Bentley Mulsanne on track
Why on earth would you want to drive a Mulsanne on a track? Because Mulsanne buyers do, apparently
Ultimate track day weapon? Er, just maybe
And so, the next morning, we set out for the high-speed trek along the A5 to Anglesey, where we were to spend an hour hooning Bentley's most expensive car. Marvellous. "We normally lay on a helicopter," I was told. After an evening in the back, though, I was eager to get up front.
Anti-downsizing
The drive across served as a reminder for the Mulsanne's gloriously anti-downsized power delivery, its weighty and serene ride, its surprising accuracy and agility. The cabin remains impeccable, the at-speed silence glorious, the sheer drama beguiling.
2.5 tonnes of Bentley, versus physics
And a feel little jumpy, following warnings about the sharpness of Rocket, falling off the circuit after Peel and falling into the sea if I got Church wrong. The Mulsanne is not a circuit car. But then I remembered I was meant to be pretending to buy one of these. I was the customer and I bally well wanted to drive it on a circuit. I'd best man up and become a Bentley Boy for the morning.
Initially timid Aucock seeks inspiration...
It's strange, sitting in the pitlane, helmet on, in a Mulsanne. You can't hear a single mechanical murmur. Only the position of the rev counter, at 2 o'clock, saves your embarrassment. All the better for hearing the instructor, whose much-needed advice will help save a £300,000 off. Which ESP mode would I like to start with, he asked. Very bold, I thought. Very confident. I wasn't. Full on, please.
And so out we wafted. But I simply couldn't switch out of chauffeur mode. The wheel was shuffled, the throttle was caressed, braking was early and linear. Most unusual, I thought. Until I came upon Rocket, nearly outbraked myself and only just avoided stacking the Mulsanne before completing a single full circuit. The Bentley leaned, its nose drove on, it felt momentarily like the boats crossing the sea in the distance.
...and taps into the Bentley Boys spirit
Easy does it
A few more laps and I have it cracked. On track a badly-driven Mulsanne is a rolling, understeering frustration, quite apart from how it feels on the road. Do it right instead. Brake early, acknowledge the weight transfer by turning in early and slowly, set it up for every twist with the fingertip steering, gently hold it there and then go on the power gradually and confidently. Never boot, jar or snatch a Mulsanne but instead coax and think it round.
Suddenly it makes sense, up to a point
The marketing people won't like the analogy but think of it like truck racing. They do the impossible but only by being driven in a very distinct, balanced, almost classical way. The Mulsanne is the same. You won't get a modern F1 car experience from it but if you're a fan of F1 cars from the 1960s, its dynamics may well delight.
No problem going fast, stopping an issue
After eight laps, physics take over. The brakes start to go soft and vibrate. One cooldown lap later (even this was faster than my first) and I'm back in the pits. More silence. Until I step down and out, pull off the helmet - and duck. Someone throwing pebbles at me? Nope, that's the metallic ticking of brakes and exhausts. What a wonderful racket.
Bentley later tells me I've done exactly what many customers demand: driven to a remote, picturesque circuit, conducted some spirited laps, then driven back. Even with a stable of cars it's often the Bentley rather than the Ferrari or Lambo that they take on the European driving tour.
Seems I wasn't humoured after all. This is how it is, even down to one of the 25 Bentley drivers on hand to teach me how to best conduct a Mulsanne on track. Unlikely? Not at all. Bentley's simply far too polite to tell me otherwise.
BENTLEY MULSANNE
Engine: 'six and three-quarter litres' V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 512@4,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 752@1,750rpm
0-62mph: 5.3 sec
Top speed: 184mph
Weight: 2,585kg
MPG: Like it matters
CO2: See above
Price: If you have to ask...
Just waiting on the troll to come over from the Range Rover thread to tell us this isn't what Pistonheads should be about as this clearly isn't a car, owners have too much money, to heavy blah blah!
Just waiting on the troll to come over from the Range Rover thread to tell us this isn't what Pistonheads should be about as this clearly isn't a car, owners have too much money, to heavy blah blah!
Just waiting on the troll to come over from the Range Rover thread to tell us this isn't what Pistonheads should be about as this clearly isn't a car, owners have too much money, to heavy blah blah!
Just waiting on the troll to come over from the Range Rover thread to tell us this isn't what Pistonheads should be about as this clearly isn't a car, owners have too much money, to heavy blah blah!
A car like the Musanne should be driven in relaxed and contented manner. From point A to B, but removed from all the world, in fact everything that connects the two points. And that's only if you insist on sitting behind the wheel, rather than as a passenger of course.
V
The Bentley Boys were badly behaved, entitled and privileged rich kids, with a passion for motorsport and little regard for their own safety.
And the Bentley cars they in drove in anger in the 1920's were absolutely NOT the kind of wafty, serene, luxury barges we associate with the new Mulsanne.
The Bentley race cars were monsters. Fast, huge, heavy and dangerous. Driving them is as far removed from the modern image of Bentley as you can possibly get.
If you want to really understand the Bentley era and what is was truly about, you need to experience a Bentley Speed Six from the late 1920's going at full chat. It is bloody terrifying. And utterly awesome.
That is what Bentley is really about. It is a shame that while modern Bentley fully respect their heritage and celebrate it, too many of their customers have no clue about what the Bentley boys were really about.
They were the original hooners. Many of them did not live long, they tended to crash their cars, crash their aircraft, or were killed fighting in WW2.
Totally committed Pistonheads, every one of them. PH'ers would have loved them.
We went for a driving holiday around Germany about 7 years ago. He took his Conti R and another friend took his Azure. The look on people's faces at the Nurburgring when we were at the gates in these cars was hilarious. "Crazy Englanders" I think was the moat common phrase used.
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