Thus far, the Bentley Batur is the most expensive and most powerful production Bentley ever produced. It costs upwards of £1.6 million before local taxes and options, and accommodates one of the final iterations of a 6.0-litre W12 bi-turbo engine that's nearly two decades old, made 'more efficient' by people with big brains and complicated spanners. Though 'more efficient' in quaintly demure Bentley speak translates as 'more powerful' than ever before 730bhp, with 7371b ft of torque (1,000Nm if you prefer numerical cleanliness), delivered from 1,750rpm until 5,000rpm on a torque curve that looks like a park bench. It is gravely expensive, exclusive, powerful and very, very fast.
Which hurts. Because for the past four hours, I've been doing a maximum of 35mph in torrential rain, deploying about 60 of the available horsepower. Visibility is down to roughly 20 feet, and you get the feeling that just beyond the thick duvet of mist might be actual views, if only because the climbing, serpentine roads are dropping heavy hints. But Storm Oscar wrapped suffocating and soggy arms around Tenerife as we arrived and all bets are off - the roads might be interesting, but with this kind of weather the Batur is horribly overendowed. The backpack nuke of holiday hire cars.
At least it gives time to ponder what is a strangely compelling thing. Released last year as an 18-car coachbuilt limited edition by Mulliner, the Batur is both a sister car to the roofless Bacalar and a nod to the forthcoming vision of electrified Bentleys - in style, at least. A two-seat coupe - the rear seats are now a bench which can house a bespoke fitted luggage set - designer Andreas Mindt's Batur features carbon bodywork that apes the Continental GT Speed on which it is based, but plays with the shapes so that it resembles a Conti from a sci-fi movie set in 2035. Which it kind of is.
This story is from the August 2023 edition of BBC Top Gear UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 2023 edition of BBC Top Gear UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself
