Bentley sends W12 engine off with special Speed 12 Editions

Ahead of its eventual move to becoming an all-electric marque by 2030, Bentley has unveiled four special edition versions of the Flying Spur, Continental GT, Continental GTC and Bentayga that farewells the long-serving 6.0 TSI W12 engine.

Where it started

The first all-new engine to be developed by Bentley following its acquisition by Volkswagen, the 48-valve 5 998 cc twin-turbo engine consisted of an amalgamating of two V6 engine blocks to create what at the time was the world’s first mass-produced W12 engine.

Unveiled in 2001, albeit without any forced assistance in the original Audi A8, the engine eventually found its way into the first generation Volkswagen Touareg and the ill-fated Phaeton, before becoming the mainstay in the then new Continental GT with twin turbos in 2003.

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Refined since then, and enlarged to 6.3-litres, again without any turbocharging in the previous D4 generation Audi A8, the W12 officially adopted Volkswagen’s TSI moniker in 2019 following the unveiling of the current third generation Flying Spur.

Final send-off

Set to bow-out in April next year after what will be 21 years and over 100 000 units build for Bentley alone, the aptly named Speed 12 Edition farewell will be limited to 120 examples of all four models in a send-off the Crewe-based automaker describes as a “fitting farewell to an extraordinary engineering achievement”.

Having retained the W12 only on the flagship Speed models following the introduction and subsequent mass roll-out of the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 in 2012, Speed Edition 12 will, as its name indicates, be reserved solely for the respective Speed models.

Despite the goodbye send-off, Bentley has kept both power and torque figures unchanged from the ‘standard’ models, meaning power stays put at 485 kW and torque at 900 Nm. All-wheel-drive again features on all models, as does the eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

In terms of performance, the Continental GT Speed will get from 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, a tenth faster than the GTC, although both will reach a top speed of 335 km/h.

The Bentayga meanwhile will accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 306 km/h, while the Flying Spur Speed that debuted last year will complete the benchmark sprint 3.8 seconds before hitting a v-max of 333 km/h.

Special goodbye

As for the unique model touches, Bentley has outfitted the Speed 12 Edition with not only the Blackline exterior package, but also 22-inch black alloy wheels with self-levelling centre badges, a unique colour option called Opalite and silver brake calipers available on no other model in the entire Bentley range.

Commemorative Speed Edition 12 badges on the front wings of the Continental models, and on the outermost roof pillars of the Flying Spur and Bentayga rounds the special touches off, together with a Edition 12 number plaque affixed to the top of the engine.

Inside

Inside, Bentley has selected a single leather upholstery colour option, Beluga Black, but afforded four contrasting hues in the shape of linen, orange, Cricketball Red and Brunel Blue.

Elsewhere, Edition 12 engravings feature on the illuminated door sills and in the form of embroidery work on the seats.

A numerical 12 machined from a solid piece of metal features on the organ stops controlling the air vents, while a high gloss black veneer adorns the dashboard.

The final unique touches comprise quilted leather door panels with contrasting stitch work, a three-colour graduated Anthracite material “fade” for the upper section of the seats and detailed into the dashboard above the glovebox, the cylinder firing sequence of the engine.

Completing the Speed 12 Edition, each unit also comes with a 15% scale model of the engine crafted out of the same aluminium block the actual W12 is made out of.

South Africa not confirmed yet

The second famed Bentley engine to bow-out after the iconic 6.75-litre unit departed three years ago with the Mulsanne, no pricing details of the Speed 12 Edition were revealed, though chances are that only a handful of examples are destined for South Africa should approval be given.

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