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Sudden Death: Another Icon Gets Iced
British luxury carmaker Bentley has announced the production run of its iconic twin-turbo 6.0-litre W12 engine is set to end in April 2024.
Set your calendars for April 2024. Not to celebrate but instead to mark the departure of another icon. Before you accuse me of being morbid, that's the timeline Bentley has set for the departure of its iconic twin-turbo W12 engine.
Yes, the engine that made its debut under the bonnet of the Bentley Continental GT nearly 20 years ago is set to depart our roads into the annals of automotive history in yet another sign of the times that the era of internal combustion engines is entering the final stages of life.
The reason is evident by the global push towards electrification as the world decides to ditch the draconic rumble of the dead dino-burning internal combustion engines for the silent serenity of electric motors. And while Bentley is not ditching ICE powerplants just yet, the W12 is making way for the firm's V8 and V6 hybrid powerplants.
To morbidly celebrate the departure of this wacky configuration for a 12-cylinder engine from the automotive coil, Bentley has given the 6.0-litre icon a final fire-breathing farewell. This final version of the W12 engine will be found under the bonnet of 18 units of the Batur, the limited-run car from Bentley's bespoke boffins at Mulliner.
So just how much does this final hurrah for the W12 from the crew at Crew push the limits of the powerplant? Well, Bentley's W12 engine specialists have managed to squeeze out 739bhp at 5,500rpm and 1,000Nm of peak torque between from 1,750 to 5,000rpm from the 12-cylinder turbo monster which will be sent to the Batur's four contact patches via an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
Till the bell finally tolls for the W12 in April 2024, Bentley will continue to manufacture the powerplant in its 650bhp guise for the Speed Versions of its lineup of production cars - Continental GT, Flying Spur & Bentayga.
The Crewe-based luxury carmaker will continue to make vehicles with internal combustion engines till the end of the current decade before it switches to a purely electric lineup. Heralding that moment will be Bentley's first-ever pure electric production car that will glide out of its production facility sometime in 2025.
Final Thoughts On The Axe Falling On Bentley's W12 Engine
The Bentley W12 engine has been a staple of its lineup since it released its first vehicles under the ownership of the Volkswagen Group. With the diesel disaster-damaged automotive giant accelerating its push towards electrification, the demise of the quirky W12, which thanks to its unique layout was 24 per cent shorter than an equivalent V12 engine was always on the cards. We just didn't expect it to be this soon.
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