We knew the Bentley W12 engine had an expiration date earlier than, but it surely’s going to come back up even faster than anticipated. Revealed in the present day, Bentley says the final W12 engine it produces can be in April 2024. That’s just one yr and a few months away!
Beforehand, Bentley made it clear that it might solely promote PHEVs and EVs by 2026, implying the W12 was finished for. It gained’t final lengthy sufficient to stumble upon that 2026 restrict now that the 2024 manufacturing finish is ready. By the point its finish date rolls round, Bentley may have revamped 105,000 W12 engines because the 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged unit was launched for 2003. Every of these engines was hand-built by a workforce of craftspeople — Bentley says every engine takes roughly 6.5 hours to finish.
Which Bentley fashions are going to be made obtainable with these closing W12s, you ask? The actual celebration for Bentley is occurring with the Batur, a small run of Mulliner coach-built coupes primarily based on the Continental GT. Remaining validation simply wrapped up for the Batur model of the W12, and it’s probably the most highly effective but at 740 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. Versus the W12 present in different Bentley fashions, the Batur options reworked consumption, exhaust and cooling methods together with a revised engine calibration. Sadly, all 18 Baturs (pic beneath) are already spoken for.
When you nonetheless desire a W12, Bentley says it has restricted order slots left for the Continental GT Pace, Bentayga Pace and Flying Spur Pace. Moreover, Bentley will permit you to spec it in both the Continental GT Mulliner or Flying Spur Mulliner. No different new Bentley orders can be W12-compatible between now and manufacturing completion. The corporate warns that there are solely a restricted variety of construct slots left, so anybody nonetheless on the fence ought to act shortly if they need the W12.
Through the years, Bentley says the W12 has seen a 37% improve in energy, 54% improve in torque and 25% discount in emissions. The most important adjustments got here in 2015 when Bentley redesigned the engine “from the sump up” for the launch of the Bentayga SUV.
As of in the present day, there are 30 folks concerned within the engine meeting course of. Bentley says it goals to retrain and redeploy all 30 into completely different positions as soon as W12 manufacturing ceases
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