Ok, so it's not quite three tonnes, it's actually about 2.7 tonnes, but Bentley has tried its hardest to make this drop-top behemoth appeal to people who actually enjoy driving.
The Azure has a unique sort of appeal. It's a Bentley of the old school - massive, square-edged and powered by the kind of asphalt melting engine that spews out carbon like Simon Cowell does one-hit wonders. There's also more wood and leather than a Max Mosely dinner party.
Like the Arnage and the Brooklands coupé, the Azure exists for those who think the Continental and its offspring (GTC convertible and Flying Spur saloon) are all too VW. This, the Azure T, is the company's new flagship convertible and will sit just below the Brooklands in Bentley's range when the order book officially opens at its
LA Auto Show debut later this month. Prices aren't confirmed just yet, but don't expect much change from, deep breath, £230,000.
Let's talk about that engine then. The 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8 - the same as that in the Brooklands - is hand built in Crewe and generates 500bhp and an astonishing 737lb.ft of torque at 3,200rpm. That's some way higher than the 1,800rpm the standard Azure musters up its piffling 675lb.ft at.
The environmental price is staggering, though: 465g/km of CO
2. You could travel more than 4.5 kilometres in a
Polo BlueMotion and emit the same amount of carbon as just one in the T.
But that's the price you pay for the kind of open-top performance that could render you completely bald. Top speed is 179mph, and 0-62mph comes up in 5.2 seconds, with 100mph reached in 12.1. Not bad at all for a convertible whose weight dwarves a mini-bus. Fuel consumption, as you'd expect, is woeful: 14.5mpg combined.
A Sport switch on the dash firms up the suspension for improved handling, though the automatic gearbox settings have been separated, meaning it can be switched independently from the suspension between normal, Sport and manual modes. The suspension features adaptive electro-hydraulic damping with automatic ride height control. Suffice to say, this thing should cosset even the most skinny, Atkins-addled celebrity behind from tarmac lumps and bumps. Carbon ceramic brakes are an option - and in fact are the largest brakes on any production car.
In the cabin, buyers will get a choice of 25 leathers and a massive range of woods. To be honest, it's easier just to say that the sky's the limit for a Bentley customer, with at least 42 exterior hues to choose from too - though we don't expect any colour swab to be too challenging for the Bentley painters to match.
Standard equipment includes 20-inch alloy wheels, diamond quilted seats and door cards, an aluminium instrument surround, an iPod interface, a chrome and leather gear lever and thick, thick carpet. The roof is an electrically-operated three-layer cloth affair, so roof-up ambience should be hushed.
However, record industry execs may want to see to that by specifying the optional
SEMA-spec ten speaker surround sound stereo powered by a 1,100W amplifier.
Mark Nichol - 12 Nov 2008