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Bentley Unleashes 530 Horsepower Mulsanne Speed Ahead Of Paris Motor Show

If Bentley’s good at one thing, it’s delivering a seemingly perfect blend of performance and luxury in its products. In its regular configuration, the automaker’s full-size Mulsanne sedan is a bit of a rocket, with 505 horsepower emanating from its 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8. What if that’s not enough? What if you’d like the biggest Bentley on offer with even more power? Enter the all-new Mulsanne Speed.

The Mulsanne Speed uses the same 6.75-liter V8 as the standard car, except its output has been bumped by 25 ponies to 530 horsepower. That’s impressive in its own right, but the real jaw-dropper is the torque figure: 811 lb-ft from 1,750 rpm. For comparison’s sake, the standard car offers up 751 lb-ft from the same RPM levels.

The increase in power and torque translates to a 0-60 mph time of 4.8 seconds and a top end speed of 190 mph (the standard car does 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and tops out at 184 mph). Bentley also managed to make the engine more efficient when tweaking it for performance, recalibrating the cylinder deactivation and engine management systems. The cylinder deactivation system allows the car to run as a V4 while under light loads, and has been retuned along with the eight-speed ZF transmission to provide a 13% gain in efficiency. As a result, Bentley says the car’s range has been improved by up to 50 miles.

Speaking of the retuned transmission, the changes Bentley made to it also include a special ‘S’ mode, which keeps the revs above the 2,000 RPM line for spirited driving. There is also now a Sport chassis mode which stiffens the air suspension and adjusts the steering dynamics for better feedback and accuracy.

You’ll be able to tell the Speed from standard Mulsannes thanks to its dark-tinted grilles, vents and lights, directional-style 21-inch wheels, twin rifled exhaust pipes and polished stainless steel Speed badging on the front fenders and door tread plate areas. The Mulliner Driving Specification is also standard on Speed models, which adds diamond quilted two-tone door panels and seats, embroidered Bentley emblems on the seats, a “coined” finish on the door handles drilled alloy sport foot pedals and more.

The Mulsanne Speed will make its first in-person appearance at the Paris Motor Show next month, with first deliveries happening this winter. Additional information, including pricing and fuel economy, will be available closer to its on-sale date.

 

 

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