Bentley has given its super-sumptuous Mulsanne flagship the Speed treatment, upping power and torque, fiddling with the chassis set-up and giving it distinctive looks inside and out.
Exterior
As with the Continental GT Speed models, there are some subtle signifiers that this is a more powerful Bentley Mulsanne than most. The stainless steel matrix grilles for the radiator, lower bumper and wing vents are all dark tinted, to match the smoky headlights and 'floating ellipse' design rear clusters. The Mulsanne Speed also has Bentley's first-ever directional style wheel - meaning the alloys are handed for the left or right of the car accordingly. These are 21-inch items available in a variety of finishes and they're individually machined from solid forged blanks, before being hand-crafted to completion.
Twin rifled tailpipes are a giveaway, while there's discreet 'Speed' badging on the front wings and in the door sills. You can finish your Mulsanne Speed in one of 25 paints in the 'standard' range, four of which are new, while there's an extended palette of 100 hues or a fully bespoke paint-matching service available on request.
Interior
The two-tone 'colour split' is a Speed classic signifier, and here it's done in exquisite luxury as befitting of the Mulsanne. The car is also equipped with Mulliner Driving Specification as standard, which includes diamond quilted hide door panels and seats; an indented hide headlining; embroidered Bentley emblems on all seats; a coined finish to the interior door handles; knurling to the sports gear lever and 'organ stop' ventilation controls; and drilled alloy sports pedals. There are 24 hide colours within, six colour splits and ten veneers (seven are cost options) to choose from.
But it's not just 'olde worlde rustic charm' inside, as the Mulsanne Speed has plenty of up-to-date technology on board - such as a 60GB hard drive, on-board Wi-Fi, a 2,200-Watt Naim premium 14-speaker sound system, rear-seat entertainment with eight-inch screens and Bluetooth headphones, plus a frosted glass bottle cooler with bespoke crystal champagne flutes.
Mechanicals
It's the same 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8 as before, but tweaked to see power rise from 512- to 537hp, with torque up 80Nm to a headline 1,100Nm - from just 1,750rpm. However, this is accompanied by a quoted 13 per cent improvement in economy, thanks to a 'totally redesigned combustion system'... which is nice. That efficiency gain is said to give it another 80 kilometres of fuel range though, which means less time in smelly petrol stations. The V8 is said to be EU6 compliant and emits 342g/km CO2. The Mulsanne Speed hits 100km/h from rest in 4.9 seconds and runs on to a 305km/h maximum, where permitted.
Bentley has equipped the Speed with a recalibrated gearbox to match the sportier ethos of the hot Mulsanne, which can maintain engine speed in 'S'-mode to ensure there's no turbo lag. The V8 can still run as a V4 via cylinder deactivation under light engine loads, while the all-round air suspension has a 'Sport' setting for the times the chauffeur really needs to get a move on.
Anything else?
While the Speed is the big news - it will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show next month, ahead of customer deliveries this winter - the normal Mulsanne also gets the 13 per cent more efficient engine, albeit in 512hp and 1,020Nm guise. There are also new paint colours, hide and veneer options for the non-Speed car.