Carbon fibre wheels are a relatively new thing on road cars, and tend to be offered on the most hardcore, track-biased sports and supercars: the Ford Shelby GT350R, Ferrari 488 Pista, Alpine A110 R, that sort of thing.
There is, however, a case for using them on vast, heavy luxury cars too, where shaving off every little bit of unsprung mass – that is, weight that isn’t supported by the suspension – can make a big difference to the driving experience. We’ve already seen them used on Rolls-Royce’s sporty(ish) Black Badge cars, and now they feature on the Bentley Bentayga, too.
Bentley Bentayga Apex Edition – carbon wheel
Specifically, they’re fitted to the Bentayga Apex Edition, which will be limited to just 20 units worldwide. It’s based on the Bentayga S, which makes 542bhp and 568lb ft of torque from its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.
The wheels are 22-inch items developed with Italian composite specialists Bucci, and save 24kg of unsprung mass altogether. Augmenting them is a set of carbon-silicon-carbide brake discs, which shed a further 20kg over standard. Apparently they can withstand up to 1000 degrees celsius, which is officially Quite Hot.
Bentley Bentayga Apex Edition – interior
The weight saving hasn’t had any effect on performance, with the S’s 4.5-second 0-62mph sprint and 180mph top speed unchanged – after all, while Bentley hasn’t released the Apex Edition’s weight figure, the standard S tips the scales at just over 2.4 tonnes. Bentley says the 44kg saving in unsprung mass will have a palpable effect on the car’s steering feel and agility, though, something further aided by the standard fitment of four-wheel steering and dynamic anti-roll control.
Just in case the enormous, bare carbon wheels weren’t enough of a giveaway, the Apex Edition can be ordered in six unique colour schemes created by Bentley’s Mulliner bespoke division, each of which includes a whacking great racing stripe running over the length of the car. It also gets further flashes of carbon fibre inside and out.
Bentley Bentayga Apex Edition – side
Finally, owners of 2023’s run of 24 Continental GT Le Mans Collection special editions will have the opportunity to commission an Apex Edition Bentayga in a matching spec to their Continental.
Pricing hasn’t been revealed, and will likely vary greatly car-by-car as Bentley encourages buyers to work with Mulliner to personalise their car. We can tell you one thing, though: it won’t be cheap.
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