While we were busy checking out the glass switches that complete the scenery, our feet were resting on wool carpets. These mats are deeper than what many call premium home items, being made of Wilton-weave. We were worrying about not getting them dirty, but this concern was treated with a piece of fine British humor. We were asked to imagine how sheep keep themselves clean despite mud getting in the way all the time.
The dashboard comes with quite a large array of controls, as you get dedicated buttons for just about everything. Whereas the
Rolls-Royce Ghost groups everything into the BMW-borrowed iDrive, here there are plenty of controls. The two couldn't be more different.
Sure, somewhere behind the infotainment interface lies Audi's
MMI, but this is far from being an issue. Speaking of this, the Bentley Mulsanne has plenty of enthusiasm when it comes to the audio part of the cabin. The standard system employs 14 speakers, but our test car had been touched by
Naim's magic wand.
The Mulsanne holds the most powerful car system in the world, with a 2,200 Watt amplifier and 20 speakers. Set up the system as you wish and turn the volume up to a quarter. The aural experience has kept us pinned in the parking lot for quite a while now and we're really not rushing to end the moment.
Whereas in a Flying Spur you can see the Naim speaker housings in the luggage compartment, the Mulsanne conceals these. Alas, the audio pleasures do take up a lot of space. At 15.6 cubic feet (440 liters) the boot falls a bit short of our expectations. Having to leave even one of our luggage pieces at home is simply not elegant.
What is elegant, however, is the fact that those rather massive wooden rear seat tables can be ordered in a configuration that's delightful in a tech-geekishly manner. Deploy the picnic tables and you'll fine a smooth leather-finish surface. Press a button and you'll get a dedicated space for an iPad and a keyboard. These features are part by the 2013 Mulsanne update.
From the list of finer things in life brought by the upgrade, we'll also mention the rear
privacy curtains, as well as the comfort headrests. The latter quickly become addictive, so this is all brilliant work. However, we can't stop wondering why these weren't there in the first place.