378 kW is not a little power, and neither is a 1 000 N.m of tar shredding torque. However, there has been a demand for Bentley to up the ante on its Mulsanne flagship sedan, and the manufacturer has adhered.
Bentley CEO, Wolfgang Dürheimer, said that developments on the Mulsanne would take place at auto shows during the course of 2014, fuelling speculation that a new performance-orientated Mulsanne is in the works.
At the recent 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Bentley’s Continental GT3-R had received a warm reception. A reception so warm, in fact, that it spurred the British marque on to develop additional performance models.
Expected to debut at the 2014 Paris Auto Show in November, the new performance Mulsanne is set to keep its 6,75-litre V8 engine, but with power boosted to around 412 kW. Additional weight-saving measures and chassis tweaks are also likely to be implemented, ensuring the Bentley Mulsanne sprints from 0 – 100 km/h in under 5 seconds.
– Charlen Raymond