THE MAKING OF A GRAND TOURER. A grand tourer is defined not by one particular quality, but by several. A grand tourer reconciles opposites; it is a car that balances feedback with suppleness, exhilaration with comfort. At the wheel of a grand tourer, the longer the distance, the more you enjoy the journey.
Bentley has some 83 years' experience in the making grand touring cars. Its latest, the Arnage R, sets a new standard for the marque. A full four-door, five seat luxury saloon, its twin-turbocharged 6.75 litre V8 engine produces 400bhp and 616 lb. ft (835Nm) of torque.
But power is only one side of the Arnage R's character. At any speed, the hand-built, meticulously crafted interior is a relaxing and inspiring environment. As the engine's torque propels you onward at effortless pace, the miles - or kilometers - unfold swiftly and easily.
The Arnage R delivers exceptional performance, but with a tractability that makes trickling through villages on a whisper of throttle a distinct pleasure. Whether at the wheel or in the passenger seat, you savour both the journey and the drive.
A FLEX OF THE FOOT. A bentley, by definition, is a powerful car. Not just in outright horsepower, but also in torque, a more important factor in real driving conditions.
Picture this. You are holding station behind a truck on a twisting road. A short straight appears ahead, clear of oncoming traffic. Provided it is safe, your decision to overtake is dependent on how fast you can accelerate, to spend the minimum length of time on this opposite side of the road. In such conditions the Arnage R, with 616 lb.ft of torque, excels.
As a grand tourer should, the Arnage R delivers its power in a linear, controllable way. There are no unexpected surges of power as the revs rise. It remains refined and responsive from tickover to redline.
In the crowded streets of town, the Bentley's torque displays its other advantage. Flexibility. The Arnage R will whisper along at walking pace, or in the stop-start of a traffic jam, without any trace of temperament.
It is not necessary to use maximum power to enjoy driving a Bentley: it is enough to know that it is just a flex of the right foot away.
POWER. With its 616 lb.ft (835Nm) developed at just 3,250rpm, the Arnage R has immense torque throughout the rev range. Response to the accelerator is always instant. Its hand-assembled twin-turbocharged, 6.75-litre V8 engine can propel the Arnage R from 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds and onward to a governed maximum of 155mph (249km/h) in one seamless surge.
REFINED ABILITIES. Your first long drive of the Arnage R will be a revelation.
At first, you will feel something close to amazement at the way this four-door luxury saloon corners and changes direction with such fidelity. You will have expected exceptional straight-line performance given the power of the Bentley's V8 engine, but to find that such a spacious car also handles so well will impress you further.
Such poise is the mark of the grand tourer. The series 2 chassis and engineering changes have turned an excellent car into an exceptional one. Underpinning the new chassis control systems is a bodyshell some 10% stiffer than its predecessor, making a discernable improvement to both handling and ride.
A few hours later, the sun high in the sky, you will find that you and the Arnage R have settled into a smooth, swift choreography of corner and straight, acceleration and braking. You will no longer be surprised about the car's abilities, having passed from amazement to acceptance.
What others consider exceptional is, for the Bentley driver, only to be expected.
POISE. The bodyshell of the Arnage R is stiffer than the model it replaces, to the benefit of both ride and handling. Modifications to the spring and electro-hydraulic damper rates have resulted in a supple, refined ride with increased roll stiffness, making the Arnage R an inspiring and relaxing companion for sinuous roads and long distances alike.
The steering is speed-sensitive, to offer just the right degree of feedback and response at all times. And when you need to shed speed, the hydraulically boosted, micro-alloy ventilated brake discs on all four wheels do so without drama.
BEYOND THE LIMIT. Like all good drivers, you seek to stay within the limits of yourself and your car. Occasionally, exceptional circumstances test those limits.
For this reason, Bentley's engineers have equipped the Series 2 Arnage with the latest Electronic Stability Programme (ESP). It detects faster than even a racing driver could - when one or more of the wheels has lost grip or traction and applies a deft corrective touch, either by reducing the torque fed through driven wheels, or by braking intervention to any one of the four wheels. Even if you deliberately downshift through the gears abruptly, ESP controls the engine drag torque and prevents the rear wheels from losing traction.
ESP also endows the ventilated, hydraulically assisted brakes with four-channel anti-lock control. For additional reassurance, the Arnage R is equipped with full sized driver and front passenger airbags, side impact air curtain and thorax airbags for front and rear occupants.
With an open road ahead of you, and the muted growl of the Bentley's engine urging you onwards, safety might be the furthest thing from your mind. The Arnage R is lavishly equipped with both active and passive safety systems to ensure that it remains so.
CONTROL. How well a car holds the road is largely a matter of the laws of physics. How confident the driver feels when approaching those limits is a more subtle art. For this reason, Bentley's chassis engineers spend thousands of man-hours on roads and tracks to ensure that the interface between driver and machine is as pure as possible.
The interface is simply a meeting of pedals, steering wheel and controls with the driver's hand and feet. The feedback must not be too harsh, otherwise it will tire the driver quickly; nor must it be anaesthetised by too much assistance. As a Bentley grand tourer, the Arnage R achieves the balance with aplomb.
THE HEART AND SOUL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP. Many cars are enjoyable for a half hour's drive. Few remain so after a journey across a continent.
The interior of the Arnage R is everything a grand tourer ought to be. The front seats are supportive, infinitely adjustable and equipped with bi-level lumbar support. The rear seats are independently adjustable for rake, sliding automatically to their most upright position for entry or exit. Enter the driving seat, and the steering wheel will automatically tilt upwards until you are comfortably installed. The Arnage R can retain in a programmable memory the preferred seat, steering wheel and mirror settings for four different drivers.
But beyond the technology, the Arnage R offers something more. A sense of soul; the interior is entirely hand crafted, from the mirror-matched, unbleached veneer to the hand stitched upholstery in flawless premium grade "A" hide. There are over 1,000 craftsmen in the Crewe factory and a large number of them will have helped to create your Arnage. With such individuality, Bentley's craftsmen can create an interior that matches your ideal.
COMFORT. The improved refinement of the Arnage R can be felt in the supple ride and the ambience of the hand-crafted cabin. Variable density foams are used in the construction of the seats to provide both comfort and correct lumbar support. The heating and ventilation system is adjustable front to back and side-to-side, so that four occupants can each select their own preferred settings.
Comfort is the word to describe a sense of physical relaxation, an essential component of a grand tourer. But it is also a state of mind. In both senses, a Bentley is supreme.
ENDURING QUALITIES. If Walter Own Bentley had just built racing cars, then his five Le Mans victories would have been an achievement, but not a legend.
Instead, Bentley's Le Mans winners - the 3 Litre, the 4 1/2 Litre and the Speed Six - were emphatically not racing cars. They were road cars that happened to be fast enough, strong enough and reliable enough to win races. Especially at Le Mans, the greatest test of endurance in the racing calendar.
Bentley aimed to make 'a good car, a fast car, the best in its class'. His designs included the latest and the best engineering technology with proviso that it should be proven. He drove his cars for up to 600 miles at a time, on rough roads of the 20's, because he found it "illuminating to drive a car when tired. All its faults leap out at you."
Much has changed in the 70 years since W.O. was Bentley's chief designer. Including Le Mans, where a pure-bred racing car, the Bentley EXP Speed 8, now upholds the honour of the winged B. But the Arnage R still holds true to the measure; it is a good car, a fast car, and best in its class.
And in hundreds of miles of non-stop driving, you will discover that it is a true inheritor of the tradition begun by W.O. Bentley. A Bentley for grand touring; a Bentley of enduring qualities.
ARNAGE R - GRAND TOURING, BENTLEY STYLE. The Bentley Arnage R is a grand tourer with a four-door, five seat saloon body and 6.75 litre twin turbocharged V8 engine, both hand-built in Crewe, England. It features numerous Series 2 chassis and engineering improvements to improve ride, handling and safety.
As a Bentley carrying the red badge, the Arnage R combines the qualities of power, poise, control, comfort and endurance that distinguish the grand tourer.
The 6.75 litre V8 Bentley engine has a maximum power of 400bhp (298kW) at 4,000 rpm and achieves maximum torque of 616 lb.ft. (835Nm) at 3250 rpm. It features twin charge coolers, with pulse separated exhaust manifolds and electronic throttle actuation. The engine is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission.
The Arnage R has a stiffer bodyshell for improved ride and handling. The chassis features the latest Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) and four-channel ABS.
Standard specification of the Bentley Arnage R interior includes DVD satellite navigation system, classic parchment dials and a two-tone steering wheel. The fluted hide design on the seats and door panels is unique to the Arnage R.
The Arnage R also features a full safety specification, including full-sized driver and passenger airbags, front and rear mounted 'thorax' airbags and side curtains deploying from the cantrail and 'A' post.
2003 Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price - Arnage R $207,385.00