staff@slashgear.com (Alex Hevesy)
2024-05-08 11:25:56
www.slashgear.com
Bentley is a company that’s known for sticking to tradition and the powerplants it’s implemented for decades. It’s 6 3/4-liter V8 lasted for well over 60 years before it was finally discontinued, and the W12 engine that the hybrid V8 is replacing first showed up in Audi vehicles in the early 2000s before Bentley started using it. The adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” could apply to many aspects of how Bentley builds cars. However, as time marches forward and automakers move closer and closer towards hybridizing and electrifying lineups, even tradition-based stalwarts like Bentley have to coalesce and face the battery-powered music.
To Bentley fans that have been around a while, that might seem like a step away from what made Bentley good in the first place. However, if the new hybrid V8 drivetrain is anything like the old Bentley motors, you’ll be seeing it powering really fast Bentleys far into the future, making a name for itself in its own electrified way.