- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
6.8, 8 cyl.
- Engine Power
NA
- Fuel
NA
- Manufacturer
RWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
NA
- Ancap Safety
NA
2013 Bentley Mulsanne Review
2013 BENTLEY MULSANNE REVIEW
Vehicle Style: Four door, twin-turbo V8 sedan
Price: $662,857 (plus on-roads)
Fuel economy listed: 16.9 l/100km | tested: 26.5 l/100km
OVERVIEW
Let’s start 2013 with a “dreamer”: Bentley’s stratospheric country-club on wheels, the Mulsanne.
When the stately Arnage - Bentley’s flagship - was put to pasture, its replacement had to fill big shoes. The Mulsanne not only fills them, but busts them wide open.
This is one big car.
While it follows the traditional Bentley line of 6.75-litre V8, rear-wheel-drive and cosseting luxury, it also employs thoroughly modern features such as cylinder de-activation, cam-phasing, eight-speed automatic and multimedia interface.
How well does it blend old and new, and how well does it stack up to its competition? Bentley invited TMR to spend some time behind the wheel to find out.
INTERIOR | RATING: 4.5/5
Quality: When creating the Mulsanne, Bentley was specific about the leather it used; it had to be tanned in the old-school fashion so it had the rich smell of Bentleys past.
And so it proves: when the doors are opened, the nostrils are greeted with the inviting aroma of sumptuous leather.
The softness of the hide is second to none - the seats are like sitting in butter.
Other ‘club’ touches abound: the ashtrays are solid stainless steel (and weigh a tonne) and the knurled metal on the infotainment switches is a nice touch.
The door handles are polished stainless also, as are the organ-stop air-vent switches (and the bullseye vents). The metal is real metal and the switches and buttons aren’t glossy plastic – they’re glass-coated.
The steering wheel takes 15 hours to hand stitch, and the chromework (polished stainless steel) takes 10 hours to polish.
The wood veneers, however, don’t quite match up to those inside a Rolls-Royce; looking across the surface of our test car’s Bird’s Eye Maple, you can see the ripples and pockmarks where the lacquer has sunk into the grain.
Also on the negative side of the ledger, the small rotary-push joystick controller is a tad ‘floppy’ in its movement, cheapening the feel somewhat. A dial which slides in four directions (a la COMAND or iDrive) would improve this.
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