| Road Test Bentley Arnage R |
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If You Have To Ask . . .
The Arnage is the large Bentley, the historic and important link to the company's past and rich heritage before new ownership in 1998 parted it from Rolls-Royce and heralded a new and dominant future for the make. It is elegant on the outside and sumptuous on the inside, but underneath is a progressively developed all-aluminium power unit and state-of-the-art chassis technology. On the road the car is stately and surprisingly easy to place in traffic despite its size. The V8 is redlined at 4500rpm so it remains as unstressed as the occupants, as the car quietly glides on its way. The gearbox is fully automatic with no manual option so demands on the driver are minimal. The ride is smooth but never soft, the suspension software adapting to road conditions and driver input, while the brakes require more effort than anticipated to slow the vehicle gracefully. The test car was taken off the main production line to have its interior further refined in the separate Mulliner workshops. Over half of all Arnage customers specify bespoke additional work to their cars and in this instance the car was fitted with quilted seat insets giving a subtle texture to the sporty black leather interior. This was complemented by black rooflining and darkened wood, all of which is highlighted by the slightest touches of chrome edging and superb attention to detail. The Austrian-sourced hides are lovingly hand stitched in Crewe with additional cross-stitching detail taking around 11 hours per seat. The veneers are selected at source, mainly in the United States, from the root ball of their trees to guarantee the burr effect with Walnut, Chestnut, Olive Ash and Maple the popular choices.
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