2017 Bentley Mulsanne Speed Reviews

Damien Reid road tests and reviews the 2016 Bentley Bentayga with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its international launch.

Luxury brands vie for attention with opulence and drop-tops.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the Bentley Continental GT V8 S Concours Series Black with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The country's biggest car dealer group, Automotive Holdings, has added an up-market touch to its presence in hometown Perth with the $58 million purchase of the Mercedes-Benz franchise from local bizoid Ian Goldie.Not that the Merc marque quite has the cachet it used to. Entry-level models these days start at $50,000 — not much more than a high spec Conformodore — and industry stats show the Benzes outselling names such as Honda, Kia, Ford and Mitsubishi.So relative to AHG's Porsche and Bentley franchises, AHG is picking up more of a masstige (mass prestige) business than a truly luxury one.AHG chief Bronte Howson adds that however you want to describe it, the luxury sector is "driving" the growth in the overall market, which had a bumper June.The purchase, AHG's biggest since paying $68m for 13 Newcastle dealerships in August last year, came after industry figures showed the new car market zoomed up 6.4 per cent in June.But Howson believes one vaunted reason for the strength — the immediate $20,000 deduction for business-related equipment — has been overplayed. "Any assistance or stimulus is good, but we didn't hear a lot of people saying ‘this is great'," he said.The more likely reasons for the strength include manufacturer promotion activity and record high car affordability.The conditions point to an ongoing purple patch for AHG and the Brisbane-based Eagers.With a WA bias, AHG had suffered from the mining downturn, but these headwinds appear to have abated.Across the continent, Eagers has benefited from storm-related replacement activity.AHG doesn't do trading updates, so we will assume the consensus guidance of $90m net profit remains intact.At its May AGM, Eagers reiterated expectations of an underlying first (June)-half profit of $54m-$58m, a 17-26 per cent increase.

Two smaller new models, an SUV and a quick coupe, are racing to join the Bentley family.

Bentley has just confirmed a 3.5-tonne tow capacity for its upcoming Bentayga with a suitable towball load rating for the super-luxury SUV.It is also fitting a special rear-view camera and electrically operated tow hitch to make it easier to attach a back-end loading job to the $400,000-plus luxury truck."The tow capacity is 3.5 tonnes," the engineering director at Bentley, Rolf Frech, reveals to CarsGuide.Bentley will be taking the SUV to Iceland next year to drive up a glacier"I do not have the exact ball weighting, but it will be sufficient."Frech says development of the Bentayga has included all possible SUV requirements, including the 'Big Red' sand dune in the Dubai desert and luxury towing."Bentley has to be authentic. Do we assume our customers will go there? Of course not. But the success story of SUVs around the world also has to do with the escape potential."Bentley's CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, confirms the Bentayga can conquer 'Big Red', but says his objective was the much tougher downwind side of the dune than the sloping upwind edge tackled by most four-wheel drives. And he reveals Bentley will be taking the SUV to Iceland next year to drive up a glacier.On the towing capacity, the two men say the Bentayga can handle anything and the luxury approach means a hands-off hitch. Instead of lifting or winching, the driver uses the rear-view camera to line up the towball with the hitch and then presses a button to make the connection."We also have an air spring to help with connecting the tow hitch," Frech says.

Plans for a one-make series to rival or surpass the Ferrari 458 Challenge are well under way at Bentley's home in Crewe, the company's chief reveals to CarsGuide."For the future we are at present evaluating the potential of a luxury one-make cup, and this could take place on four continents, for about 25 entries," Wolfgang Durheimer, CEO of Bentley, says at the Goodwood Festival of Speed."We organise everything. We do everything. They have high-performance racing with high-performance cars."We want to be the number oneDurheimer says the Bentley racers would be positioned midway between the company's road-going Continental and the GT3 racing version of the same car, which challenged for victory in this year's Bathurst 12-Hour race and is returning to Mount Panorama in 2016.He says air-conditioning will be essential in the cars, since he expects the series will attract well-funded 'gentleman' drivers without the skill or fitness of full-time professionals.But he is keen on the championship and what it can bring to Bentley buyers who want more than just a road car."Once you are signed in you have luxury track time in a high-performance car. I hope that we come to a good conclusion."Durheimer also confirms for the first time that the Continental GT3 program will continue beyond the original three-year commitment, which has now seen 19 cars built for racing."Don't assume we stop next year. Racing is part of our DNA. We are already evaluating the potential of the next car," he says."Emotionally, it can drive our company to new horizons. Internally, it helps us to work in a very discipled way and to be competitive and win."We want to be the number one and we intend to be the winner in the luxury performance game. We like to do the extraordinary things, not what everybody does."

It's also home to some of the world's most exotic cars — even police get around in a Bugatti.And buyer tastes range from expensive to downright bizarre in some cases.Just ask Hans Holzgartner, head of product for Bentley's Mulsanne limousine.The latest and greatest Bentley, the $733,000 Mulsanne Speed, has an optional entertainment system that costs $43,000.The outrageous requests for customised Bentleys...can take up to 12 months to buildThe rolling lounge room that is the rear seat can be further embellished with a frosted glass bottle cooler at a cost of $22,000 (with crystal champagne flutes, of course). Fold-down picnic tables with iPad docks can be added for another $28,000.That's just the starting point, Holzgartner says.His job is to deal with the outrageous requests for customised Bentleys, which can take up to 12 months to build.By far the wackiest request came from a Middle East customer who wanted a prescription windscreen fitted so she would not have to wear glasses when driving (that went into the "not possible" folder).There was another Middle East woman who wanted to paint her car the same shade as her favourite nail polish. The problem was she would not part with the bottle (one of the Bentley execs got her to paint his nails so he could show the techs back home).Or there was the Dualit food blender that turned up in the post one morning. Puzzled craftsmen phoned the customer, who explained he wanted his car painted the same shade of powder blue.If it's legal and it's do-able, then we'll tryOr how about the man who wanted to incorporate the wood from a tree on his property or the woman who sent some flower petals in the mail and wanted the colour matched?"The paint guys deserve a medal for that one," says Holzgartner. "If it's legal and it's do-able, then we'll try."Surprisingly, the one thing Bentley won't come at is gold plating, simply because the precious metal doesn't wear very well — but the paint shop is experimenting with new finishes, such as rose gold.Described as the world's fastest ultra-luxury driving experience, the Mulsanne is a big — 5.6 metres, 2.7 tonnes — twin turbo V8 sedan.The Speed version is a step up again, with more power and torque, faster acceleration and an even higher top speed.Its 7.0-litre V8 produces 395kW of power and a massive 1100Nm of torque, the latter from just 1750rpm.The combo is capable of catapulting the land yacht from 0-100km/h in a mere 4.9 secs and on to 305km/h.Despite the expense, Bentley sold more than 10,000 cars worldwide last year, 135 in Australia — 87 coupes and 48 of the larger sedans.The new Speed is expected here soon.

Chris Riley road tests and reviews the 2015 Bentley Mulsanne Speed at its international launch.

Buying a new Bentley now includes a psych test. It's not a deep dip into childhood fantasies, but it does provide a surprisingly clear direction for a new-car decision.Instead of relying on whims and fads, the computer program is intended to tap into underlying desires instead of preconceived ideas. It still takes a human touch from one of Bentley's design gurus, but the results are already changing the look and feel of cars being built at the company's historic headquarters in Crewe, England."We had one customer who was set on a black car with black leather. We ran him through the Design Studio process and came up with something completely different. And he was very happy," says David Fearnley, lead interior designer at Bentley Motors.The test starts with a series of picture choices — often between modern and classic or fire and ice — before an expert consultant moves in to the Bentley Studio to guide a potential buyer.The test gives us almost a nucleus of a personFearnley was recently in Australia to demonstrate the operation of the Studio, which was first trialled as a pop-up in the US last year and is now being rolled out through the Bentley network.He says people often struggle to make relatively simple colour and trim choices on any car, without worrying about the one million-plus combinations at Bentley. And even that number is without dipping into the truly bespoke service, where even a nail polish colour can be applied to a car, from the Mulliner division."The test gives us almost a nucleus of a person. We carefully selected the images. It's somewhere to start," says Fearnley."There are four goalposts in the test — adrenaline, future, serenity, legacy — to allow us to start to talk to customers. So the technology is going ahead but it's also a way to start a face-to-face interaction with customers."There is a growing number of people who want a bespoke service. It's quite entertaining for us when we're trying to make people happy."It's all about piecing together the story of a person's carAfter the computer quiz, the Bentley Studio process begins with a choice of body colour. Then comes the major leather colours for the cabin, starting with the top of the dashboard and moving through the seats, before such things as the dash and centre-console materials.Some owners even choose to buy a Bentley child seat, then have it trimmed to match their car's cabin.It's their car, their expression"It's all about piecing together the story of a person's car," says Fearnley."It's their car, their expression. Many people say they buy a Bentley and never intend to sell it, so their choices are something they will be living with for a long time."