Bentley has successfully completed the first fire-up of the supercharged 4.5-liter engine that will power ‘Car Zero’ of the new Blower Continuation Series.
Before internal testing began, Bentley had to build a testbed that replicates the front chassis of the Blower, complete with the original Merlin fixtures from back in the day that were still in storage. They wrote a new software version that measures and controls the power unit as well, and the ‘bench’ will be used to test all 12 engines that will power the continuation series.
According to the automaker, each unit will be tested for 20 hours, during which the speed and load conditions will vary from idle to 3,500 rpm. After that, their full-load power curves will be measured.
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As for the mill found in the prototype Blower Continuation, it will undergo a program of track testing after the build of the car is complete, which is designed to achieve the equivalent of 35,000 km (21,748 miles) of real world driving across 8,000 km (4,971 miles) of track testing. They will also simulate some famous rallies, such as the Mille Miglia and Peking to Paris.
Believed to pump out around 240 horsepower, like the original lump after it was equipped with a supercharger made by Amherst Villiers, the 4.5-liter engine will mirror the original one. It will feature magnesium for the crankcase, twin-spark ignition, aluminum pistons, four valves per cylinder and an overhead camshaft.
The Blower Continuation Series prototype will first be shown to the 12 customers and then to the world later this fall.
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