This was the first time I saw and indeed heard of a Bentley Azure, though all I heard when I first became acquainted with this one was a faint whisper of a seemingly far off air conditioning unit, I was surprised when I turned around and found this gargantuan vehicle pulling up right next to me.
Since 1998 Volkswagen have been the owners of the Bentley marque having purchased it from Vickers and in the process separated Bentley from, former owner since 1931, Rolls Royce which was sold to the Bavarian Motor Works.
This second generation (2006 - 2009) Azure is powered by a 450 hp 6,750 cc / 411 cui, twin turbo V8, with origins that can be traced to the V8's used in the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II, Phantom V and Bentley S2 of 1959. The power is transmitted to the rear wheels with the aid of a 6 speed automatic gearbox made for this model only.
Handling of this 2,801 kg / 6,175 lb vehicle is said to be free of pitch and roll.
The engine is capable of propelling the Azure up to 60 mph from rest in just 5.6 seconds, and on to 168 mph. Unsurprisingly the Azures fuel consumption is amongst the worst on record at between 9 - 15 miles per US gallon, if you need to ask these figures I guess you do not own the requisite oil field or two to keep the Bentley Azure in motion anyway.
This vehicle is longer wider and obviously taller than an Audi R10 TDI Le Mans race car in fact it is larger than several mini buses with an overall length of 5.342 m / 210 inches, a width of 2.057 m / 81 inches, and wheelbase of 3.061 m / 120 inches. More than comfortable for four adults and their luggage to waft down to the South of France for a weekend on the beach.
Hope you have enjoyed today's XXXL edition of Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres and that you'll join me for a look at a slightly more modest black model built in the foot hills of the Zhiguli Height mountains in Toliatti tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
