Bentley would possibly nonetheless be bidding its W12 engine goodbye with varied swansong automobiles, however now it’s the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8’s flip to say adieu. At the least 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 last 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 vehicles in Europe, the UK and the Center East is to be accomplished quickly with last 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 totally. 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 – count on notably fewer miles of vary in EPA testing. That’s all we all know immediately, however Bentley says extra can be revealed in time
As for what is going to substitute the soon-to-be-retired gas-only V8 possibility, Bentley suggests hybrid powertrains can 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 count on an announcement regarding that automobile 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 numerous Mulliner choices as customary 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 photograph 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 when you’re a very massive fan of Bentley’s present V8 and have cash to spend, now could be the time.
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