Bentley has given us a look at what its future vehicles will look like with a new hand-built Mulliner model, its most powerful model yet.
The brand revealed the Bentley Mulliner Batur at the Monterey Car Week in California.
The two-door grand tourer previews a new design language that will “ultimately guide the design of Bentley’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)”.
There will only be 18 examples of the Batur hand-built by Bentley’s in-house coachbuilding division, Mulliner, and each example is priced from £1.65 million ($A2.83 million) excluding taxes and options in the UK.
Every single Batur is sold out, with deliveries expected to begin in mid-2023 after an “extensive development program”.
The Bentley Mulliner Batur is powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine producing 544kW of power and 1000Nm of torque. This makes the Batur the most powerful Bentley in history.
Bentley says the W12 engine in the Batur is the “most advanced twelve-cylinder engine in the world” and it receives a new intake system, upgraded turbochargers, new intercoolers, and “extensive recalibration”.
This engine is mated to a familiar eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. There’s also a titanium sports exhaust system with 3D-printed titanium tips.
The British luxury automaker admits the “W12 is entering its twilight years” and the “Batur is the perfect home for the ultimate development of W12 performance”.
It’s unclear if Bentley plans to reveal another W12-powered car before it launches its first electric vehicle (EV) in 2025.
The brand will offer only EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) by 2026, and go EV-only by 2030.
In addition to the Bentley Mulliner Batur being the most powerful Bentley ever, the automaker says it will be the “most dynamic”.
The Batur has an electronic limited-slip differential that “actively vectors drive torque across the chassis”.
This is complemented by four-wheel steering, as well as 48V electric active anti-roll bars that can provide up to 1300Nm of anti-roll torque in 0.3 seconds.
The Batur also has adaptive air springs that each have three switchable “chambers”, which change the volume of air in the spring and their stiffness.
All of these features can be controlled using the Drive Dynamics Control in the centre console, and you can toggle between Sport, Bentley, Comfort and Custom modes.
Providing the stopping power is Bentley’s Carbon-Silicon-Carbide brake system which consists of 440mm front and 410mm rear discs, with 10-piston front and four-piston rear calipers.
On the outside, the Bentley Mulliner Batur rides on bespoke 22-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli tyres.
There are “aerodynamic additions” of a front splitter, side skirts and a rear diffuser that can be built from carbon fibre or “sustainable Natural Fibre composite”.
Bentley says the number of exterior paint colours the Batur can be finished in is “infinite” and starts with the full Mulliner colour palette and can go as far as hand-painted graphics.
The car that was revealed at Monterey was specified to “showcase the Batur’s form language”.
It’s painted in a bespoke Bonneville Pearlescent Silver with carbon fibre front splitters, side skirts and a rear diffuser painted in Black Crystal.
The grille is finished in Gloss Dark Titanium and has contrast highlights that “flows from Hyperactive Orange in the centre and gradually darken to the sides to Black Crystal.”
There’s an “endless bonnet” line that’s finished in Satin Titanium paint and the 22-inch wheels are finished in Satin Dark Titanium to match the grille.
The inside of the Bentley Mulliner Batur is a similar story as the exterior with virtually limitless possibilities.
Clients can even choose for certain controls, like the “organ stops for ventilation”, to be finished in 3D-printed 18 karat gold.
The interior of the Batur shown off at Monterey has a combination of black, red and orange elements.
The seats are finished in Beluga black main hide with Mulliner Hyperactive Orange leather. There’s also Dinamica, which is a suede-like alternative to leather, in both Beluga and Hotspur red.
There’s special “Batur Chevrons” embroidery on the outer wings of the seats, as well as white contrast stitching throughout.
The piping of the seat centres is finished in Hyperactive Orange and there’s also a Hyperactive Orange finish to the lower spoke of the steering wheel.
The instrument panel, fascias and doors are painted in Gloss Black and there’s also a laser-etched sound wave that represents the “unique sound generated by the W12 engine”.
Lastly, the Bentley Dynamic Drive Selector and the “12 o’clock” steering wheel centre band are finished in 18-karat gold.
Bacalar
The Bentley Mulliner Batur succeeds the Bacalar, an ultra-exclusive droptop grand tourer revealed in 2020.
Like the Bacalar, the Batur is named after a body of water.
Lake Batur is located in Kintamani on the island of Bali, Indonesia, and is a 16 square-kilometre volcanic crater lake that’s 88m deep.
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