Cars - Bentley Arnage

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	Cars - Bentley Arnage

The Bentley Arnage is a luxury car produced by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England. The Arnage and its Rolls-Royce-branded sibling, the Silver Seraph, were introduced in the Spring of 1998 and were the first entirely new designs for the two marques since 1980.

Another break from the past was to be found under the bonnet, for decades home to the same 6.75 L V8, a powerplant which could trace its roots back to the 1950s. The new Arnage was to be powered by a BMW V8, with Cosworth-engineered twin turbo installation, and the Seraph was to employ a BMW V12.

The Arnage is over 5m long, almost 2m wide, and has a kerb weight of more than 2.5 metric tonnes. For a brief period it was the most powerful and fastest four-door saloon on the market.

Development

Following the uptick in sales for all of Rolls-Royce and resurgence of the Bentley marque, then-owner, Vickers, set about preparing a new model to replace the derivatives of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit/Bentley Mulsanne which it had been selling since 1980. In a complete switch from tradition, these new cars would have bodies built at the Crewe factory with engines built elsewhere.

A number of potential engines were examined, including the GM Premium V engine and a Mercedes-Benz V8, before Vickers selected a pair of BMW powerplants. It was decided that the Rolls-Royce model, to be called the Silver Seraph, would use BMW's naturally-aspirated V12 while the more-sporting Bentley model would use a special twin-turbo version of the 4.4 L BMW V8, which was developed by Vickers subsidiary, Cosworth Engineering.

On its introduction in the spring of 1998 as a 1999 model, the Arnage was available as a single model with this 4398 cc BMW V8 engine, with twin turbochargers, developing some 350 hp (260 kW).

The basic BMW V8 Arnage was renamed the Arnage Green Label in 2000, its last model year.

Red Label

Launched in late 1999 was the Arnage Red Label. Volkswagen, who had purchased the Bentley name and Crewe factory was loathe to continue purchasing BMW's engines, and it turned out that Bentley engineers and customers felt the same way. The BMW-powered Arnage, while objectively more modern than the Turbo RT it replaced, was more than a second slower to 60 mph than that car, and lacked the massive torque that Bentley customers had grown accustomed to.

Vickers had outsourced to Cosworth the production of the old 6.75 L Rolls-Royce engine for use in the continued Continental and Azure models, so reverting to the old standby engine was a natural choice for the company. In fact, Volkswagen purchased Cosworth as well, so all the pieces fell into place to eliminate the BMW engine.

The Red Label model reverted to the old V8, which boasted torque of 835 N·m with a single Garret T4 turbocharger. This was the greatest amount of torque for a four-door car at the time. Also returning was the General Motors-sourced 4-speed 4L80-E automatic.

A long-wheelbase version of the Red Label was launched at the Detroit Auto Show in 2001, and the Green Label ended production. The Red Label models were replaced in 2002.

Series Two

In 2001, the Arnage RL, a long-wheelbase limousine model, was launched. Available only as a bespoke ("Mulliner") model, each RL was customised to the desires of the buyer. The RL, however, was also the first of a new series of Arnaged which would break Bentley from its BMW-rooted past permanently, as well as presenting a challenge to that company's attempt to revive Rolls-Royce sales.

The RL was larger than any contemporary limousine, notably including those from its former sister company. Wheelbases ranged from 3336 mm (131 in) to 3566 mm (140 in) and even 3844 mm (151 in), the latter two including a 100 mm (3.9 in) increase in the height of the roof. The suspension was retuned for the added weight, allowing the larger car to still handle well.

Many RL models are ordered with armoured elements, reflecting the car's clientelle. In fact, some of the "basic" car's components were armoured from the start. But a full B6 package was also available for £250,000 to £300,000, offering protection from assault weapons and grenades. The RL remains in production as of 2006.

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Cars - Bentley Arnage

Development

Red Label

Series Two

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