The Aston Martins, Bentleys and Lamborghinis of the world don’t follow the same rules of engagement as the mass-market car makers.

Selling such cars are by word of mouth, held in small but prestigious functions wrapped around the allure of wealth and luxury.

Planning to buy an executive jet plane? How about an Aston to go with it upon landing?

The Continental GTC V8 (left) and the Mulsanne hit the road.

Or that diamond necklace for the wife … it would go so well with moments when she needs to sashay to a cocktail party in style. A Bentley would do it, sir.

The hoi polloi that we are, got a whiff of the ultra-rich lifestyle, when Bentley Kuala Lumpur rounded up a Mulsanne and a Continental GTC V8 for a short media drive in late August.

With few exceptions, cars worth a few million bucks are never out of the sight of their company handlers when motoring hacks are called upon to go on a spin in them.

They are just too precious to be left alone in the hands of the uninitiated lest they, horror of horrors, caused the cars to get scratched, dinged or worst.

The drive was held in conjunction with the World of Bentley regional tour, which made a stop in KL from Aug 30 to Sept 12 to showcase the history, craftsmanship and customisability of the cars from Crewe.

The Mulsanne's dashboard is certainly more conservative than the GTC V8's.

The media drive started in the heart of KL shopping district to Putrajaya and back, a total distance of around 70km.

The GTC was first up for sampling followed by the Mulsanne on the return leg.

As cars priced at stratospheric levels, both models come packing the requisite level of sumptuous refinements and bespoke elements expected of them.

Most of the time, we were just cruising along and only managed short bursts of acceleration when the coast was clear to get the pistons working overtime.

As much as these cars are about speed and power, it’s also about their bearing and how they conduct themselves on the road that is their ultimate appeal.

In this regard, they have a regal air about them though some would argue that the Rollers have more of that.

Like the Continental GT coupe it is based on, the four-seat GTC packs a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, all-wheel drive and an adjustable air suspension.

Setting the V8 convertible apart are a red enamel winged ‘B’ badge, gloss black grille with bright chrome surround, three-segment front bumper and the ‘figure eight’ tailpipes.

Topping the reason for hood-down motoring is the chance to enjoy the V8’s mechanical symphony that starts with the typical V8 burble followed by a mid-range growl that goes all the way up to a howl at full tilt.

But the roundish set of headlights are a source of debate. It remains to be seen if new Bentley designer Luc Donckerwolke will rethink them.

The level of bespoke elements in the GTC is as little or as much as money can buy, with the base car fitted from the outside with the finest leather and wood.










The GTC we drove was fitted with the Mulliner Driving Specification Package, a RM65,000 option, that includes 21” Six-spoke, black painted, diamond turned wheels and quilted, perforated leather for seats, door panels & rear quarter panels.

It takes about 25s to open or close the fabric hood via a button, and the whole top is stored out of sight for a
streamlined appearance.

This is a car that is a few rungs down from the 6.0-litre twin-turbo W-12 behemoth that Bentley sells but driving it, you wouldn’t think the car is short on power despite the nearly 2.5-ton weight.

The twin-turbocharged engine cranks out 500bhp and 660Nm and relay the power to all four wheels through an 8-speed auto transmission.

The immense torque is palpable from the start and you can feel the horses piling up as the right foot pressure quickens.

It’s easy to hit 180kph before you know it but big and effective brakes ensure speeds can be lopped off just as quickly.

Both the Mulsanne and GTC have cylinder deactivation that cuts out four cylinders when necessary. It’s so seamless you hardly noticed it.

Acceleration can be wanton if you drive this way.

At the hardest suspension setting, the GTC behaves almost like a smaller car with minimal body roll to show for it.

In open-top mode, you can keep up the chatter with your companion even past 110kph, with the wind noise being relatively subdued, such distractions being deflected somewhat with windows up.

On the flagship side, the Mulsanne limousine is the first all-new design from Bentley in 80 years. And its appeal boils down to the fact that it represents high-end performance and luxury at its hand-crafted finest.













The exterior exudes sheer power and presence, while the interior showcases old-world opulence and modern trappings such as a hard-disk drive -based multimedia system, Bluetooth, sat-nav and steering-wheel mounted paddleshift.

The use of wood and hides in the Arnage successor has increased significantly to create an even more refined and luxurious cabin.

The entire cabin is encased within a ‘ring of wood’ waistrail with an unbroken panel of wood gracing the Mulsanne’s dashboard.

Inverted dial needles within the instrument cluster are evocative of early Bentleys while the entire dashboard and console design is a subtle reminder of the Bentley wings motif.

At 5.6m-long and weighing in at nearly 2.7-tons, there’s nothing quite like it except the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The 6.75-litre V8, also twin-turbocharged like the GTC, summons up 505bhp, and peak torque of 1,020Nm comes on from way down low as mandated of a Bentley.

It also features an 8-speeder to ramp the car up to a top speed of 296kph with a 0-100kph sprint time of 5.3s.

The rear-wheel drive machine rides on 21-inch wheels, part of the optional Premier Specification that includes interior mood lighting, Naim audio system, picnic tables, rear view camera and the retractable Flying ‘B’ radiator mascot.

Step a little on the gas pedal and that’s enough to elicit a muffled authoritative rumble that precedes rapid yet fluid acceleration.

The note varies from that of the GTC, which appeals to the younger set, and comes less shrouded in insulation to show off the V8 engine sound track.

Seated in the cavernous cabin, it’s mostly hushed, made more so by adaptive air suspension that isolates and smooths out noise and harshness from road surfaces.

Three drive modes - Bentley, Sport and Comfort - allow for different pre-set damping/power steering controls while a fourth allows driver to finetune damping and power steering to a preferred driving style.

The car handles well when diving into bends and steering is precise and communicative.

While the various drive modes allow the owner to indulge in sporty driving, it’s realistic to think he would prefer to be driven around instead.

All too soon, both cars had to be returned. And all that was left were memories of the Bentley drive to take back.

The GTC is priced from RM1.5mil while the Mulsanne starts at RM2.5mil.