The entrance of the famed Inn at Spanish Bay, in Northern California’s Pebble Beach, had been festooned with some of the world’s most exotic automobiles—swooned over by camera-toting adorers—just a few days prior during Monterey Car Week. Now, the same parking presentation is far more pedestrian, replete with lackluster daily drivers—save for one.
Tucked in the corner is what’s obviously an S.U.V., despite wearing camouflage artistically patterned as geometric shards of light. I settle in the backseat, highly cognizant of the fact that I’m about to be one of the few people on the planet to ride in the Bentley Torcal, the 107-year-old marque’s first all-electric vehicle.
Martin Page, Bentley‘s product line director for the Torcal, drives a camouflaged example at Northern California’s Pebble Beach.
Bentley Motors Limited
Robb Report is here to test-drive the new Bentley Supersports at Laguna Seca, but not before sampling the passenger experience in this, the automaker’s zero-emissions milestone. Behind the wheel is Martin Page, the Torcal’s product line director, who will be our guide through this journey of automotive discovery—one we still can’t say too much about, as the global reveal remains about a month away.
Although the power train and overall platform are completely different from those of the Bentayga, the Torcal, even in disguise, appears similar in form and function—so how does it differ? “There’s a couple of ways . . . one is proportions,” says Page. “It’s a different proportion. It’s a lower-riding car. It’s maybe a slightly more sporting intent . . . that’s why we’ve positioned this car in the Sports S.U.V. segment.”
The cabin was ensconced in what looked like the protective garb you’re given before being blasted by X-rays.
Bentley Motors Limited
While Rolls-Royce has been making cabin silence a point of pride, Bentley seems to revel in being more sonically potent. So although the Torcal can be quite quiet, its default setting is more symphonic. “We concluded that the sound profile that was most clearly Bentley was that of a heritage V-8, and that’s actually from the Continental Turbo R . . . one of the longest serving V-8s in our history,” says Page. “We then asked artisans and craftspeople to play on the drums . . . that engine’s imperfect . . . and we wanted to bring that imperfection into the sound as well, so it was natural and authentic, and not digitized.” Interestingly, Bentley cites in its early press brief that “the propulsion sound is linked to torque demand, not speed or accelerator position.”
That torque demand is what we’ve all come to expect from an EV, the engineering equivalent of Bruce Lee’s one-inch punch—near immediate and unexpectedly powerful. Among the few specific facts that can be divulged is that this is not only Bentley’s first E.V., but its most muscular production model yet. But then that output is driving a battery-powered Bentley weighing nearly 6,000 pounds.
This is not only the marque’s first E.V., its Bentley’s most muscular production model yet.
Bentley Motors Limited
Yet that gravitas does not compromise handling, at least as far as could be determined from the back seat as we rapidly increase speed banking around a freeway entrance and fire off in a straight line. “We haven’t got a load of body roll. We haven’t got a load of heave or pitch. So the car has stiffened up as we’ve gone into that dynamic movement,” Page notes. “And as soon as we get into a steady-state condition, we’re able to put that isolation in and really separate the ride,” he adds.
Page calls the Torcal “as comfortable as a Flying Spur and as dynamic as a GT,” further explaining that “the throttle map, the brake performance, the steering feel, have all been benchmarked from Continental GT.” And yes, the limited press release from Crewe admits that the Torcal “does share some components with [Porsche’s] Electric Cayenne platform, all calibrated specifically for Bentley.”
The model’s gravitas does not compromise handling, at least as far as we could determine from the back seat.
Bentley Motors Limited
From my perspective as passenger, the Torcal felt every bit the Bentley, just one wearing thick gloves, as the cabin was ensconced in what looked like the protective garb you’re given before being blasted by X-rays. But our time in the pilot seat will come. For now, we can already see how this EV bolsters the baronial automaker’s road ahead.
The Bentley Torcal will be fully revealed to the public on September 23.
Bentley Motors Limited
What’s being banked on is that the Torcal is, as Page expounds, “the next great Bentley, true to everything you recognize as a Bentley, built on the pillars of Bentley DNA, and ultimately then, the power-train selection becomes somewhat secondary.” That’s where Torcal, regardless of eventual sales, strengthens the British automaker’s market position. Bentley has an E.V., but there’s no need to commit solely to electrification—the ability to now offer it all is the real power play.
Authors
Viju Mathew
Shifting gears from his degree in physical geography, Viju Mathew has spent the last decade covering most categories of the luxury market prior to becoming Robb Report’s automotive editor. Along with…