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2013 Bentley Mulsanne is tailor-made titan

The 2013 Bentley Mulsanne is an amalgam of the choicest materials draped over a traditional long-wheelbase chassis, lending customers wishful measures of pomp and show.

Perhaps founder WO Bentley — or W.O. as he was simply called — knew from the start that in a century’s time, his cars would epitomise ‘sporting luxury’… or perhaps he didn’t.

But that is precisely what Bentley has become — a company with an illustrious history, with six claims to the throne at Le Mans and a long-standing association with Rolls-Royce. It would indeed have the recipe to build some of the 
finest cars the world has ever seen.

Bentley has tried to showcase that recipe in their flagship, the 2013 Bentley Mulsanne. We steered an example down the busy straights and around-turns, expecting something new about the car to excite us. After all, when you are named after a turn in the Le Mans race course, excitement is what you get.

DESIGN & AESTHETICS

After the S-Type of the 1950s, every other flagship by Bentley was based on a Rolls-Royce or a VW Phaeton. The Mulsanne, however, is all-new ground up: designed and manufactured at Crewe, taking inspiration from some of W.O.’s greatest creations of yesteryear.

The long bonnet, short front overhang and long rear overhang convey a delibe-rate sense of motion; and that sloping D-pillar gives it that coupe-like body made of super-formed aluminum.

Stateliness is addressed with that giant exclusive ‘brightware’ — polished stainless steel matrix grille and giant dual bi-xenon projector headlamps, with a crown of LEDs. The iconic ‘Flying B’ retractable radiator mascot is available as an option. With the touch of a button, you can make the hood ornament disappear when parked, before it ends up in the hands of a jewel thief.

Two lines dictate the shape of the Mulsanne: one flows over, creating the silhouette, and the other a sharp crease that originates from the front fender and flows through till the rear. As far as Bentley’s relation with geometry goes, the height of the window is 1/3rd of the height of the side profile, like in an Ast-on Martin. Perhaps it’s a British thing.

At the rear end, you have the beautiful ‘floating’ elliptical LED tail lights — a shape that is replicated in the tailpipes. These are the elements that make it recognisably Bentley.

The Mulsanne is truly a full-size sedan of epic proportions that requires a nine-week build process. It measures 5,575mm in length, 2,208mm mirror to mirror and is 1,521mm tall. Luckily, ground clearance is a large enough number that will save it from meeting curbs and etching paint while parking.

The Mulliner edition comes with multi-spoke 21-inch alloy wheels with a choice of two designs, wrapped in 265/40 ZR 21 tyres. The standard car runs on 20-inch. Its visual opulence is evident in the size and shine — you wouldn’t be surprised if someone ent-rusted with the crown jewels stepped out of a Mulsanne.

The spoils of a rich and grand lifestyle have been executed in the Mulsanne’s cabin. There is nothing pretentious about the materials used. The veneer is genuine oak, walnut, maple etc, and the thickness of the wood can be seen around the air-vents and at the exposed edges of the door. Real glass is used for the buttons on the centre console and, throughout the cabin, examples of polished stainless steel are seen — like on the air vents and organ stop controls.

The driver gets to grasp the 4-spoke, multi-function steering wheel with power adjustments for tilt and reach. The hide-trimmed wheel takes 15 hours to hand-stitch. Art is in the craft. The traditional instrument gauges have inverted dials with the needles at 1 o’clock. Much of the needle use is towards the centre and this improves clarity.

As a centrepiece, you have a Breitling timepiece engulfed in a panel of wood. The layout of the button and knobs are simple and you don’t have to hee-haw over its operation, unlike modern-day touch-screen panels. The rotary knob on the centre console has a knurl texture that is true to the Bentley heritage — it adds to the cabin embellishments.

The two front seats get 12-way power adjustment, with two memory positions, and the 2+1 rear seat confi-guration has 8-way power adjustments to outboard seats, with two memory positions. All seats have climate control and the rear seat massage function is quite the comforter.

There are 100 exterior paints to choose from, some unusual heritage colours, some special satin and pearlescent finishes and duo-tone combinations. There is a choice of 23 seatbelt colours and 21 varieties of lamb’s wool leather-bound carpets for your feet to grace.

POWERTRAIN & PERFORMANCE

Keeping with tradition, the Mulsanne retains the 6 and ¾ litre V8, just as specified in Bentley’s book for hand-built mechanicals. And to top it off, they’ve added twin turbos. It is quite shameless about its power credentials, serving up 505 horses at 4,200 rpm. There is no doubt about the car’s 200-mph capabilities.

With the redline marked out at 4,500 revs, you know this motor has sufficient low-end torque to bulldoze its way past the inertia of 2,685 kg-weighing chunk of metal. To be specific, 1,020 Nm lay at your disposal — available from an almost idling speed of 1,750 revs. So there is grunt from the get-go and, with the electronic nannies switched off, a lead foot can burn enough rubber to set a forest ablaze.

The Mulsanne can be tried for gluttony in most eyes, but with the drop of the right foot, the nose rises, the exhaust bellows and the car hurls down the highway with the urgency of a comet. From a standstill, the speedo’ will tip the 100 km/h mark in a whisker over 5 seconds and the needle won’t rest till it strikes 296 km/h.

Funnily enough, from the insides, the way the Mulsanne transcends into speed is truly unexceptional. It is whisper-quiet and in fact, the sound of $1,000 genuine leather shoes rubbing up against each other is the only noise you would hear.

The champion coach-makers are often judged by the ride quality of their cars and the Mulsanne cruises past road undulations like a stream over rocks, thanks to the electronically-controlled air springs with Continuous Damping Control fulfilling that quality. Its damping is fractionally stiffer than the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but this plays to its advantage in the handling department, where it outplays the Anglo-Saxon. It tackles long sweeping curves with ease, but you will have to be vigilant if there are one too many twists in the tarmac.

For the braking duties, Mulsanne turns to its 400mm and 370mm diameter ventilated disc brakes, upfront and at the rear. The feel offered by the pedal is light and precise; even the Continental GTs are put to shame.

If you would excuse my sense of propriety, I would like to mention the Mulsanne’s fuel-guzzling traits. Gluttony is deeply entrenched and that 96- litre fuel tank, as large as it may seem, isn’t going to save you. The numbers are so gut-wrenching, you want to reach out for your wallet and keep it as close to your heart as possible. In the city, it’s a sinkhole draining 21.38l/100km, but it fares better on the highways, sipping 13.07 litres for the same distance. All this is made civil after cylinder deactivation, so imagine without it! And that heavy drinking is accompanied by heavy emissions of 393 g/km of C02. Then again, the rarity of such cars excuse them from being eco-friendly.

FEATURES & FUNCTIONALITY

Packing away your Louis Vuitton luggage is a 443-litre trunk that will fit more than just two golf bags. It gets a power boot lid as well.

A 14-speaker audio system with 6-CD changer is standard, or you can choose to blow out your ears with the 2,200-watt 20-speaker Naim audio system — the world’s most powerful system in a production car. The multimedia system comes with an 8-inch screen hidden behind a retractable veneered door, 60GB hard drive with satellite navigation, and Bluetooth. It plays a game of peekaboo, as does the leather-lined stowage drawer with connectors for iPod, USB, and aux-in.

Your safety concerns are answered in the form of traction control, brake assist, brake pre-fill, hill-hold and cruise control to ease past hundreds of kilometres, if you were doing a transcontinental tour. The personalised keyless entry system allows multiple configurations for radio stations, phone book, steering column, seatbelt and even the electrically operated rear-seat blinds for side and rear windows.

Backing up this car really requires you to use the rear camera to the fullest; it gives you distance and trajectory. And with the aid of some car-washing boys at the mall, you get parked perfectly between the lines and for a perfect dismount. Complementing that are parking sensors for the front and rear. You also get ISOFIX mounts for the child seat and tyre pressure monitor.

The rear seat passengers have full control, within the central arm rest, for the front passenger seat, HVAC, audio, ventilation and massage functions. Pampering customers seems to have the greatest priority at HQ Bentley. The climate control system caters to four zones and is powerful enough to keep running through heated summers.

The features list also includes fancy bits like automatic ride height control sensitive to speed and load, and soft close power latching to all doors, and, if you can’t figure out how all of this functions, they provide you with a leather-bound owner’s handbook.

VERDICT

The 2013 Bentley Mulsanne is an ultra-luxury yacht of a car that makes a parade out of every drive. For those with the time and money to indulge in the finer things in life, this rolling mansion is a deemed necessity that can be customised to suit your size, shape and character. And for a change of pace, shift from the living room-like rear seat and enjoy the view from the driver’s seat at 200 mph.