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2015 Bentley Mulsanne Speed

Why does the Bentley Mulsanne Speed exist? Sam Graham, product line director for the Mulsanne, tells us Bentley's Western customers demanded it, many driven by memories of the Arnage T - the hotted-up version of the Arnage R. The Arnage T, you may remember, arrived in 2002 and threw down 459 horsepower and 645 pound-feet of torque on its way to being billed the most powerful production Bentley ever. Today's Mulsanne Speed picks up the torch and takes it all the way to the Olympic stadium.
Driving Notes
It starts with an upgrade to 530 hp at 4,200 rpm and 811 lb-ft of torque at a limbo-esque 1,750 rpm. That's an additional 25 hp and 86 lb-ft compared to the standard sedan, enabling a top speed of 190 miles per hour. That torque figure makes it second only to the Bugatti Veyron among production cars, and that terminal velocity makes it the fastest ultra-luxury sedan on God's Own Green.

Bentley mulling own spec series for gentlemen racers?

We began to salivate when we saw the Bentley Continental GT3 up close and personal at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. The thought of a track-going Continental GT conjured up notions of the Bentley Boys, the original gentlemen racers, tearing down the Mulsanne straight. Well, according to AutoGuide, it appears our wistful ponderings will be realized in the form of an international spec racing series.
Similar to the Porsche Carrera Cup or the Ferrari Challenge, this will be a one-make series, and Bentley seeks to run races in Europe, North America and Asia. As for the latter, Bentley Board Member for Marketing Kevin Rose suggested that China will be the likely host of an Asian race. According to Rose, sportscar racing is of interest to Bentley's Chinese customers. He also says that there will be participation by dealers. "Our dealers are by definition car nuts," claims Rose.
While the Continental GT3 is being developed for pro-level use, Bentley is apparently working on a turn-key car for gentlemen racers. According to Rose, "We want to make it as easy as possible." While that doesn't sound like the devil-may-care Bentley Boys of yore, it's likely better to attract participation. The first trials are expected for 2013, and Bentley is even considering making vehicles available for privateer teams.

2014 Bentley Continental GT V8 S

Bentley still appeals to those with an appreciation for strong, Old World traditionalism. Cars wearing the storied Flying B have been discussed in wood-paneled drawing rooms by men wearing earthy tweeds and corduroy through clouds of fragrant cigar and pipe smoke, for decades. It is a company that has spent nearly 100 years building cost-no-object autombiles, for rich drivers who require a tremendous way to waft above the Sturm und Drang of mortal motoring.
The Bentley Continental GT, while unmistakably a party to that legacy of wooly privilege, has always seemed better suited to the nouveau riche than the landed gentry. The Mulsanne and the Continental Flying Spur still carry forward the brand's heritage of unfathomably fast, gargantuan sedans, while the GT has been busy inveigling an entirely new class of buyer with its lottery-win good looks.
A microsecond version of that analysis was all I had time for as I careened around another heroic left-hand sweeper in this Ice (white) 2014 Bentley Continental GT V8 S. For a car with roots in rainy England and German-engineering genes, the V8 S felt remarkably at home while crushing the desert-strewn distance between San Diego and Palm Springs - almost the epicenter of the New World's Golden West.