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Bentley announces Mulsanne upgrades to be shown in Geneva

Proving that there's no such thing as too much luxury, Bentley has released details for the updated 2014 Mulsanne that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Most of the additions are to improve rear-seat accommodations inside, with the addition of Comfort Specification and Entertainment Specification options.
The Comfort Specification adds some conveniences you might have in your living room, such as padded headrests, stowable footrests and seat cushions filled with duck down. Likewise, the new Entertainment Specification brings tech you might find in your home, including a wifi hotspot, seat trays that are now bigger to accommodate an iPad and keyboard and an entertainment system that gets a pair of eight-inch screens, a DVD player, wireless headphones and premium audio. Rear occupants in the 2014 Mulsanne will also get revised rear door panels with more storage and power-retractable curtains for both side- and rear windows.
Bentley is also offering up new paint and leather colors, too, and to finish it all off, Mulsanne customers will also be able to order a six-piece, handmade luggage set.

Xcar asks why the W in the Bentley Continental GT

There aren't a lot of automakers producing V12 engines these days: There's BMW and Mercedes, of course, and the Rolls-Royces and Paganis they power. There's Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin. But the largest producer of twelve-cylinder engines doesn't make them in a V. That'd be Bentley, and it produces more dozen-piston engines than anyone else, but arranges them in a W configuration. It's a compelling story of innovation, one as interesting as the history of the marque itself. And Xcar tells the tale in its latest video installment, tracing it back to the development of the compact VR6 engine and the autocratic mastermind at the helm of the Volkswagen Group who made the W12 a reality. By this point it would be all too easy to consign the W12 to the dustbin of history as the smaller, more efficient and nearly as powerful V8 has slotted in below to push the W12 to the margins of relevance. But it's still the more refined option, and the more innovative one. Little wonder it's the only type of twelve-cylinder engine (the Aventador's notwithstanding) that the Volkswagen Group still makes.

2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 First Drive Review | 8 is the new baker's dozen

Certain objects are so well known for arriving in groups of twelve that their dodecameralism is almost presumed. This list includes eggs, donuts, roses, inches, hours, months, human ribs, days of Christmas and, correlatively, drummers drumming. We can add to that group the number of cylinders under the hood of a contemporary Bentley. Since 2003, when the venerable British brand rolled out its modern Continental GT, it has sold more than 70,000 of these models, a notable number with an inventive, twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder engine, arrayed in a W configuration. Unfortunately, the flying-B brand has been having some difficulty meeting certification requirements for its alluring, all-new, 12-cylinder-equipped Continental GT coupe and convertible, which have yet to appear in the States, despite a full two years having lapsed since their unveiling. Fortunately, to stem the tide of demand, the crew from Crewe has certified a version of the Porsche-designed 542-horsepower, 568 pound-feet 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 from the Panamera for use in their new two-door, backed up by an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. It will be available for purchase here, this fall — before it is offered to any other market — by those with 220,000 spare dollars. Even more fortunate, we just had the chance to drive it through the coastal, mountainous and curvy vineyard regions of Northern California, and we can assure you that, while we still believe Bentley GTs deserve twelve cylinders, eight is the new baker's dozen. Unless you've spent extended time piloting the Continental GT W12 through some of the most beautiful mountainous regions of Europe and America, as we have, you might not notice the one-third reduction in cylinders, or the 84-horsepower depreciation in output. According to Bentley, the less powerful but lighter motor adds only 0.2 seconds to the 0-60 run (3.8 versus 3.6 for the coupe, 3.9 versus 3.7 for the convertible) not enough of a differential to tip our own internal accelerometer. It also foregoes cresting 200 mph like its bigger brother can, not that there's anywhere you can hit these speeds safely in America anyway. The V8 also, as referenced above, subtracts a couple hundred pounds from the total weight of the GT, not that this matters all that much in a vehicle that weighs 2.5 tons, but it does take a modicum of gravitational pressure off the front axle. Is it noticeable on first blush?