Has the time come for a true luxury EV? That's what Bentley is testing the waters about at the Geneva Motor Show 2017 this week, bringing out the Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e concept to gage the potential reception for an all-electric grand tourer. As the British automaker sees it, the requirements of the super-rich are slightly different to what other EV buyers might be concerned about.
Bentley may be an old brand but the luxury automaker is experimenting with cutting edge tech, exploring displays that appear like magic out of the woodwork. The British automaker discussed some of the ways it could use new technology like transparent OLED last week, when CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer spoke at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, USA. Meanwhile, like most automakers Bentley is considering the role of a car manufacturer in a future where individual ownership is predicted to dwindle.
What does it take to be the world's fastest four-seater production car? If you're Bentley, the answer to that is a 6-liter, twin-turbocharged W12 engine, squeezed inside the stately curves of the 2017 Continental Supersports, and pushing the coupe to a heady 209 miles per hour. Freshly revealed in the metal on the eve of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2017, this latest Supersports is setting the bar high.
The Detroit Auto Show may be next week, but Bentley is fast out of the gate with its newest model and indeed the world's fastest production four-seater, the Bentley Continental Supersports. Dubbed "the pinnacle grand tourer", the car is the British automaker's latest attempt to coax even more power out of its Continental coupe. With a 209 mph top speed, and a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds, it's succeeded.
Naim and Bentley have teamed up on a new line of luxury wireless premium speaker to bring audio to your entire home. The audio devices are called the Naim for Bentley Mu-so an Mu-so qb premium wireless speaker systems. Naim says that these speakers were inspired by 100 years of Bentley heritage.
It's late in the evening in San Francisco, and I'm singing along to Blondie's "Atomic" at the top of my lungs in a $400k Bentley Mulsanne Speed when I realize people have stopped walking to watch me at the lights. Then again, when you're driving eighteen feet of British hyper-luxury sedan, it probably doesn't matter much what you're doing. You're going to get attention either way.
Nestling in-between the Flying Spur V8 - which is as "entry level" as a Bentley sedan gets - and the W12-engined original, the new 2017 Flying Spur V8 S is all about eager affordability. Feel free to put as many air-quotes around "affordability" as it takes to stomach the $205,000 starting price, drop your weary, wealthy body into the supple leather seats, and try to get with the old-school charm.
The Bentley Flying Spur is over seven feet wide. Wider, in fact, than a Hummer H1. Just twenty inches narrower than a Smart car is long. Ironically for a marque so closely associated with Britain, that makes the Flying Spur singularly unsuited for a great many British roads. And, with a price tag easily ten times that of the Smart - and dwarfing even the cost of a full tank of gas for the Humvee - it's not something you want to scrape along one of the ancient stone walls you suddenly notice the UK has in abundance when you're driving a borrowed behemoth.
The fastest, most ridiculously-luxurious SUV on the market just got an even more exclusive special-edition, with Bentley customizing its beastly Bentayga for one special group of enthusiasts. The Bentayga Fly Fishing by Mulliner is, as the name suggests, targeted squarely at those whose idea of fun is to take their several-hundred-thousand-dollar truck down to the river and catch some trout.
Bentley has published what it claims to be the world's most extraordinary car photograph. While it may not be the MOST extraordinary photo of a car ever taken, it is very cool. The photo is a shot of the new Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase cruising across the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. The image was taken using a massive zoom lens from 700 meters away.
Bentley is most known for its ultra luxurious cars, but it also produces one beast of a two-door coupe in the form of its Continental GT. But now the British manufacturer has debuted the updated version of the special edition Continental GT Speed, and not only does it blow away the standard model, it's the most powerful production car Bentley has ever made.
Bentley has unveiled a new app for the Apple Watch that gives passengers in the lavish Bentayga SUV the ability to control a number of car systems from the watch. The well heeled in the back seat can't be bothered to reach for a standard button when relaxing after all. Using the watch app, the passengers being driven in the Bentayga can control climate and entertainment systems.
