While the Bentayga may be Bentley’s new favourite child, the Mulsanne remains the Crewe-based automaker’s crowning glory. The flagship model you see here is the Mulsanne Speed – one of three available trims – and its base price starts from RM3 million.
Unlike the Bentayga and Flying Spur, the Mulsanne is only available with one engine, that is the 6.75 litre (the Brits call it the six and three quarter litre engine) twin-turbo V8 engine. No fancy W12 here, but that’s not a problem, because in Speed form, the engine produces 530 hp at 4,000 rpm and 1,100 Nm of torque that peaks from a lowly 1,700 rpm. That’s also 25 hp and 80 Nm more than the standard Mulsanne.
Bentley says the engine, which is entirely hand-made by one person (a Steve Brown in this case), makes the highest torque of any luxury four-door saloon. It propels the 2,685 kg behemoth from standstill to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds before topping out at 305 km/h. The L410 lump is not a new engine mind you, because its roots can be traced all the way back to the 1950s.
Today, the V8 has been completely redeveloped and features cutting-edge technology, such as cylinder deactivation and variable cam phasing. It’s paired with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission (recalibrated for quicker response) that sends drive to the rear wheels. Also on are the rifled sports exhaust and sport suspension.
If curiosity got the better of you, Bentley says it consumes 15 litres of fuel per 100 km on the combined cycle, while emitting 342 grammes of CO2 per km. By the way, the fuel tank is 96 litres large, and the annual road tax for this massive engine costs RM19k (RM56.k for company registration, or RM6.1k in Sabah/Sarawak).
It’s an extraordinarily long car, measuring in at 5,575 mm (the Extended Wheelbase stretches this to 5,825 mm), 1,926 mm wide, 1,521 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 3,266 mm. That’s huge by any stretch of the imagination, and most of the vehicle’s assembly is manually done by hand.
The Speed gets full LED headlights with up to four beam patterns as standard, and the beam throw varies according to vehicle speed. There’s also GPS integration for optimum illumination in all driving conditions. Round the side, it sits on 21-inch wheels straight out of the factory, and underscoring its profile is a chrome strip that begins from the Bentley vents. The rump gets a three-dimensional tail light design with the customary “B-shaped” graphics.
In terms of paintwork, the example here is finished in a shade called Damson (a RM30,200 option, which matches the name, geddit?), which is just one of hundreds that Bentley offers. If you’re the kind to make an eight-figure transaction through a phone call over a hearty dim sum breakfast, I bet you get to create a colour of your liking and have it named after you.
Inside, customers get to choose from 24 premium-grade leather colours (13 dual-tone split options), a multitude of veneers (with the optional carbon-fibre inserts) and full-leather headlining as well. Standard on the Mulsanne Speed is the Mulliner Driving Specification, which adds diamond-quilted seats, a knurled gear lever, organ stop air vent controls and drilled alloy sport pedals.
Seen here with the Hot Spur red leather (primary hide, Damson for secondary hide) finish is a cross-stitching pattern that’s laboriously done by hand. This option alone costs RM24,300, and all four seats feature heating, ventilation and massage functions – an additional RM18,900 option.
This particular car is fitted with the RM104,900 Entertainment Specification package, which includes the Bentley Theatre, Naim sound system and veneered “picnic tables.” Built into the rear section of each front seat is a pop-up mechanism which houses the 10.4-inch Android-based tablet. It’s detachable as well, featuring a 32 GB onboard storage with Google Maps.
The Naim sound system is even more powerful than that fitted to the Bentayga – here it gets a 2,200 watt digital amplifier with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and 20 high-performance speaker drive units. There’s Active Audio Enhancement, Automatic Digital Loudness Compensation and Digital Volume Control as standard, and together with Bentley Electrical Engineering, fine-tuning the whole system (including its DSP modes) took 400 man-hours to complete.
Other notable features of this Mulsanne Speed is the refrigerated bottle cooler with frosted glass and bespoke crystal champagne flutes (a RM58,000 option), deep pile Wilton carpets (RM7,700; a more premium lambswool carpeting can be specified), corner view camera (RM6,500) and panoramic glass roof (RM17,300). As pictured here, this Mulsanne Speed is worth around RM3.4 million, inclusive of tax.
So, which camp do you belong in, the Bentley Mulsanne, or the Rolls-Royce Ghost/Phantom? Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below, and please enjoy the detailed gallery below.
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they too lazy to design a proper premium car key fob, skip!
Drebar pegang so doesnt matter. Probably the owner will never see what the keyfob looks like anyways.
I got S class but I drive myself….how?
drebar also want keyfob. Why? Drebar also like keyfob what
most people drive Bentley drive themselves. They will never give a 3 mil car to a driver
On contrary, the more exp the car the less they touch the steering wheel. For Bentleys here, owners almost never after receive car from showroom.
I’ve learned one thing from Jimmy yesterday. Premium is no longer the standard for expensive vehicle. It’s the Quality & Exotic materials used that make a car expensive hence this Bentley is no longer a premium car, it’s a piece of expensive Art if U like Art & it’s a Stand-out if U park this in a car park.
If U are a BIG Boss, U buy this Bentley to tell the S-class/7-series owners that theirs are just ordinary premium car while yours are exotic luxurious piece of automobile that is rare. It is one way of telling they have millions BUT U have Billions.
the key fob is the same as Bugatti Chiron….
and….. VW Jetta..
Because Bentley and Bugatti owned by VW.
the interior is wel…..unique….
It’s a seven-figure instead of eight.
He’s with with the 8 figure statement though. No one doing million dollar transactions will get this kind of toys to play with. Seven figure class of people belong to fhe S class segment. Maybe a reconditioned Bentley for them but definitely not a brand new Bentley.
it seats 5??? theres 3 seat belts in the rear…
No thanks I’ll take a Rolls anytime over this, just look at the heinous front end design! Bespoke is the new rage these days with billionaires. I want a vehicle crafted just for me so all you ordinary folks and just stick to your S Classes and 7 Series’.
I like the Ghost/Phantom for the magic carpet ride and despite not having a look-at-me design, people still take notice (just love how they convey so much from a relatively simple design). But the lack of manual controls (no paddle shifters, not even tiptronic nor tachometer) in all Rollers is a big no for me. Maybe I’m not that old yet. Until then, the Mulsanne is my preferred choice.
Bentley mostly cater for ‘drive with style’
while Rolls mostly for ‘ride with style’
RR GHOST