Tag: Bentley

The New Bentley Continental GT

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 10, 2017

Finally, the new Bentley Continental GT has been released. We have been waiting for it for a really long time. Yes, it is the third generation, but the second generation was just a heavy facelift. It was still under the Phaeton platform. The new Continental GT now shares the same platform as the Porsche Panamera. That’s really good news.

As you can see, the Continental GT does not look that different from the second generation model but many things have changed with the introduction of the Continental. First of all, it is now lighter. The modular platform reduces the weight by a serious amount. The steering wheel is electric and that saves extra weight. However, the engine is still a W12 6-lt. Anyway that’s fine, you wouldn’t buy a Bentley Continental GT with a 2.9-lt Audi RS5 engine would you?

The gearbox is now a dual-clutch automatic. Interestingly, while BMW left the dual-clutch and moved back to a conventional automatic (BMW M5), Bentley did the opposite. To be honest, I really love the dual-clutch automatic and the VW Group loves it as well!

The infotainment system has changed as well and you won’t see anything from the Phaeton. Probably, it shares the same platform as the Porsche Panamera. The carpets come in 15 different colours, and there is a new style called diamond in diamond with 217 stiches. This will probably cost the price of a VW Polo.

The suspension is now three-chamber air suspension with 48-volt active anti-roll bars. This new anti-roll bar system will improve the ride quality. It will handle better when needed (probably never), and offers comfort when you need it (always).

There are lots of Porsche touches with the new Continental. I think they’ve made a good decision to share platforms and parts with a brand that is known to be well-built and reliable. On the other hand, it reduces the authencity of the product and the brand. Like the Bentayga, the Continental is re-fit of a Porsche Panamera.

In case, you are complaining about this problem, consider the new Rolls-Royce Phantom. It doesn’t share a platform with the BMW 7-Series and costs a great deal. In order to cut the cost, you have to share platforms or the customer will have to pay a fortune.

Photo Credit / Bentley

Tags Bentley, Bentley Continental GT

Cars

Bentley Continental GT Supersports

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date January 22, 2017

Here it is, Bentley Continental GT Supersports! Bentley first revealed the Continental some time ago, before Facebook was a part of life! Over the years, the Continental received several facelifts and a second-generation model was introduced. Despite these revisions, it was based on the old platform, which was also used by the VW Phaeton.

Now Bentley is set to reveal the new version of the Continental, which will share the same platform as the Porsche Panamera; however, they have to keep the sales figures going up – and in order to achieve this, the Supersports is revealed. The ultimate Bentley experience, and they are right – despite the massive weight of the Continental, the Supersport is really fast.

Ettore Bugatti would certainly have honoured it with the ‘fastest lorry’ quote.

Anyway, on the positive side of the Bentley Supersport, we can see that Bentley make great cars with a limited budget, and the W12 engine promises a great future. Plus, it is always good to see the real potential of a sports car, and it is also always good to see super-powerful long-distance cruisers. The Mercedes Benz S-Coupe is one of the key players in this segment, as is Aston Martin – however, Bentley’s move has changed the game!

Technical Details;

Fastest accelerating Bentley ever: 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds
(0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds); top speed of 209 mph (336 km/h)
Most powerful Bentley yet: W12, 6-lt, 710 PS (700 bhp), 1,017 Nm (750 lb.ft.) and 8-speed automatic gearbox.

Bentley Continental GT Supersports

Photo Credits | Bentley

Tags Bentley, Bentley Continental, Bentley Continental GT Supersports

Cars

Six Bentley Bentaygas at Jack Barclay HR Owen

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 15, 2016

Six Bentley Bentaygas at the same place at the same time, Jack Barclay HR Owen, Benteyga Weeks!

The Bentley Bentayga is the SUV of the legendary Bentley brand. Some people didn’t like it and some people loved it so much they bought it in pairs. As a result of this super-duper love, if you are planning to buy a Bentayga, you have to wait around 18-months in the UK.

This may sound too extreme for some people, but when you consider the price tag starting from £140,000 and an option of a £160,000 hand-made Breitling Tourbillon automatic watch, people who ordered the Benteyga might be super-excited as well.

Anyway, the Jack Barclay HR Owen Bentley dealer in Mayfair, London recently had a Bentayga week and brought six Bentaygas into their dealership. I was really lucky to be able to see six Bentley Bentaygas at the same time and in the same place.

Keep in mind that the diesel Bentayga has been recently released. If you were concerned about the W12’s fuel consumption, the V8 diesel will the best choice for you.

Bentley Bentayga

Tags Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, HR Owen, Jack Barclay

Cars

Diesel Bentley Bentayga

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 21, 2016

This is the first Bentley with a diesel engine. Bentley have recently revealed the diesel version of the Bentayga. I haven’t made a typo, that’s correct. Bentley is competing in the diesel market!. For a very long time, I was expecting this to happen. Range Rover, the main rival of the Bentayga, offers a diesel engine as well. The diesel engine helped Range Rover to increase its sales figures! The lack of a diesel engine option for the Bentayga is a weakness. However, the Bentley is an ultra-luxurious brand.

Can diesel and luxury mingle together? Apparently, yes they can. Bentley has to increase its sales figures as the Continental family is getting older and can’t cope with the competition. From another perspective, offering a diesel engine is betraying the Bentley heritage and the Bentley image. Unfortunately, the world has changed very rapidly, and the automotive industry has also changed. Therefore, we should be ready to see more diesel engines in ultra-luxury vehicle brands.

Also, we shouldn’t be forgetting that diesel engine technology is not like in the old days. Usually, the only indicator of a diesel engine is the rev meter. The sound insulation and the performance of diesel engines are way beyond our expectations.

Technical details are;

New-generation, triple-charged 4.0-litre V8 engine develops class-leading 435 PS (429 bhp) and 900 Nm (664 lb.ft.) torque. 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and top speed of 270 km/h (168 mph) with a 1,000 km range potential. And CO2 output of 210 g/km.

Photo Credits | Bentley

Tags Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, Diesel Bentley Bentayga

Cars

New Photos of Bentley Bentayga at Jack Barclay HR Owen London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date May 20, 2016

A couple of months ago, I managed to spot Bentley’s first SUV, the Bentayga at the Jack Barclay (HR Owen) Mayfair, London dealer. However, it was the pre-production version with a massive emergency stop button.

Finally, the production version of the Bentayga reached the dealer, and I was there. Literally, there is no difference between the pre-production and production version. The display model also features a roof-top luggage space for people who are planning to travel the whole of Europe with a Bentayga. We all know that will never happen.

Tags Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, HR Owen, Jack Barclay, SUV

Cars

Bentley Bentayga in Mayfair, London | HR Owen Jack Barclay

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date March 23, 2016

Last week, I saw the production version of Bentley Bentayga aka Bentley SUV in front of the Jack Barclay HR Owen dealer at Mayfair, London. It was the first time, I had the chance to spot the Bentayga in real life conditions.

Basically, Mayfair London will be its natural habitat and pavements will be the off road experience for Bentley’s SUV. I already wrote about the Bentayga, but I didn’t have a chance to take a photo of the production car.

What I am thinking about the Bentayga? I am still trying to love it :)

Tags Bentayga, Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, HR Owen, Jack Barclay

Cars

New Bentley Mulsanne Family (Facelift)

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date February 23, 2016

Bentley announced the new face of the Mulsanne family. Bentley decided to add a new style to the Mulsane: an extended wheelbase (+250 mm). Based on my experience, the Mulsanne needed an extended wheelbase, however, the new Mulsanne now weighs more than 2.5-tonnes!

Mulsanne looks more tempting than ever and has improved its pre-crash and safety features, which were both necessary. With that said, it is still a very heavy car! I will update the photos once I spot this new Mulsanne at Jack Barlcay in London.

Here are some of the facts;

The Mulsanne Speed, 6¾-litre twin-turbo V8 engine with 537 PS (530 bhp / 395 kW) and 1,100 Nm (811 lb.ft) of torque resulting in a 0-60 mph time of just 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 190 mph.
The Mulsanne, 6¾-litre V8 develops 512 PS (505 bhp / 377 kW) and 1,020 Nm (752 lb.ft) of torque. 5.1 seconds en route to a top speed of 184 mph (296 km/h
Automatic gearbox is still ZF 8-speed.
“‘S’ mode gives the driver even more control, and maintains the engine speed above 2,000 rpm so that the turbochargers are always spooled and ready to deliver instantaneous performance.”
All LED headlights automatically suits to the driving conditions and high beam assist.
“The main 8” display touch screen is connected to a 60 GB solid-state hard drive for the storage of on-board media.”
“Between 10 km/h and 250 km/h the Blind Spot Warning system detects vehicles behind the Mulsanne and in its blind spots, predicting the possibility of a collision. Visual warnings are issued to the driver via flashing lights in the door mirrors.”
“For additional safety while on the move, the new Mulsanne comes with Advanced Automatic Stability Control (ASC) including collision mitigation features.”
And Bentley entertainment 10.2″ tablet based on Android!

Photo Credits | Bentley

Tags Bentley, Mulsanne, Mulsanne Speed

Cars

Bentley Bentayga at HR Owen, London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 28, 2015

Finally, I managed to see the Bentley Bentayga (aka the Bentley SUV) at Jack Barclay HR Owen in London. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to take photos from the front-end of the Bentayga due to its setup at the dealer.

When I arrived at the dealer, it was really busy. Honestly, I haven’t seen Jack Barclay this crowded ever. I could see that people were really waiting for the Bentley SUV. I have been saying for last decade that Bentley should have an SUV, as the Range Rover captures a market share that does not belong to it. It is obvious that I was right!

End of Range Rover? Not exactly, but the Range Rover will lose some of its customers to Bentayga.

P.S. Next time, I will get better photos, it was really crowded, and there wasn’t enough space for better photos.

And here is my previous post for the Bentayga
https://carsandlife.net/2015/09/facts-and-photos-of-bentley-bentayga-suv.html

Tags Bentayga, Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, Bentley SUV

Cars

Facts and Photos of Bentley Bentayga SUV

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 11, 2015

The Bentley Bentayga is here, facts and photos! We have been waiting for this SUV for ages. Personally, I have been waiting for a Bentley SUV for 10 years! The rules of the SUV game are now changed with the Bentley’s attack. The Range Rover used to capture a market share that does not belong to it; however, due to the lack of competitors, consumers did not have any other choices other than the Range Rover.

Now that excess market share will be shifting to the Bentley Bentayga. First, Bentayga is based on the Audi Q7, so don’t surprised by the resemblance of the two SUVs. This resemblance is not only limited to exterior design; it can be found on the driving assistance systems as well. The Q7’s cleaver features are not available on the Bentayga.

So what is new with the Bentayga?

Starting with the headlights, which are all LED, Bentley finally got rid of the xenons. As you expected, Bentayga offers a sculptural exterior design. Regards to offr-road, Bentayga offers eight different driving modes to satisfy the expectations of off-road abilities. According to Bentley, it can go anywhere! However, there are no differential locks and low-range gearbox. I won’t be advising you to push it too hard off-road.

Innovation? The Bentley Dynamic Ride offers a very innovative technology, thanks to the 48V electric system. The active anti-roll bars enable the Bentayga to have the maximum grip on any terrain condition, and this ensures a better ride.

Driving Assistance?

Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Predictive ACC, and Traffic Assist enable the Bentayga to offer driving assistance systems similar to the Mercedes S-Class. Similar to BMW and Rolls Royce, Predictive ACC uses GPS and navigation data to predict the corners, border, and changes in speed limits to adjust the speed accordingly. Traffic Sign Recognition is now available as well, and the Rear Crossing Traffic Warning scans the on-coming traffic while reversing from a parking space.

The Bentayga can also park itself like its relatives in VW Group. The Electronic Night Vision uses an infrared camera for night driving, and there is a Heads-Up Display.

Unfortunately, there is an Android tablet at the rear, which is already outdated!

The Engine?

The W12 is designed from scratch. Now, it features direct and indirect combustion for better efficiency; I have no idea why they used a technology like this! The W12 produces 608 HP and 900 Nm of torque, and this is coupled with an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Acceleration to 100 km/h is 4.1 seconds, and the top speed is 301 km/h! In case you want some economy, the new W12 can shut off half of its cylinders and can run on a 6-cylinder configuration. The CO2 emission level is 292 gr/km, and you still need to pay the congestion charge in London. If you can’t afford to run a W12, there will be diesel and plug-in hybrid versions as well.

In the end, the Bentley Bentayga will eat up the market of the Range Rover and will shift the level of technology and luxury to a new level. I am really excited to see this SUV in real life and will upload the photos from London as soon as I spot it at the dealer.

Photo Credits | Bentley

Tags Bentayga, Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, Bentley SUV, SUV

Cars

Photos of Bentley Continental GT Convertible Facelift

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date August 24, 2015

The Bentley Continental GT Convertible facelift. I was expecting this facelift a bit later but Bentley was more excited than me to revive their best seller car. The Continental GT family was introduced in 2004, and it was a ground-breaking car at the time. The Mercedes CL, Aston Martin DB9 and Ferrari 612 were key players in the luxury GT segment (Later on Maserati GranTurismo joined the game but it is really outdated). The arrival of Continental GT introduced something that never been offered before in this segment: four-wheel drive!

The whole Bentley Continental range was offering a four-wheel drive system as standard and enables the drivers to enjoy their car in any weather condition and experience the excitement of the W12 engine!

As the years passed, Mercedes CL managed to stay boring until S-Coupe, Aston Martin ran out of cash and DB9 became the product with an eternal product life-cycle. Ferrari introduced the FF with an eccentric all-wheel drive and hatchback design. Despite all these exciting variations in the luxury GT segment, Bentley did not introduce a radically new Continental GT or GT Convertible.

The main reason for this is that the Continental family is a great money maker and there are still many people who want to own this car. Therefore, the second generation Continental GT Convertible was not something new. It was sharing the same platform from the first generation and the interior was not changed at all. Of course, there were many improvements; however, it wasn’t like Mercedes-Benz CL vs S-Coupe!

The driving assistance systems were not improved with the second generation Continental GT convertible, there were no gadgets for the driver and the features were more or less the same.

When the Bentley announced the facelift of the second generation Continental family, I was expecting to see some Audi technology for the driving experience such as; pre-crash systems, lane assistance, stop-go radar guided cruise control, night vision and others.

However, it didn’t happen because the platform of the Continental is still the same and it will be the same until the third generation.

Unfortunately, this fuels the competitive power of the Mercedes-Benz S-Coupe (it doesn’t look that bad). Also, the new Aston Martin will be based on Mercedes-Benz technology, so it is another new competitor. Ferrari is Ferrari. The S-Coupe is definitely capturing many existing and potential Continental GT customers; however still a Bentley is a Bentley. There is no way an S-Coupe can be a perfect substitute for the Bentley, but the competition is getting tougher!

I can’t ignore the fact that the Continental GT still looks beautiful.

Tags Bentley, Continental Series, HR Owen