The Bentley Arnage T is one of the most regal ways to travel. But how does it compare with its hi-tech rivals? Darius Sanai took to the wheel to find out

Technology has transformed the way we look at luxury cars. Computer-controlled air suspension and highly advanced electronic traction control systems mean top manufacturers are making cars suitable for both chauffeurs and racing drivers, depending on mood – something that was inconceivable just 15 years ago.

All of this should make a car like the Bentley Arnage T completely superannuated. A big, boxy, old-school limo-saloon, it is no more advanced than Mercedes and BMW saloons costing a third of the price – in fact in many ways it is less so.

And yet… when the dark blue Bentley rolled up outside my house, pedestrians, drivers, and builders alike stopped to admire it. A London traffic warden, one of a breed notorious for their iciness, said he wouldn’t give me a ticket if he could have a peek inside. This is a car with presence, and that presence doesn’t stop on the outside.

Climb in the Bentley and sit on its high, upright seat and you instantly feel regal. Instead of the minimal, joyless, Bauhaus-functional dashboard that even the most luxurious ‘ordinary’ saloon cars have now, the Arnage joyfully displays its dials and switches amid a sea of hand-applied walnut veneer so thick and shiny it could have come from a very expensive boat. Even the door pillars are covered in waffled cream leather. Before you’ve driven a centimetre, you feel like king of the road

The Bentley is powered by a 6.75-litre V8 that is derived from the engine that powered every Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the 1960s and 70s. Those cars produced a mountain of torque which led to extremely effortless progress. But the modern incarnation of the (completely revised) V8 is accompanied by two turbochargers, doubling output to a total of 500 horsepower, more than that of a Ferrari F430.

If, as I did, you set off gently in the Arnage through London traffic, waving regally at admirers, you might never know that power is there: it just feels effortless, like its ancestors. The Bentley weighs two and a half tonnes, and feels like it, such is the quality of its construction and general hauteur on the road.

So when you actually decide to put foot to the floor, you will, like I did, get a shock.

The Arnage takes off like a mad horse, with a bellow from the V8 and a scrambling of tyres. It rapidly gains eye-watering speed as it hurtles down the road, and you’d better be ready for it, for while it may be Porsche-fast, it handles like it looks.

Turn the wheel and the response is far from instantaneous (those nautical analogies come to mind), although when you are set into the corner it actually sits quite flat and encourages you to use the throttle to guide it through a rapid exit. After a while, you get used to it, this old-fashioned but enormously entertaining driving style. You can pretend to be a king who has gone for a joyride in the middle of the night.

And when you slow down again, you have that gorgeous hand-made interior to wallow in. Rationally, the Arnage T shouldn’t exist, but if we all made decisions based on pure rationale the luxury industry wouldn’t exist. Somewhat to my surprise, I loved it.

LUX RATING: 18.5/20

 

ALTERNATIVES

Maybach 57S

Bigger, faster, more agile and far more hitech than the Bentley. Objectively a better car, but it looks curiously anonymous, and doesn’t feel as regal inside.
www.maybach-manufaktur.com
LUX RATING: 17.5/20

Rolls-Royce Phantom

The limo all others aspire to: grand, swift, beautifully made, very modern. Looks ostentatious, though, and less fun to drive than the Arnage.
www.rollsroycemotors.com
LUX RATING: 17/20

Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG

Brilliant: as fast as a Ferrari, agile, fun to drive, spacious, swathed in technology and a relative bargain. But subjectively it doesn’t look or feel as special as the others.
www.mercedes.com
LUX RATING: 18/20