Road Test

Bentley Brooklands

Test Date 18 June 2008  Price When New £236,400

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Verdict

This is a car of strong and alluring character. It’s richly luxurious, at times thunderingly fast, elegant in an Isambard Kingdom Brunel kind of way and exceptionally spacious for four. But it has lost one of the qualities for which Bentley Turbos are famed; that effortless, welling bonanza of torque is no longer guaranteed to be instantly available.

That makes it hard to conduct the Brooklands with the brisk, subtle and refined authority implied by its demeanour. Yet when pushed hard on twisting road and track it excels, even if it’s hard to imagine booking a tyre-smoking afternoon at Goodwood.

There are several minor deficiencies that should not be here, such as the battle with the not-quite-comfy-enough front seats to reach the rears. But for all this, it’s a beguiling car, the more so because relatively few will be built.

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