Bentley on Tuesday celebrated the construction of the last W-12 engine at its factory in Crewe, UK, capping a series of projects that spanned two decades.
The final engine is also the most powerful; rated at 740 hp, it is destined for one of the Bentley Limited Edition Batursa special build to celebrate the W-12, as well as preview design themes for Bentley’s first electric vehicle scheduled for 2026. Bentley has also launched Speed 12 Special Editions last year to mark the engine’s operation.
The 6.0-liter twin-turbo engine debuted in the original Continental GT and has been updated over the years, as well as being supplied to other Volkswagen Group brands on occasion.
More than 100,000 examples were built, making the W-12 the most successful 12-cylinder engine of the modern era, according to Bentley. Because of its W layout, which essentially makes it two V-6s on a common crankshaft, the engine is about 25 percent shorter than a traditional V-12, improving packaging characteristics. VW Group brand Bugatti used the same layout for the W-16 engine that powered the Veyron and Chiron hypercars.
Bentley celebrates end of W-12 engine production – July 2024
Bentley already announced plans to phase out the engine last year. Along with the V-6 and V-8 engines that Bentley uses, the W-12 has always been on borrowed time. Bentley has promised to go all-electric by the end of the decade.
Bentley had a team of 30 employees dedicated to building the engine, with each unit taking about 6.5 hours to complete. With each new development, which over the years saw production increase by 34 percent from the first iteration to the last, Bentley would run an engine at full throttle for 100 hours for durability testing, then repeat the process three more times. This simulates driving 20,000 miles at 200 mph, according to the automaker. Another test would take the engine to redline 100 times within 30 seconds of starting, at an ambient temperature of just 14 degrees F.
The engine’s replacement is a plug-in hybrid V-8 powertrain that debuted in June in a Updated Continental GT Speed. Rated at 771 hp, the powertrain is also destined for a Flying Spur speed updated. Although it has not yet been confirmed, lower-rated versions will likely appear on other models in the Bentley lineup.