I had a ride in a black Bentley Continental for the first time, one of the few modern luxury barges I've admired. It was a huge let down from start to finish. I couldn't wait to get out and into a real car.
All that automobile and the interior is the size of pizza carton, almost the shame shape. The front seats are hard and uncomfortable, squab too low, the rear seats are a cruel tease. Getting into the rear requires limbo dancing or a contortionist's skills. I know coupes are meant to be cramped in the back as a trade off for externally elegant lines over the saloon, but it doesn't make sense in a car of that length. You feel you've entered the Tardis only to discover it is police box size after all.
In keeping with the trend for modern powerful cars, the side windows are correspondingly narrow; you sit very low, head down, juggling with strongs feels of being folded in two like a hankerchief in a breast pocket, unable to see outside unless you look straight ahead through the windscreen. I live in a city with roads of a third world country but I'd expect a car of this type to sail across them. It did the opposite. The wheels bang and thump on every ripple and bodge. The turning circle is a Jumbo jet area. Alloys are designed to get scuffed on the lowest kerb. The electric front seats take the time of an ocean liner to dock. The dash is a potage of traditional cues that don't quite cohere. Polished chrome surrounds everything inserted, throwbacks to the sixties. It looks so fussy. The owner expressed a litany of woes about running costs. "Nothing costs less than £1,000," he said.
Only acceleration impressed. For a barge.
As Ettore Bugatti so memorably said, "Bentley makes the fastest trucks on earth."
What have you admired only to discover it was a mirage?
1 June 2010
The provenance of the V8 engine matters not one jot. It is a peach in the X5M, and even more tractable in the lighter 5-series. Dont dismiss it just because it was put in the X5 first.
Would you think less of the new AMG twin turbo V8 if it had gone in the ML first?
Totally agree on this. A great engine is so in every car it is installed. A lighter body helps to make it shine more but it's quite obvious.
Talking of the latest AMG V8 twin Turbo and BMW one these links show how different their progression and sound are in E 63 and M5 despite they are separated just by 3hp (in performance pack for E63 guise):
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4 August 2008
For me it's the 2004 Civic Type R. On the right road and when in the right mood it was superb but when not you're left with a noisy, hard-riding hatchback with a huge turning circle.
6 March 2012
V10 screaming at 9,000rpm can't be beaten by a twin turbo V8 from an SUV
For the tiny % of its usage where it is being revved to the limiter, you are probably right. However, as a purchase proposition, the reality is that it isn't driven this way all of the time. The car overall is a huge leap forward, most notably the gearbox, which was a clunker by comparison in the V10. It also has better traction, more sedate ride, quiter cabin at cruising speeds and a much improved interior.
The provenance of the V8 engine matters not one jot. It is a peach in the X5M, and even more tractable in the lighter 5-series. Dont dismiss it just because it was put in the X5 first.
Would you think less of the new AMG twin turbo V8 if it had gone in the ML first?
28 January 2010
Either way, it always reminded me of the insurance and holiday company for the elderly - SAGA.
And me to a SAAB SAGA.
17 July 2009
Sagarae
Either way, it always reminded me of the insurance and holiday company for the elderly - SAGA.
20 December 2011
Sagari
Sagarae surely?
17 July 2009
Although my speed six was reliable, sadly most werent
19 December 2008
I could see why Wheeler wanted his own engine for his company, but on hindsight the Chevy small block V8 might have been a safer choice
Having run a Cerbera, and now the Monaro i would love to try the TVR with the Chevy V8. Although the nature of the engines is entirely different, even if headline figures are simelar, but i think the relaxed power delivery of the V8 would have been wonderful in a car weighing half a ton less than the Monaro.
And although my speed six was reliable, sadly most werent.
17 July 2009
XK150S 3.8 (FHC), roomy but boomy, not as quick as I expected, somewhat agricultural.
Interestng. They really are best updated to create excitement over and above ownership. Incidentally, the "agricultural" remark was my reaction to the TVR Griffith 500 LE. I could see why Wheeler wanted his own engine for his company, but on hindsight the Chevy small block V8 might have been a safer choice.
3 January 2008
I was a bit skeptical for the added mass and turbo engine but the car was sensational: instant ultra strong power delivery, fast and spectacular gear changes, alert and alive steering. A lot better than I expected but did I desire one when I got out? No, I didn't.
I've found the same thing with pretty much all modern cars, most memorably the A8 from a few weeks back. Brilliant in almost every regard yet totally forgettable once you've climbed out. It's like finding the perfect girl who's good looking and intelligent and great in bed and tidy round the house and able to load a dishwasher correctly, but who has absolutely no sense of humour.
I look at probably 90% of the 'first drive' articles on Autocar and just cannot imagine me owning any of them ever, because in the drive to make that perfect car manufacturers have overlooked the fact that character is central to it. I had a go in a pal's Clio V6 years ago and while it was noisy and twitchy and actually not that fast it was fundamentally bananas and wonderful.
Still, didn't sell many did they. The perfect car is of course one that everyone wants - bleh.