nder normal circumstances it wouldn’t be terribly sensible to pound down the outside lane of a motorway at 160mph in the pouring rain. Nine times out of ten it would get you into some sort of trouble. But then, these were not normal circumstances. For starters, we were in Germany driving on an unrestricted autobahn and, on this stretch at least, it was relatively free of other traffic. And I was at the wheel of a Bentley Mulsanne Speed, a car with a potential maximum of 190mph, so I was well within the car’s capabilities. Legal and safe, then… but even that is merely scratching at the surface of what this car can do. The Mulsanne Speed is Bentley’s new top model. The company has taken a hand-built Mulsanne and, as the name implies, added speed. It is not being shy about its “pinnacle flagship”, which it says “redefines the fastest ultra-luxury driving experience in the world”. It’s a bold claim, but clearly one based in reality. The numbers alone are impressive. Under that long bonnet lies Bentley’s longserving 6.75-litre V8 engine, except that it’s been breathed upon to deliver more of everything. Power is up to 537PS (from 512PS), but the engine’s torque, or pulling power, has risen to an extraordinary 1,110Nm; to put that into perspective, a VW Golf GTI makes do with 350Nm.
The result is mind-blowing. This three-tonne battleship rockets to 60mph from rest in 4.8 seconds, can go on to that top speed of 190mph and yet it is even more efficient. Bentley proudly reckons there’s a 13 per cent fuel economy gain (partly down to an improved cylinder deactivation system, which turns the V8 into a V4 when performance is not required) and that you can now go a further 50 miles on every tank. However, these things are relative: the official combined fuel economy figure remains stubbornly below 20mpg and you’ll be doing well to see anything like that in normal use. Fuel economy isn’t really the point of the Mulsanne Speed, though. Although many Mulsannes are chauffeurdriven, the Speed is aimed at the captain of industry who enjoys driving as much as being driven. He (and most buyers are male) will need to be seriously wealthy, of course. The ‘basic’ Mulsanne Speed weighs in at £252,000 – £22k more than the ordinary Mulsanne – and it’s a reassuring £100,000 more than the most expensive Bentley Flying Spur saloon, as driven by the merely rich. That price includes a number of features unique to the Speed, such as the 21-inch uni-directional wheels that are machined (then hand-finished) from solid forged blanks. Even the raised ‘Speed’ badges on the front wings are special, made from polished stainless steel and framed within a laser-cut stainless-steel bar.