Bentley may nonetheless be bidding its W12 engine goodbye with varied swansong autos, however now it’s the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8’s flip to say adieu. Not less than within the Continental and Flying Spur fashions – the Bentayga will proceed on with this powertrain for an unspecified period of time.
We don’t have a tough cutoff in North America for the V8, however Bentley says manufacturing of its ultimate 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 automobiles in Europe, the UK and the Center East is to be accomplished quickly with ultimate deliveries in June. North America “will observe later.” Earlier than you hop straight to the feedback, know this doesn’t imply Bentley is abandoning the V8 fully. It introduced alongside this information that an “all-new” V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain is on the horizon and can function the corporate’s flagship providing, technically changing the W12. Output is pegged at 740 horsepower with this mannequin, and all-electric vary from the battery pack is estimated at 50 miles on the WLTP drive cycle – anticipate notably fewer miles of vary in EPA testing. That’s all we all know right this moment, however Bentley says extra can be revealed in time
As for what is going to exchange the soon-to-be-retired gas-only V8 choice, Bentley suggests hybrid powertrains could be used and that each one of its mannequin traces would provide a hybrid variant by 2024. The one mannequin with no hybrid out there but is the Continental, so anticipate an announcement regarding that automotive imminently.
To have a good time the tip of the present V8’s period, Bentley put collectively “Version 8” variations of its Flying Spur, Continental GT and Continental GTC. It’s a North America-special and comes with plenty of Mulliner choices as normal gear. The Continental fashions function Version 8 badges on their fenders, whereas the Flying Spur wears it on its D pillar. An Version 8 motif will be seen embroidered on the seat backs and engraved on the treadplates, too. One significantly notable luxurious contact is the Palm Fluting sample (seen within the picture above) on its luxurious seats, which Bentley says it has by no means supplied on any of its core/mainstream fashions earlier than.
Deliveries of the Version 8 will start “imminently,” so in the event you’re a very large fan of Bentley’s present V8 and have cash to spend, now’s the time.
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