2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Sedan 4-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Bentley designers talk about Intelligent Details

Bentley Director of Design Luc Donckerwolke certainly thinks highly of the vehicles he creates. "We are the only ones that offer performance compatible with luxury," he says in Intelligent Details, a new short documentary commissioned by the brand. While that might be a bit hyperbolic (the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG says hello), the company does have a long history of blending elegant interiors, sophisticated exteriors and powerful engines. The film examines how crafting that works in the modern world.
Intelligent Details stars Donckerwolke and his colleague Head of Exterior Design Sang Yup Lee as they ride in two contrasting Bentley Mulsannes through New York City. They talk about what makes a Bentley special, but their biggest focus is their belief that automotive interiors can no longer by "a closed cocoon," according to Donckerwolke. It has to transform into a living space thanks to the brand's interior infotainment technology.
The message might be self-aggrandizing, but the short film itself is beautifully shot and edited with some loving looks at the city. The way it was actually made could be the most surprising part of all. We don't want to spoil it here, but scroll down and watch the whole video to see.

2024 Bentley Edition 8 models signal time's up for the gas-only V8

Bentley might still be bidding its W12 engine goodbye with various swansong vehicles, but now it’s the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8Â’s turn to say adieu. At least in the Continental and Flying Spur models – the Bentayga will continue on with this powertrain for an unspecified amount of time. We donÂ’t have a hard cutoff in North America for the V8, but Bentley says production of its final 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 cars in Europe, the UK and the Middle East is to be completed soon with final deliveries in June. North America “will follow later.” Before you hop straight to the comments, know this doesnÂ’t mean Bentley is abandoning the V8 entirely. It announced alongside this news that an “all-new” V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain is on the horizon and will serve as the companyÂ’s flagship offering, technically replacing the W12. Output is pegged at 740 horsepower with this model, and all-electric range from the battery pack is estimated at 50 miles on the WLTP drive cycle – expect notably fewer miles of range in EPA testing. ThatÂ’s all we know today, but Bentley says more will be revealed in time As for what will replace the soon-to-be-retired gas-only V8 option, Bentley suggests hybrid powertrains would be used and that all of its model lines would offer a hybrid variant by 2024. The only model without a hybrid available yet is the Continental, so expect an announcement concerning that car imminently.  To celebrate the end of the current V8Â’s era, Bentley put together “Edition 8” versions of its Flying Spur, Continental GT and Continental GTC. ItÂ’s a North America-special and comes with lots of Mulliner options as standard equipment. The Continental models feature Edition 8 badges on their fenders, while the Flying Spur wears it on its D pillar. An Edition 8 motif can be seen embroidered on the seat backs and engraved on the treadplates, too. One particularly notable luxury touch is the Palm Fluting pattern (seen in the photo above) on its sumptuous seats, which Bentley says it has never offered on any of its core/mainstream models before. Deliveries of the Edition 8 will begin “imminently,” so if youÂ’re a particularly big fan of BentleyÂ’s current V8 and have money to spend, now is the time. Related Video

VW CEO lost his job over buggy software that delayed new models

It says a lot about the state of the auto industry and where it's going that software problems have cost the CEO of a carmaker his job. Volkswagen ousted Herbert Diess as chief executive officer after severe software-development delays set back the scheduled launch of new Porsches, Audis and Bentleys. This was untenable considering buggy software postponed the debut of VW’s initial rollout of ID models, and customers are still having to drop off their cars at the dealer for updates the company has struggled to make over the air. Sure, Diess also didnÂ’t do enough to make allies and became increasingly isolated due to his hard-nosed leadership style. In his push to transform the company into an electric-vehicle leader, he repeatedly clashed with labor leaders by warning VW was losing out to Tesla and needed to cut thousands of jobs. But failures at the carmakerÂ’s software unit Cariad ultimately eroded DiessÂ’s support from the powerful Porsche and Piech family that calls the shots. Back in December, VW overhauled its management board, stripping Diess of some responsibilities while tasking him to turn around Cariad. While thereÂ’s been a lot of re-arranging since then, Diess didnÂ’t manage to make the issues go away. Discord at Cariad has pushed back the rollout of important new models including the electric Porsche Macan, a high-volume sport utility vehicle for the division thatÂ’s planning an initial public offering in the fourth quarter. AudiÂ’s new line of Artemis EVs has been delayed by around two years to 2027. And VWÂ’s ultra-luxury brand Bentley may not be able to go all-electric by the end of this decade as planned because of the software issues, Automobilwoche reported earlier this month. “Taking over the ship at Cariad seems to have been DiessÂ’s downfall,” said Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst based in Berlin. VWÂ’s solutions to challenges tend to reflect its status as an industrial behemoth: itÂ’s able to throw lots of money and people at its problems. But modernizing the company for the digital age is going to take bringing in talent and building skillsets outside its traditional zones of expertise. Drivers increasingly demand intuitive user interfaces and services that could create new revenue streams, if done correctly. “Software is the key to the future,” TeslaÂ’s Elon Musk tweeted when one of his followers asked about VW switching CEOs. Diess certainly didnÂ’t lack ambition.