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Bentley builds its final 6.75-liter V8, ending a 61-year production run

Bentley has just finished its very last 6.75-liter V8. While engines come and go, this is significant because Bentley has been building this engine, known as the L-series, for 61 years. This final engine will go in the 30th and last Bentley Mulsanne, a 6.75 Edition by Mulliner, marking the end of the flagship sedan. The L-series engine was first introduced in 1959, and according to Bentley, it was developed in order to develop more power than its existing inline-six without adding weight or taking up more space. The engine in fact weighed 30 pounds less than the six-cylinder, and it made about 180 horsepower. That original engine "only" had 6.2-liters of displacement, and it wasn't until 1971 that it would reach 6.75 liters thanks to increased stroke. This final version of the engine is significantly different from its fuel injection to its twin-turbochargers, but is based on the same design. And with 530 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, it's the most powerful iteration of the engine. At 61 years, the Bentley engine is arguably the V8 with the longest production run. While the first-generation Chevy small block V8 was introduced earlier for the 1955 model year and is still built in crate engine form, GM stopped using it in production cars in 2002. Far fewer Bentley engines were built, though, with a total over 36,000, as opposed to the millions of Chevy small blocks in the world. Of course, volume is sort of the antithesis of what makes a Bentley a Bentley. With the 6.75-liter engine out of production, all of Bentley's engines are derived from VW Group engines, from its W12 to the plug-in hybrid V6. Related Video:    

Autoblog Minute: New Prius, Bentley Bentyaga, Rolls-Royce Dawn

Bentley and Rolls-Royce both introduce new luxury vehicles and Toyota revealed its latest Prius. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on the Weekly Recap edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Bentley and Rolls-Royce both introduce new luxury vehicles and Toyota revealed its latest Prius I'm Senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. With a top speed of 187 mph Bentyaga will be the fastest production SUV on the road when it hits the market. Eventually, Bentley intends to launch a seven-seat version, a higher performance Speed model, and more efficient diesel and hybrid variants of its new luxury SUV. Dawn is the new four seater convertible from Rolls-Royce. While the car looks to the past for its name it boasts lots of modern tech including Rolls-Royce's Zed F eight-speed automatic transmission for imperceptible gear changes and a silently operating, six layer, canvas top. The launch of Toyota's latest Prius marks the fourth generation of the popular hybrid. Prius has gone from a niche product to one of the industry's most important vehicles. Toyota hopes its new Prius will redefine the category it helped to pioneer. We're expecting fuel economy to increase by 10 percent and this is the most tech laden Prius ever. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. Plus, some insight on the new Cadillac XT5. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. Bentley Rolls-Royce Toyota Convertible SUV Hybrid Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video rolls-royce dawn

VW adding particulate filters to gas engines

Volkswagen is working hard to overcome the PR disaster that is its diesel emissions scandal, and part of its efforts is focusing, weirdly, on petrol engines. Starting in June 2017, the embattled German automaker will add particulate filters to the gas-powered Volkswagen Tiguan and Audi A5. The change will eventually impact nearly every direct-injected gas engine the VW Group makes. Audi? Particulate filter. Seat? Particulate filter. Even Bentley is going to get the tech, all in a bid to reduce soot emissions by 90 percent. In fact, by 2022 VAG expects 7 million of its vehicles to boast the emissions-cleaning tech, which has long been a fixture on diesel engines. "Following increases in efficiency and lower CO2 output, we are now bringing about a sustained reduction in the emission levels of our modern petrol engines by fitting particulate filters as standard," Volkswagen Group research and design boss Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn said in a statement. "In the future, all models will be equipped with the latest and most efficient SCR catalytic converter technology." VW's initial rollout focuses on the 1.4-liter, turbocharged Tiguan and the 2.0-liter, turbocharged A5. Considering the popularity of the 2.0-liter across the VW range, we'd expect it's only a matter of time before VW expands its particulate filters tech to additional gas-powered vehicles. Related Video: