March9
British luxury car maker Bentley is considering offering hybrid and diesel versions of its vehicles, according to a report by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Bentley, a Volkswagen subsidiary, currently sells the a number of sedans, coupes, and convertibles under the Continental, Arnage and Azure nameplates. The company also plans to add the Brooklands coupe to its lineup for the 2008 model year.
Bentley would no doubt be able to borrow diesel technology from the Volkswagen Group, such as the twelve-cylinder diesel powerplant used in Audi Q7 V12 TDI. Producing 510 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, the powerplant was sourced from the R10 Le Mans racing car. VW is also planning hybrid power for its Touareg SUV, according to a recent report.
Wow, a 200K+ hybrid!!! Where do I sign up?
You don’t stay rich by spending all your money. Save some with a Bentley that gets 30+ miles to the gallon. Not a Prius but still damn good.
Now pass the mustard.
or save 80k and buy the upcoming LS600h?
You could be both filthy rich and be pretending to do something about global warming. Go ahead and build it.
The V12 TDI is certainly worthy of Bentley.
Hybrid… not so much.
Yeah, like some rich dude want to reek of Diesel
Bimmer, many people by 7-series diesels. Plus, if you have Bentley, hopefully you have a driver. If one can afford 200k for a luxury car that weights too much to be sporting, one can afford the driver too. If you cannot afford the driver, buiy a $120k S-Class and hire a driver for 40k/yr.
Can’t see that Bentley buyers would care too much about economy, but they might enjoy the massive torque of VAG’s big diesel engines. They actually sound pretty fantastic as well.
Bentley has always been about massive amounts of torque, so using the 738 lb-ft TDI V10 is an excellent way of keeping with the Bentley tradition while at the same time brining Bentley into the reality of 21st Century energy and environmental issues.
Jon.
Sounds to me like the Germans are about to screw-up another non-German brand.
Anjelo,
I don’t know about drivers in Bentlies. Here, in a Great White North, I’ve seen many Bentlies Coupes and Convertibles being driven by owners. Now, if you have a Roller (Rolls-Roys), then you need a driver.
Run the TDI on biodiesel and the exhaust will smell like fries. Problem solved.
ok, you might have lots of torque from diesels but your bentley will sound like a pick up truck
Well it actually might sound great. We’re talking 21st century technology here. The problem isn’t technical, it’s psychological.
My mother is looking to buy a CLS and when we went to the dealership a Mercedes e class diesel was idling out front. The diesel smell was unnoticeable granted, but it sounded like a tractor. Hearing that sound coming from a Bentley would be unacceptable. On average Bentleys are only driven a few thousand miles a year anyway, the consumption of fuel over the life of the vehicle is less than the norm.
v12 tdi? sounds good to me. i’ve seen the v10 touareg towing a boeing 747, imagine what the v12 could do! (not that i believe i’m gonna see a bentley towing a jet)
i seen a body builder pull a 747 also and thats not even 1 hp. this will be very torqy with that v12 diesel though, can they make it quiet so it actually sounds like a luxury car? The sound of diesel and smell of leather never worked for me, but then again that was the older mercedes mabey the new diesels are not so loud.
i know that…the older mercedes were all shaky and noisy
imagine syrax how funny that would look, i would laugh my ass off (and be impressed too) to see a bentley towing a jet.
for sure…riches would take their private learjets to the landing strip on holidays!
diesels ooooooooooooooh not pretty
if you can afford a bently.. why would you want a deisel?.. it’ll probably cost more anyway.. but be louder too. its pointless
NO WAY SHOULD BENTLEY BUILD DIESELS OR HYBRIDS!!! NO! NO! NOOOOO!!!!
Bentley’s reputation is built upon its big, expensive, powerful, ostentatious luxury cars all of which have and have had big, expensive, powerful, ostentatious V12s and V8s. The Arnage could have had a diesel, but that would have been heavy, noisy, smelly and tractorish. Instead, they have been brash and traditional, fitting an ancient but excellent 6.75 litre V8. The Arnage is the definition of Bentley; big, expensive, luxurious and expensive. For tractors, land rovers and ordinary people, diesels are fine. The Bentley buyer is so rich he doesn’t care about fuel consumption or if he’s hurting the planet. He just wants to show how rich he is with something brash and British. Diesels and Bentleys don’t mix, and that’s final.
Another big Bentley value is tradition, and hybrids are the future in cars. No way is there going to be a hybrid Bentley. It would just be silly. VW and Lexus, BMW and Mercedes can do hybrids if they want, but not the eccentric Brits.
i think tradition is the ability to transport your values in different situations. aston martin, you’re being close minded
Diesel - yes. Hybrid… no.
A4: my thoughts exactly!
I’d hate to see the markup on a hybrid OR diesel Bentley. My guess:
Bentley: $200k
Bentley diesel: $220k (the LS7 isn’t even $20k last I heard)
Bentley hybrid: $228k
My guess is Bentley gets a tax exemption for offering a more fuel efficient option. Something tells me that guys who fly in private jets, Al Gore, really don’t care about saving fuel in their car either. Instead of offering a hybrid system, maybe Bentley could offer their own carbon offset program.
V12 TDI is a good move for some of the Bentley products. Do it.