A PEEK INTO THE FUTURE

Bentley Mulliner Batur is more than a limited edition coachbuild; it may herald the marque’s future

Bentley Mulliner Batur is a new two-door grand touring coupé conceived by Director of Design Andreas Mindt and his team, which according to statements by the British luxury brand, embodies its new design DNA; one that will ultimately guide the design of Bentley’s future range of Electric Vehicles.

Mulliner - Bentley’s in-house bespoke and coachbuilding divisionwill produce a collection of just 18 series examples of the Batur, similar to Mulliner’s previous project, the Bacalar, which relaunched coachbuilding at Bentley. Also, like its predecessor, Batur is named after a beautiful natural body of water. All 18 examples of the Batur have already been reserved.

The Batur will also be the most powerful Bentley to date. It will debut a 740+ PS version of the hand-assembled 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine. The refined beast that has metaphorically and literally powered Bentley’s success for the last two decades. To manage the enhanced power, Batur will have “the most advanced Bentley chassis ever,” with Speed-tuned air suspension, electric active anti-roll control, eLSD, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring.

Typical of a Mulliner project, its in-house design team will co-create every Batur with its customer, working together through a specially-created Mulliner visualiser that allows any part of the car to be customised in colour and surface finish.

Beyond the exterior form of the car lies a seemingly endless array of choices for each car’s future owner to make. Paint choice is near infinite – starting with the full Mulliner colour palette and travelling beyond into fully bespoke paint and even hand-painted graphics. Meanwhile, brightware can be any mix of light and dark, satin or gloss or even titanium.

The exterior paintwork of the launch Batur is a bespoke colour – Bonneville

Pearlescent Silver – with bodywork underscored by carbon fibre front splitters, side skirts and rear diffuser painted in Black Crystal. The Batur sits on unique 22inch wheels, with the ‘standard’ option being painted in Black Crystal and then surface bright machined and polished.

The two-seat interior space of the Batur is also designed for the ultimate in personalisation and long-distance grand touring. The range of veneers available for the fascia includes a new material for Bentley – Natural Fibre composite. It is available as a 2x2 twill weave finished in satin lacquer, which is a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre. The passenger fascia panel is then finished with a unique etching of the audio signature of the W12 engine –bespoke etching is also available.

The interior of the launch Batur has been trimmed by hand in a stunning combination of black, red and orange – specifically, Beluga hide contrasted with Hotspur and sustainable low CO2 Mulliner Hyperactive Orange leather.

From the veneers to the Instrument Panel, fascias and doors are painted Gloss Black, with a ‘guitar fade’ to Fine Brodgar that flows from the fascias to the doors, before fading back to black. The fascia is completed with a unique piece of art – a laser-etched sound wave, which represents the unique sound generated by the W12 engine.

The Batur features the most powerful engine yet fitted to a Bentley. The 6.0-litre W12 that started the rebirth of Bentley with the Continental GT in 2002 has been through several design iterations since, and is now one of the most advanced twelve-cylinder engines in the world.

For the Batur, the engine has a new intake system, upgraded turbochargers, new intercoolers and extensive recalibration, resulting in more than 740 PS and 1,000 Nm of torque. Thanks to its 20 years of development, the engine now produces nearly 40% more power than the original, while fuel economy has improved by 25%. The Batur’s W12 is paired with Bentley’s eight-speed double-clutch transmission, and a sports exhaust to provide a soundtrack in keeping with the level of performance.

The most powerful and exclusive Bentley coupe to date, the Batur, we are promised, will also be the most dynamic. Its adaptive three-chamber air springs will each have three switchable chambers. Changing the volume of the air spring will result in a change in its effective stiffness.

Therefore, the driver can select the balance between ride comfort and body control using the four-mode Drive Dynamics Control in the centre console. The driver can choose between Sport, Bentley, Comfort and Custom, which also changes the behaviour of the 48V electric active antiroll control system, providing up to 1,300 Nm of anti-roll torque in 0.3 seconds or completely decoupling the wheels at either end of each axle.

Given that Batur carries the design DNA of future Bentley models, then its most significant part may be at the front. Bentley is not a brand known for radical design changes, but one may be on the way. The circular headlights, a signature of Bentley since its rebirth under VW, may be on their way out, replaced by the eye-shaped silhouette found on the Batur.