Turbocharged Bentleys have long beguiled with their almost improbable capacity for charging the horizon with the insouciant urge of a jet fighter. So it’s disappointing that the Brooklands isn’t quite there when it comes to delivering the tidal wave of torque that made the original Bentley Turbo such a glorious surprise.
The problem isn’t a lack of power but the delay in its delivery. This drawback is equally apparent when you’re flowing in traffic, and is compounded by a firm throttle action that can make it hard to feed in the right amount of power. The result can be an unseemly surge, followed by a jerk as you back off to compensate and the transmission changes up a gear.
While the Brooklands is rapid, it is not rippingly so for a car with more than 500bhp, being hobbled by its weight. You need to engage Sport, or shift gears yourself via the finely machined gear lever knob, to get the turbochargers spinning. That, however, is when you’ll discover that this huge car can get down the road with thrillingly inappropriate speed. The thunder to 60mph takes just 5.4sec.
Ride and handling is where the Brooklands excels, and never mind its 2.7 tonnes. Slight straight-ahead slack in the steering and the car’s slightly cumbersome nature around town might suggest otherwise, but once you have some lock on and the tyres loaded, this car delivers feel, and plenty of it.
There’s a bit of roll as the Bentley tips into a turn, but it wields the kind of chassis balance that nimble sports coupés could use. It’s clear that a huge effort has gone into cultivating its chassis.
The optional carbon brakes, costing £20k, generate mighty stopping power once warmed, but if the rotors are cool the pedal response is dulled. The suspension and tyres are relatively quiet considering the firmness of the damping, but the odd thump over bumps and some tyre roar make this a noisier car than it ought to be.
