I was in Nashville over the weekend for professional business and visited the dealer for a look around. I met a new young salesman and he showed me a few cars after i told him i wanted to see and hear the new V8 in person. We took a short ride on wet roads so i could not really put the car through the paces so to speak. My first impression of the car was good and the sound was very different than the W12.

I liked the new 8 speed tranny and wished I had it in my car. I did not discern that the car was much lighter in handling or more responsive but like i said the test was limited. Let me politely say i still prefer the power of the W12 as I did think the loss of hp was noticeable. I am actually used to a more powerful 12 with the mods from Fabspeed so I could be accustomed to greater power than the stock 12 delivers.

A lot has been made of the "sound " of the new car. Why is this? could it be that the W12 sounds a little soft or bland? Is Bentley known for a sports sound? I say if want more sound from the W12 then get it with the appropriate pipes.

When pressed he said they expect to sell a lot of the V8s mostly due to the 20K or more lower price tag. he said anything number that starts with a 2 seems to be a large barrier for some. He never mentioned fuel economy as a selling feature focusing on the price and sound of the motor. I really had a good time with the fellow and the whole place was a pleasure to visit.

I hope to go back one day and drive a used on that i can throw around to see that handling improvement. If I bring out my tired old 07 think he's race me for pinks?

 

Dr D, the W12 engine/tranny platform has more potential for higher HP/TQ than the V8. So yes, you win

 

I want to be careful and not insult any owners of the new V8 and they are great cars but there is no way to argue that the power is the same. I believe Bentley has gone to significant lengths to set the new car in the best light possible. Changes to exhaust note, transmission, fuel efficiency and lower pricing are all there to attract buyers and it does work.

One thing is for sure the quality of build and beauty are still there in spades.

 

Interesting comments Doc. My dealer said there will be two different markets for the two models. There'll always be a selection of W12 buyers who want the best.

Serious owners will know that a rumbly 8 doesn't compare to the silk smooth 12. And at that level who checks out gas prices anyway!

 

W12 twin turbos all the way. I wanted a New 2014 Acura NSX, but the thing is one of those hybrid deals. 300hp on the motor, 400hp on the electric. All I want to know is how long is that battery to the electric motor going to keep me at 400hp. A few minutes?

 

The noticeable exhaust note is heard when the transmission is put in Sport mode and this opens the valves in the exhaust system. In this mode it is louder and deeper than the mellifluous thunder of my former 600HP Speed W12.

As for noticing a performance difference, I drove my Speed for 3 years and couldn't tell that my new V8 is down 100HP. Maybe if I were to engage in a drag race with my old car I'd now lose but for all intents and purposes, the power and 8-speed transmission get the job done quite nicely and with no discernible feel of any loss in power.

The V8 is supposedly a little 'sportier' according to what I've read but I don't get that sense. If I wanted raw performance I'd have gotten a Porsche or a Nissan GTR.

For those who want only W12, I fully understand: When I had the base W12 in my '08 GTC, I wanted the extra power of the Speed and I could hear and feel the difference, plus just knowing I had 600 horses under my right food was gratifying in and of itself. But I'm totally satisfied with my V8 and don't have 'cylinder envy'.

 

Being totally satisfied is where it's at bottom line. That new transmission gets the power out well and that i believe makes the missing ponies less noticeable.

 

DrD, makes sense that the new 8-gear tranny gets the power out nicer than the older 6. Enjoy the Drive

 

It does make alot of sense and the new transmission supposedly shifts twice as fast.

 

Now the downside. I think the salesman tole me the new transmission was a bit heavier but I can't recall how much. If we add that to the front heavy W12 there will be a penalty to pay on the handling of an already understeering car. going to have to raise the cost to subtract weight somewhere.

 

It sure seems to. I now regularly use the paddles whereas I rarely used them in my GTC Speed. Having double clutches translates to very fast shifts so it's quite engaging to use the paddles now.

 

I do lust for that gear box.

I recall driving the merc sl550 and admiring the transmission and that made the much less powerful motor feel pretty darn good. I still just had to buy the GTC.

 

Let's not forget that the W12 is mind-bogglingly complex and expensive to build, while the V8 probably costs 30-40% less in tooling cost alone.

 

That's an interesting point. So does bentley have the motivation of increase profit to build the V8?

 

When I visited Dresden (VW), they made a point during the factory tour that the W12 was one of the most expensive per-unit engines in the company and that the W8 (Passat) had been an experiment but not financially justifiable. The W engines all use unconventional angles for their componentry and require all kinds of custom jigs, tooling, etc. to get them to work properly. This is probably part of why modifying traditional V engines (like the V10 in the Gallardo with its 18-degree pin offset to make an even-firing 90-degree V10 instead of having to make a new 72-degree engine block) makes more financial sense than building these exotic W designs. Plus, getting the cooling and other dynamics to work in the W engines is very hard, especially with forced induction (though Piech felt strongly about the W12 and W16, since he designed the engines and was Chairman of VW at the time, so could spend billions making these ideas work).