It is said that the unconventional idea of producing a W-engine was born on a train in Japan in 1997.
Ferdinand Piëch, omnipotent boss of the Volkswagen Group at the time, laid his foundations on a simple envelope during a conversation with the head of powertrain development. Four years later, the first W12 was born under the hood of the Audi A8. It will end its days in 2024 with the brand that popularized it: Bentley.
This engine, whose main advantage lies in the fact that it is 24% shorter than a V12 of equivalent volume, is essentially the fruit of the marriage of two V6 VR6 characterized by a very narrow angle of 15 degrees. Its first application was under the hood of an Audi A8 in 2001. It was nevertheless the Bentley Continental GT, launched in 2003, which gave it its notoriety with a variant with two turbochargers which increased its power to 552 hp. An extraordinary figure for the time.
Many creations from Bentley, but also from Volkswagen (Phaeton), were subsequently equipped with this mechanism to raise their game a notch. As you have no doubt noticed, it was luxury vehicles or grand touring coupes that were entitled to it. It is that this mechanism, as powerful as it is, has never had the expressiveness of the Italian V12s. It is smoothness that prevails here.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY BENTLEY
Only 18 copies of the Bentley Batur will be assembled.
His last mission will be to move the Bentley Batur, a reworked version of the very limited production of the Continental GT. Thanks to numerous revised parts working on both the air intake and the exhaust, the maximum power is 740 hp. Only 18 Batur will be produced and they have already found buyers. Bentley specifies that some copies of the Speed liveries of its other models will be produced with the latest W12s. The end of an era, it goes without saying.