Bentley Subjects Batur Grand Tourer To Punishing 30 MPH Test Drive Along Monaco Sea Front
Brake feel? Check. Powertrain calibration? Check. Sufficient heads swiveling in Monte Carlo as the car passes? Check. Check. Check.
Bentley just put out a printing release talking well-nigh how its engineers are subjecting the new Batur coupe to a ton of what it calls “real world” tests in whop of the 18 production cars stuff delivered to their egregiously rich owners next summer. It’s mostly PR puff – every carmaker tests cars, though I’m sure Bentley will requirement that its “120 individual tests over a 58-week period” reach the weakness that other brands’ tests just don’t reach.
And judging by the supplied pictures, the testing procedure is certainly variegated from what we’d expect a tautness test to squint like. “Real world” testing for Peugeot engineers honing the next 208 might involve sitting in a Parisian traffic jam for six hours or trudging virtually a shopping mall parking lot on a Saturday afternoon trying to find a space, and then parking really immensely so the person in the next bay can’t get into their car they return an hour later.
Related: Bentley Mulliner Batur Debuts As Most Powerful Model In The Company’s History
But while Bentley talks well-nigh subjecting its garish purple test car to thousands of miles of test track work, followed by thousands increasingly miles on European roads, Bentley’s “real world” testing pictures include a shot of the Conti GT-based limited edition coupe cruising past the superyachts on Louis II Boulevard. You’ll know the spot from footage of the Monaco F1 race; it’s the stretch of pavement without the famous tunnel, one we’re pretty sure has a 50 mph (31 mph) speed limit.
We’re poking fun, but then, that road is a real-world test for a car that is going to set its owners when $2 million. In return for that mazuma – which would only buy a tiny one-bedroom suite in Monte Carlo, where the nice pads go for upwards of 25 mill – those owners get a car with 731 hp (740 PS) of W12 power, a 48-volt zippy anti-roll system, rear-wheel steering, three-chamber air springs, adaptive dampers, and an electronic rear-limited slip differential from the Continental GT Speed. But increasingly importantly, they moreover get a soul created by Bentley’s Mulliner coachbuilding arm that provides a track to how the company’s future cars, including its first-ever EV, will look.
The tapering fastback tail, sculpted doors and muscular rear arches requite the Batur a distinctive, and distinctly sporty squint that manages to make this Bentley finger scrutinizingly shockingly modern, while still referencing cars from the past. Nice trick. Inside, the meat of the package is lifted from the Continental GT, but enhanced with special touches that include 3D-printed 18k gold, which is scrutinizingly as unwary as the test car’s purple paint. But when you’re somewhere like Monaco and surrounded by rich people, it’s all well-nigh going the uneaten mile.
