Bentley’s Last Hurrah for the V8 ICE?

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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18th January 2021

Following the principle that you should ‘get-them-while-you-can’ Bentley reveals one of its last V8 ICE masterpieces before we’re all exiled to the digital dreariness of electric powertrains.

So, let us take a few moments to wallow in this homage to the automaker’s 60-year association with crossplane V8 gasoline powerplants that will be powering the new Flying Spur. It’s a 4.0-liter V8 block cast from high strength aluminum and with twin-scroll turbochargers and primary catalytic convertors positioned in the V of the engine. Both fuel injectors and spark plugs are centered within each combustion chamber to ensure optimal spray patterns and combustion paths, and the camshafts are variable by up to 50 degrees, with the ability to deactivate half of the cylinders when the engine is running at part load – turning it into a balanced V4.

Both stroke and bore are matched for square at 86mm per cylinder with Bentley claiming this provides the best balance between power and torque. The engine produces a claimed 542bhp and a maximum torque of 567ft-lbs of torque produced from just 2,000rpm through to 4,500rpm.

Those figures allows the Flying Spur to claim a top speed of 198mph and a 0-62mph sprint time of 4.1 seconds. The car also claims a touring range of more than 441 miles and CO2 emissions of 288g/km.

A key feature of the twin-scroll turbochargers are the two separate, parallel flow channels in the turbine housing guiding the exhaust gases to the vanes of the turbine wheel, resulting in high torque being available at low speeds. With the turbochargers located inside the V of the engine, there’s reduced distance for the exhaust gases to travel from the engine to the turbochargers which can operate at 176,000 rpm and generate up to 1.6 bar of boost pressure. To withstand high stress and bore wear, the cylinder bores are coated with an iron alloy using an atmopheric plasma spraying process, creating a coating that is just 150 microns thick, similar to the thickness of a sheet of paper.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_