Bentley appears to have a taste for performance models lately, with production vehicles looking set to benefit from its sporting heritage in addition to racing. Following the Continental GT3-R stripped-out model, the luxury car manufacturer plans a power upgrade and chassis tweaks for the top-of-the-range Mulsanne sedan as well.
Celebrating the GT3’s racing success, the Mulsanne super sedan could launch as early as the Paris Auto Show in October. “We will see Mulsanne developments at motor shows in 2014,” Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer told Auto Express.
A hotter version of the Mulsanne would further position Bentley as a sporting luxury brand, especially since the GT3-R got an excellent reception at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. According to company insiders, the GT3-R’s success has given Bentley confidence to develop more high performance models.
The performance version of the Mulsanne is expected to retain the 6.75-liter twin-turbocharged V8, with a power upgrade giving it around 550hp – up from 505 in the standard model. Consequently, 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time should drop below 5 seconds, which would be pretty impressive for a large luxury sedan weighing significantly more than 2 tons (4,409 lbs).
Bentley is also expected to modify the chassis for a more dynamic feel and adopt some weight saving measures.
By Dan Mihalascu
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