The Mulsanne is best from the rear three-quarters, where it echoes the full, confident, blocky yet elegant lines first seen on the Brooklands coupé. The front end, with its low-set lamps, looks doleful and apologetic; even in a recession, the two-and-a-half tonnes of hand-tooled magnificence that follows deserves to be announced with more pomp and pride.
On start-up and trickling around town the Mulsanne’s drivetrain doesn’t quite match the Ghost’s peerless refinement, but it’s a Bentley, so a little more connection with the mechanicals is appropriate to the marque. On small throttle openings, all that torque is easy to manage and the box slips seamlessly between ratios.
When you find the space to hold it all the way in, the Mulsanne takes off like a 747; a rousing but distant noise, the sensation of immense power overcoming colossal weight and acceleration that always achieves its purpose but never really thrills you.
Driven quickly, as it seldom will be, the Mulsanne handles amazingly for a car of such girth. The response, weighting and gearing of the steering are all excellent; if you can push a two-and-a-half-tonne motor hard down a twisty road without being frustrated with the helm, someone’s done their job well, though the target market might appreciate less effort at low speed.
Roll, heave and pitch are all well-managed by the adaptive air springs; a car this big will never feel agile, but the Mulsanne always feels composed, and occasionally fun. But at the end of the dynamic spectrum most important to purchasers – low-speed ride & refinement – the Mulsanne can’t match the peerless, silken Ghost.
It didn’t charm us the way the flawed but magic old Arnage could. Nor, objectively, is it as impressive a car as the new Rolls-Royce Ghost. But it’s sufficiently different in design and execution – and sufficiently true to Bentley’s base values – to give you reason to choose it. Or to buy one of each, if there’s anyone left who can still afford to. Search for Buy Used Nissan Cars In Offaly for a car that suits your needs
