When I was a boy, I was fascinated by the luxury carmakers of the 1930s — stunning examples of rolling sculpture such as Packard, Duesenberg, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce and Bentley. A few of these cars, such as the Duesy and Bentley, combined serious sporting performance with their parlorlike interiors and elegant coachwork. The Great Depression (so what was so great about it?!) of the early '30s killed off many of these glamorous cars, and around that time Bentley was bought out (and saved) by fellow English car company, Rolls-Royce.
In 1985 Bentley decided to emphasize performance once again and brought out the Turbo R, basically a Mulsanne four-door sedan (which itself was essentially a twin to the Rolls Silver Spirit) with a big turbo bolted onto its 6.75-liter Rolls-Royce engine. Although both Rolls-Royce and Bentley traditionally didn't divulge power output of their engines, merely saying that the power was "adequate," estimates put the numbers at around 310 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The end result was that the stately 5,300-pound motorcar could dash to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds and hit a top speed approaching 140 mph. At last, Bentley had something to separate itself from its even more snobbish cousin.
The Mulsanne and the Turbo R are long gone, but equally well-endowed versions of the current Arnage sedan carry on the tradition. We drove the Arnage R, which in effect replaces both the Arnage Red Label (which had a single turbocharged 6.75-liter V8) and the Green Label (that had to "make do" with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW V8).
The Arnage has presence, and not just because it's longer than a Lincoln Navigator and weighs as much as that full-size SUV. Understated rather than glamorous, the Arnage is devoid of any tacky styling elements. Close examination reveals lovely details, such as the window frames that have no visible joints at their corners, appearing as a single piece rather than an assemblage containing unsightly seams.
With leather and wood trim becoming commonplace in less prestigious nameplates, one might think that the Arnage's cabin lost its "wow" factor. Rest assured it hasn't. Although burled walnut wood trim is standard, our car had optional bird's eye maple, whose light color was a fine match for the Oatmeal interior of the Desert Dune Arnage. Our car also had such trifles as optional rear vanity mirrors, a pair of umbrellas and chrome wheels. If the generous amount of standard wood trim isn't enough, the cruise control buttons and the power seat controls can be surrounded in matching accents. And you simply can't go without the optional picnic tables that flip down from the front seat backs; they'll only cost you another $2,067 — chump change, right?
Whether you're piloting, navigating or riding in the back, there's not a bad seat in the house. Comfort is top-notch, as expected, and the outboard rear seats feature power adjustment for their seat back angle. Our car's rear seats also had optional power lumbar supports and heating, further coddling those fortunate enough to be transported in this magnificent machine.
We won't go into a long list of safety features, as one would expect this car to have all the latest technologies, such as side curtain airbags and BrakeAssist, which it does.
Although it may look the same as its predecessors, the R benefits from many improvements under the skin. Over 50 percent of the V8 is new, and the single turbo has been supplanted by a pair of smaller turbos. With less inertia than a larger single blower, the smaller turbos spool up quicker, meaning quicker response when the right wingtip is mashed to the plush carpet. As they were with the previous engine, output figures are simply astounding: 400 horsepower and 616 pound-feet of torque. Consider this: torque output is about 50 percent greater than that produced by a Corvette Z06.
So what's all this mean in practical terms? Simply that this massive saloon (Brit-speak for four-door automobile) can hustle to 60 mph in under six seconds and will run all the way up to 155 mph until an electronic governer says, "That's enough, Lead Foot." Step into it from almost any speed and the twin-turbo V8 sends a swift kick to your Armani-clad butt, adding heaps of velocity faster than you can say "signing bonus." A couple of editors who drove the car briefly thought that the throttle response was a bit abrupt in traffic. This driver, who spent a week with the car, didn't really notice a problem, though the Arnage's nine miles per gallon average may have been an indication that yours truly enjoyed the prodigious thrust. Like a good butler, the transmission did its job perfectly without calling attention to itself, furnishing liquid-smooth gear changes and dutifully holding gears and stepping down promptly when the Sport mode was selected (done via a button atop the gear selector).
To state the obvious, a massive vehicle with a twin-turbo V8 needs big, strong brakes, and the Arnage has got 'em. At the test track, the binders brought the Arnage to a stop from 60 mph in just under 126 feet, a figure that would be considered good for a sport sedan, let alone a near three-ton luxury cruiser. Equally impressive is the fact that the brakes exhibited no fade; out of four braking runs, the last two were shorter than the first two.
The laws of physics cannot be broken, but who says they can't be bent a little? With its electronically adaptive suspension, the Arnage handled twisty roads at speed like a car two-thirds its size. With minimal body roll and pleasantly weighted and accurate steering, it was evident that Bentley was serious about its goal of improving both ride and handling characteristics over the already competent Red Label. A number of chassis tweaks — including stiffening the structure in key areas such as the rocker panels and bulkhead, plus the addition of a rear antiroll bar and the fitment of Pirelli P Zero tires — help boost the Arnage's handling and comfort levels. When motoring about at a more sedate pace, the Arnage delivered a plush ride without feeling mushy.
Lest anyone think we were too blinded by the Bentley's beauty and power to criticize it, well, we weren't. We were still able to come up with a laundry list of gripes. Of course, many luxury features come standard on this car, even niceties such as a DVD-based navigation system (operated via a remote control that our car was missing) and front and rear sonar parking assist (much appreciated in a car this big and expensive). Yet there is no trip computer, no HID headlights (though the Bentley's beams did throw out a flat and full light pattern) and no steering wheel-mounted controls for the stereo.
Adding to the quirky British character of the Arnage is an old-fashioned one-sided ignition key, sun visors that don't swing out to the sides and a jerky power seat adjustment that makes it hard to fine-tune the driver's seating position. The stereo may look as if it has a user-friendly layout, but it is maddening to use, with nonintuitive controls for setting the presets and making adjustments. Although the steering wheel has power tilting, there is no telescoping function. Lastly, and completely out of character with the rest of the car, was the turn signal lever that sounded and felt brittle when it was released. That last complaint doesn't apply to most Los Angeles drivers, however — they don't bother indicating their intentions.
Rationality doesn't play a big part in the purchase of a Bentley. Sure, the car is fast, comfortable, elegant and well built. But so are other luxury rides such as the Mercedes-Benz S600 or BMW 760Li that are around half the price of an Arnage R. A Bentley is more exclusive than either of those two German powerhouses that, unfortunately, are virtually indistinguishable from their legions of "lesser" S430 and 745Li brothers. And if a standard Bentley still isn't enough to satisfy your need to express your individuality (and utter wealth), the company will be only too glad to fit your vehicle with custom colors, interior materials and wheels. We heard that Jennifer Lopez recently purchased an Azure (Bentley's convertible model) and lavished it with about $250,000 in customization. Guess a plain ol' $360,000 Azure isn't good enough for the girl who claims she's still just "Jenny from the block."
In 1985 Bentley decided to emphasize performance once again and brought out the Turbo R, basically a Mulsanne four-door sedan (which itself was essentially a twin to the Rolls Silver Spirit) with a big turbo bolted onto its 6.75-liter Rolls-Royce engine. Although both Rolls-Royce and Bentley traditionally didn't divulge power output of their engines, merely saying that the power was "adequate," estimates put the numbers at around 310 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The end result was that the stately 5,300-pound motorcar could dash to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds and hit a top speed approaching 140 mph. At last, Bentley had something to separate itself from its even more snobbish cousin.
The Mulsanne and the Turbo R are long gone, but equally well-endowed versions of the current Arnage sedan carry on the tradition. We drove the Arnage R, which in effect replaces both the Arnage Red Label (which had a single turbocharged 6.75-liter V8) and the Green Label (that had to "make do" with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW V8).
The Arnage has presence, and not just because it's longer than a Lincoln Navigator and weighs as much as that full-size SUV. Understated rather than glamorous, the Arnage is devoid of any tacky styling elements. Close examination reveals lovely details, such as the window frames that have no visible joints at their corners, appearing as a single piece rather than an assemblage containing unsightly seams.
With leather and wood trim becoming commonplace in less prestigious nameplates, one might think that the Arnage's cabin lost its "wow" factor. Rest assured it hasn't. Although burled walnut wood trim is standard, our car had optional bird's eye maple, whose light color was a fine match for the Oatmeal interior of the Desert Dune Arnage. Our car also had such trifles as optional rear vanity mirrors, a pair of umbrellas and chrome wheels. If the generous amount of standard wood trim isn't enough, the cruise control buttons and the power seat controls can be surrounded in matching accents. And you simply can't go without the optional picnic tables that flip down from the front seat backs; they'll only cost you another $2,067 — chump change, right?
Whether you're piloting, navigating or riding in the back, there's not a bad seat in the house. Comfort is top-notch, as expected, and the outboard rear seats feature power adjustment for their seat back angle. Our car's rear seats also had optional power lumbar supports and heating, further coddling those fortunate enough to be transported in this magnificent machine.
We won't go into a long list of safety features, as one would expect this car to have all the latest technologies, such as side curtain airbags and BrakeAssist, which it does.
Although it may look the same as its predecessors, the R benefits from many improvements under the skin. Over 50 percent of the V8 is new, and the single turbo has been supplanted by a pair of smaller turbos. With less inertia than a larger single blower, the smaller turbos spool up quicker, meaning quicker response when the right wingtip is mashed to the plush carpet. As they were with the previous engine, output figures are simply astounding: 400 horsepower and 616 pound-feet of torque. Consider this: torque output is about 50 percent greater than that produced by a Corvette Z06.
So what's all this mean in practical terms? Simply that this massive saloon (Brit-speak for four-door automobile) can hustle to 60 mph in under six seconds and will run all the way up to 155 mph until an electronic governer says, "That's enough, Lead Foot." Step into it from almost any speed and the twin-turbo V8 sends a swift kick to your Armani-clad butt, adding heaps of velocity faster than you can say "signing bonus." A couple of editors who drove the car briefly thought that the throttle response was a bit abrupt in traffic. This driver, who spent a week with the car, didn't really notice a problem, though the Arnage's nine miles per gallon average may have been an indication that yours truly enjoyed the prodigious thrust. Like a good butler, the transmission did its job perfectly without calling attention to itself, furnishing liquid-smooth gear changes and dutifully holding gears and stepping down promptly when the Sport mode was selected (done via a button atop the gear selector).
To state the obvious, a massive vehicle with a twin-turbo V8 needs big, strong brakes, and the Arnage has got 'em. At the test track, the binders brought the Arnage to a stop from 60 mph in just under 126 feet, a figure that would be considered good for a sport sedan, let alone a near three-ton luxury cruiser. Equally impressive is the fact that the brakes exhibited no fade; out of four braking runs, the last two were shorter than the first two.
The laws of physics cannot be broken, but who says they can't be bent a little? With its electronically adaptive suspension, the Arnage handled twisty roads at speed like a car two-thirds its size. With minimal body roll and pleasantly weighted and accurate steering, it was evident that Bentley was serious about its goal of improving both ride and handling characteristics over the already competent Red Label. A number of chassis tweaks — including stiffening the structure in key areas such as the rocker panels and bulkhead, plus the addition of a rear antiroll bar and the fitment of Pirelli P Zero tires — help boost the Arnage's handling and comfort levels. When motoring about at a more sedate pace, the Arnage delivered a plush ride without feeling mushy.
Lest anyone think we were too blinded by the Bentley's beauty and power to criticize it, well, we weren't. We were still able to come up with a laundry list of gripes. Of course, many luxury features come standard on this car, even niceties such as a DVD-based navigation system (operated via a remote control that our car was missing) and front and rear sonar parking assist (much appreciated in a car this big and expensive). Yet there is no trip computer, no HID headlights (though the Bentley's beams did throw out a flat and full light pattern) and no steering wheel-mounted controls for the stereo.
Adding to the quirky British character of the Arnage is an old-fashioned one-sided ignition key, sun visors that don't swing out to the sides and a jerky power seat adjustment that makes it hard to fine-tune the driver's seating position. The stereo may look as if it has a user-friendly layout, but it is maddening to use, with nonintuitive controls for setting the presets and making adjustments. Although the steering wheel has power tilting, there is no telescoping function. Lastly, and completely out of character with the rest of the car, was the turn signal lever that sounded and felt brittle when it was released. That last complaint doesn't apply to most Los Angeles drivers, however — they don't bother indicating their intentions.
Rationality doesn't play a big part in the purchase of a Bentley. Sure, the car is fast, comfortable, elegant and well built. But so are other luxury rides such as the Mercedes-Benz S600 or BMW 760Li that are around half the price of an Arnage R. A Bentley is more exclusive than either of those two German powerhouses that, unfortunately, are virtually indistinguishable from their legions of "lesser" S430 and 745Li brothers. And if a standard Bentley still isn't enough to satisfy your need to express your individuality (and utter wealth), the company will be only too glad to fit your vehicle with custom colors, interior materials and wheels. We heard that Jennifer Lopez recently purchased an Azure (Bentley's convertible model) and lavished it with about $250,000 in customization. Guess a plain ol' $360,000 Azure isn't good enough for the girl who claims she's still just "Jenny from the block."
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