus the boot and fuel filler buttons on the driver’s door look just the same as the four window buttons. Consequently, you will open the boot at an inappropriate moment without warning.

The sat nav works fine but it feels and looks a little dated, while there’s a slight vibration from the dashboard when the car is engaged in ‘sport’ mode and the tailpipes really grumble.

Otherwise, this is one hell of a car! More tomorrow…

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The 2016 Bentley GT Speed – like fitting a supercharger to an aircraft carrier

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If you need to impress somebody at a petrolhead dinner party try this – I drive the fastest Bentley money can buy. Driving any Bentley would be cool enough but the 12-cylinder GT Speed is the big daddy.

There are a brace of twin-turbo V8s that skip along at a fair old lick and then a pair of 626bhp W12s in the regular GT and the Speed. The latter is baiting the neighbours outside my house as I scribble this.

Such a hefty lump will power the 2,400kg to 60mhp in 4 seconds. That’s like fitting a supercharger to an aircraft carrier.

And I don’t want to bang on about this too much but the GT is seriously big car. Our Candy Red test car is left hand drive for some reason – which makes it feel even bigger as I squeeze down a country lane.

Whether you think the Continental has become a little ‘footballer’s wives’ in recent years or got, it is one seriously pretty car.

More on Sunday when the WAG’s on board…

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The Bentley Mulsanne is just too big for British roads

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The Mulsanne has gone and I’ve had a few days to mull over my thoughts. For all the plush carpet, fine veneer wood and luxury gizmos, I can’t say the Bentley is a car that suits UK roads.

Apart from the frequent bouts of road rage it seems to evoke from other drivers, the Mulsanne is simply so big that it doesn’t ‘work’ on our narrow strips of Tarmac.

It’s so large that urban driving is a nightmare – and as my trip to the Lake District proved, it also doesn’t enjoy narrow, country lanes either.

No, the Bentley is going to sit most comfortably on a US highway, a wide Hollywood boulevard, or outside a prince’s house in the UAE.

I love the comfort, the turn of speed in ‘sport’ mode and those electric, sliding privacy curtains in the back but the UK-built Mulsanne should be ‘Export Only’….

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What’s the most hated car in the Lake District? I’m driving it… the Bentley Mulsanne

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Road rage. What’s that all about? Well, if you want to wind up another car driver then sell the house and buy a Bentley Mulsanne my friend. After three days in the Lake District, I’m mighty relieved to be back in the Deep South. That’s the Cotswolds, if you’re not English.

It started with a van driver, who was determined not to let the ‘posh’ car past on a dual carriageway. He managed to drag his overtaking manoeuvre out for three miles then swerved violently sideways towards me as I wound the Mulsanne up to slip by.

Later that evening, a spotty oik in a Peugeot 206 decided he wanted to overtake the Bentley on a winding country lane, about the width of, well, a Bentley Mulsanne. What followed was a cat an mouse game of madness. Yes, I should have stopped and let him past but I was moving at a swift pace and there seemed no logic in his actions.

Finally, last night a Mini lodged so close on the back bumper I was afraid to brake. If I had, he/she would have discovered the penalty for tailgating a Mulsanne is probably £30k+.

At least I discovered what those automatic rear curtains are for – blocking out the following headlights of lunatics… And that the Mulsanne isn’t meant for Beatrix Potter-style lanes in the Lakes…

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The unwelcome element of driving a Bentley Mulsanne in the UK

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There’s one very unwelcome element to driving any Bentley – the unwanted attention of ‘angry’ drivers. You know the sort – people who pull out in front of you on a dual carriageway and then deliberately slow down as they overtake.

It seems to be a weird national sport in the UK, especially among white van drivers who are upset at the fact you just happen to be in an expensive car and therefore, by their screwy reasoning, must be a posh git.

It happened yesterday as I drove up to the Lake District (averaging a quite remarkably 23.3mpg!). Not even a flash from those big plate headlights would make the plonker move over.

I suppose the joke’s on him ultimately because I couldn’t even afford a set of tyres for the Mulsanne.

Never judge a man by the wheels he is driving…

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The Bentley’s sidelights are about the same size as the Audi TT’s headlights – why?

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You could argue the Mulsanne isn’t a pretty car from the front. The bug-eyed headlights somehow don’t marry with the macho grille and totally dominate the car’s appearance.

Car headlights simple don’t need to be that large any more – because they actually work these days! Just look at the slit-eyed beamers on the brilliant new Audi TT. I’m sure other designers will soon follow suite.

I’m not sure I’ve seen headlights as big as those on the Mulsanne since, well, those old Bentley blowers of the 1920s and 1930s. And why were they so big? Simply because lights were rubbish back then.

The outer daytime runnings lights on the Mulsanne are ringed in bling LEDs – they’re a bit smaller and probably about the same size in area as the TT. So why do we need the two, dinner plate headlights inbetween?

Those headlights spoil an otherwise beautiful car…

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Is that right – £5,100 for a set of black curtains in a Bentley Mulsanne?

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Is that right – £5,100 for a set of black curtains in a Bentley Mulsanne? There’s something rather funereal about the gentle glide of the electric motor that draws them together and cocoons the back seat in darkness.

And just what are they for? I suppose that if you are an Arab sheikh, who doesn’t want to wear sunglasses to avoid publicity, they could be quite useful. Or maybe they’re so the chauffeur can have a kip in the back while waiting for his passenger…

Personally, I think heavy tint glass might be more effective, and cheaper. Although that could be deemed rather uncool these days, as even Ford and Skoda owners can black out their windows for maximum bling appeal.

Still, there’s no finer place to be than in the back seat of a Mulsanne. It’s like flying first class, with deep pile Wilton overmats (an extra £1,060) and the Entertainment Pack (£21,145).

What’s that? Well, it turns the Bentley into a Wi-fi hotspot and adds picnic tables – crafted from solid metal, fine veneer and leather – that are designed to accommodate an iPad and wireless keyboard.

Add twin eight-inch LCD screens incorporated into the backs of the front headrests, a 20 GB hard drive and DVD player, plus a pair of Bluetooth headphones and a remote control, and you can see why this is the only way to fly…