By Gary Anderson
Road Test
But luxury comes with a (high) price
o the words “Bentley Boys” conjure up any images for you?
If you’re interested in cars, you may recall hearing the legends of a group of privileged young men who had flown for Britain in World War I and took up auto racing in the 1920s to regain some of that excitement.
Taking the huge racing cars built by W.O. Bentley to the French 24 hour auto race at LeMans, the Bentley Boys bested everything Europe could offer, winning the race outright three times.
Last year the Bentley marque returned to LeMans and in its first effort in almost 70 years, took third place to two Audi teams. This year the Bentley team took fourth, beaten again by only the Audis.
Why is this important in an automobile review? The answer is that these victories were intended to signal that Bentley is assuming its old identity as a sporting marque, separate from its previous stablemate, Rolls-Royce.
Facing economic difficulties, Vickers was forced to put Rolls-Royce Bentley Motorcars on the block a few years ago. After a convoluted series of offers and counteroffers, Volkswagen wound up buying all of the physical assets of the company but was unable to acquire rights to the Rolls-Royce name. BMW lost the bargaining for the assets but did manage to purchase rights to the Rolls-Royce name and the distinctive radiator and “Spirit of Ecstasy” flying-lady hood ornament. At the end of this year, two separate companies will exist.
After last week, I’m convinced Volkswagen got the better of the deal.
I had the chance to experience some of the Bentley race cars from the ’20s during last month’s Monterey Historic Race Weekend, then drove the newest Bentley model, the Arnage R, down to Santa Barbara and back.
I am convinced that Bentley Motorcars is again producing some of the greatest cars on the road.
Perhaps sporting, racing and great cars aren’t adjectives you’d associate with the Bentley name. In the past three decades, most of us have known the Bentley as a slightly less expensive Rolls-Royce with a curvy grille. Luxury and prestige were the attributes the cars evoked.
During the first few minutes of my time behind the wheel, I was impressed with the beautiful interior. However, a few minutes of coping with workday morning Monterey/Carmel traffic and a few miles of Route 1 from Point Lobos to Big Sur were enough to completely reverse my initial impressions.
This is one hot car. Under the bonnet, as the British engineers would say, is packed 6.75 liters of V-8 engine, topped with twin turbochargers. The engine puts out 400 horsepower, more than sufficient to power the car to top speeds twice any legal limit. But the neck-snapping kick comes from an astounding 616 pound-feet of torque.
This torque is sufficient to move the car’s 5,700 pounds from stop to 60 mph in under six seconds. For comparison, that’s the same acceleration as a Mercedes SL500 roadster. When we found ourselves behind the RVs that trundle down Route 1 in the summer, the same torque could move us from a dawdling pace to 80 mph in less than four seconds.
Matching the go performance, the car’s 13.5-inch disc brakes can bring all three tons to a stop in a breathtakingly short distance. Just as important, the car has been engineered with front and rear sway bars, adjustable shock absorbers and a stiffened chassis to handle any curve that Big Sur could throw at us. The car remained almost flat around even unexpectedly tight corners.
The acceleration, braking and handling capabilities of this car make it seem on the road like a much smaller car. This is certainly a car that an enthusiast will enjoy driving. Equally important, a smaller person who wants to enjoy the security of a large car with a high sitting position will find the engineering makes this car easy to manage. Front and rear parking distance warning beepers help maneuver the car’s 18-foot length in tight situations.
Did we mention luxury? The Arnage R certainly provides all that. In fact, the new “R” model has been designed to be a more refined car than the performance-oriented Arnage T released last year.
The Arnage R certainly can make passengers feel like royalty. Our hosts noted with pride that Queen Elizabeth’s newest car is an Arnage. Length is translated into comfortable legroom in the rear seats. The rear seats not only have their own adjustments, but their own cushion warmers as well. Grain-matched wood trim abounds throughout the cabin, as does the thick hand-sewn leather and deep wool carpets.
When purchasing a Bentley, a customer (the word “client” is preferred) sits down with a designer and selects a combination of an almost infinite number of exterior colors, matching it to a variety of different possible woods and stains, leather and piping colors, and carpeting combinations. Only then does the client’s car go into production, and clients are encouraged to visit the Bentley plant at Crewe, England, to watch their car being assembled.
When I first got in my Bentley-for-a-week, I was prepared to evaluate its price against the luxury and prestige it could provide, willing to tolerate some deficiencies in performance. When I reluctantly handed the keys back to the Bentley representative, my impressions were the opposite. Instead, I was impressed with the amount of performance that $200,000 can buy.
I was even willing to tolerate a few lapses of luxury, like the steering wheel that only adjusts up and down but not in and out. Perhaps if I were ordering my own Bentley, they could do something about that.
Is $200,000 ($220,000 with all the add-ons) a reasonable price? I can’t say, but to duplicate the variety of requirements the Arnage R is capable of meeting, you would have to buy the top-of-the-line Mercedes SUV, and the four-door sedan and the roadster.
I think I know what choice the Bentley Boys would make.
Anderson is editor and publisher of British Car Magazine, published bimonthly and distributed internationally from offices in Los Altos (949-9680; www.britishcar.com).
