RE: Bentley W12: more power coming

RE: Bentley W12: more power coming

Friday 12th October 2012

Bentley W12: more power coming

Never knowingly underpowered, Bentley's W12 "has much more to give" say the engineers



In the wake of the launch of the fastest ever production Bentley to the world's motoring press in Germany this week, the company has hinted that an even more powerful version of its W12 engine could be on the way. The new Continental GT Speed uses a 625hp version of the 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged unit to power it on to a top speed of 205mph, but a senior Bentley powertrain engineer confirmed, "the W12 has much more to give."

Engine test regime is brutal to say the least
Engine test regime is brutal to say the least
Despite being the fastest Bentley ever, the new Speed isn't the most powerful Continental GT to date. The 2009 Supersports - based on the pre-facelift model - was marginally more powerful at 630hp. A Supersports version of the latest Continental GT could see that figure rise towards 650hp. Even in 630hp guise the W12 unit develops 105hp/litre, suggesting that there's capacity to extract more power without harming reliability or drivability.

Indeed, engine reliability is a priority for Bentley. One of its durability tests for the W12 unit involves four 100-hour sessions at full throttle. That's the equivalent of nearly 20,000 miles (32,000km in new money) at over 200mph. Another is the scuff test, in which the engine is wound up to the rev limiter 100 times within 30 seconds of a -10 degree centigrade ambient temperature start.

The W12 engine and the Continental GT itself have been huge successes for Bentley. Since its 2003 launch, 26,000 examples of the two-door coupe have been shifted, helping to make Bentley the world's most prolific manufacturer of 12-cylinder engines.

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

priley

Original Poster:

503 posts

187 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Impressive testing regime. I recall an old school Ferrari one that was slightly more agricultural where they'd leave the engine running at full throttle and head off for lunch.

jason61c

5,978 posts

173 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I'd love to see footage of them doing that to a new engine. Just shows how good modern tolerances are in engines!

robinessex

11,046 posts

180 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Mmmmmmmmm 400 hrs at full throttle. If I rememeber correctly, the Ford Cortina, cast iron crankshaft, was lifed at 72 hrs full throttle. I also seem to remember at Ford Tractors, a diesel engine had run for circa 5yrs at full throttle, stopping only for routine servicing.

Talksteer

4,843 posts

232 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I suspect they could get more like 900 bhp out of the engine with fairly mild modifications, wouldn't be particularly Bentley like though.


V8 FOU

2,970 posts

146 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Most impressive thing about these modern Bentleys is the depreciation!
A 6/7 year old one has lost over £100K.
Possibly something to do with the cheap pcp's they were/are offering....

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I am in awe of the bench testing. No wonder tuners can safely extract more power from VAG engines!

GranCab

2,902 posts

145 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
V8 FOU said:
Most impressive thing about these modern Bentleys is the depreciation!
A 6/7 year old one has lost over £100K.
Possibly something to do with the cheap pcp's they were/are offering....
Modern V12s depreciate like an 80's large French barge !

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

http://www.dealers.motortrak.com/cgi-bin/specsheet...

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...


alexpa

644 posts

171 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Will an extra 25bhp make a noticable difference? I doubt it.

100 hours at full throttle. Is that engine on a 'bench' or installed and in gear? Massive difference.

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Is it just me, or does teh Bentley W12 not really sound that great? boxedin

I've seen quite a few 'pressing on', both on the road and on the by-pass outside the office and they always sound pretty ho-hum.

Certainly it fails in comparission to this stuff:
  • some loony in a modded Golf VR6 who often burns past
  • The bloke off of PH (somewhere) with the 5cyl Fiat Coupe
  • Gallardos
  • XKRS's
etc.

sisu

2,576 posts

172 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
They are a wonderful engine to look at, they are about the same size as a large V8 Hemi. But the smoothness and sound of a 12 cyl. Long may it continue.

sandersc74

20 posts

167 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Watch the making of the Bentley Mulsanne on Sky if you get chance.....fascinating.

Hand stitching, hand sprayed and shows the engine testing etc,.




Yoof

73 posts

220 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
alexpa said:
Will an extra 25bhp make a noticable difference? I doubt it.

100 hours at full throttle. Is that engine on a 'bench' or installed and in gear? Massive difference.
Engine dyno

pattieG

194 posts

148 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Yoof said:
Engine dyno
How strange

Tomatogti

362 posts

168 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Putting my numbers head on for a moment - how can 100 hours at OVER 200mph result in ALMOST 20,000 miles.

Over 200 mph = Over 20,000miles
Almost 20,000 miles = Almost 200 mph.

Sorry, it's Friday and I'm bored and this has nothing to do with the story really - those are impressive reliability stats anyway!

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Tomatogti said:
Putting my numbers head on for a moment - how can 100 hours at OVER 200mph result in ALMOST 20,000 miles.

Over 200 mph = Over 20,000miles
Almost 20,000 miles = Almost 200 mph.

Sorry, it's Friday and I'm bored and this has nothing to do with the story really - those are impressive reliability stats anyway!
200mph means you will do 200 miles in one hour. So in 100 hours at the same speed you would have covered 20000 miles. Ta da!

Tomatogti

362 posts

168 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
k-ink said:
Tomatogti said:
Putting my numbers head on for a moment - how can 100 hours at OVER 200mph result in ALMOST 20,000 miles.

Over 200 mph = Over 20,000miles
Almost 20,000 miles = Almost 200 mph.

Sorry, it's Friday and I'm bored and this has nothing to do with the story really - those are impressive reliability stats anyway!
200mph means you will do 200 miles in one hour. So in 100 hours at the same speed you would have covered 20000 miles. Ta da!
Agreed - but over 200mph means you will do over 200 miles in one hour. So in 100 hours at the same speed you would have covered over 20,000miles. As opposed to nearly 20,000 miles as stated. See what I'm getting at - it's a very pedantic point hence my apologies in advance!

E38Ross

34,945 posts

211 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Tomatogti said:
Putting my numbers head on for a moment - how can 100 hours at OVER 200mph result in ALMOST 20,000 miles.

Over 200 mph = Over 20,000miles
Almost 20,000 miles = Almost 200 mph.

Sorry, it's Friday and I'm bored and this has nothing to do with the story really - those are impressive reliability stats anyway!
Fuel stops. Servicing.

Tomatogti

362 posts

168 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
E38Ross said:
Tomatogti said:
Putting my numbers head on for a moment - how can 100 hours at OVER 200mph result in ALMOST 20,000 miles.

Over 200 mph = Over 20,000miles
Almost 20,000 miles = Almost 200 mph.

Sorry, it's Friday and I'm bored and this has nothing to do with the story really - those are impressive reliability stats anyway!
Fuel stops. Servicing.
Think the point is missed - 100 x over 200 = over 20,000 not under (or almost) 20,000.

spookalilly

5 posts

141 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
It'll be on a dyno; and it's says at "full-throttle", not necessarily maximum RPMs. Most likely 100hr sessions at permanent full throttle with varying loading to hold it at certain RPMs throughout the rev range (up to and including many hours beyond the redline).

This possibly explains the rather finger-in-the-air 200mph/20,000mile approximations.

Whatever - it's an engine screaming, quite literally glowing red hot, for days on end. I know they do the same with modern bike engines during development, so I'm sure it's the same for all modern engines. Astonishing the punishment these things can take!

enroz

98 posts

164 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Have known about this for a little while after a fairly long and frank conversation with a Bentley engineer at Goodwood this year.

I sort of got a figure of around 700 bhp currently running very reliably as an ongoing project with the W12 engine, but just one of many projects which may or may not see the light of day.

Other details he was happy to share was the Bentley have only just recently broken even after their take over by the VW group, and that unfortunately their horrid off road concept vehicle has gone down a storm with Bentley customers,if not the general public and press, so this could get the green light!