BENTLEY Mulsanne Review

The pistons and connecting roads have been lightened and, together with the forged camshaft, offer more suppleness to the V8.

What’s more, emissions have been cut by 15 percent. We'll be honest and admit we were not too bothered with this, but we do have a question. Bentley's 6.75 V8 now meets Euro V emission standards and we're curious what will happen to the unit in 2016, when Euro VI limits enter the scene.

The V8 unit is mated to what must be the most successful automatic transmission currently on the market, ZF's eight-speed unit. Crewe has overcome its traditional views when it came to this, fitting its flagship model with paddle shifters for the first time. Your chauffeur will certainly post this info on his Facebook account.

Nevertheless, there's no time for the social media right now, we have to hit the road. Immediately, the V8 feels more conservative than the Rolls-Royce Ghost's V12. By the way, the two don't just share the twin-turbo setup, but also come with similar displacements.Oh yes, an the ZF cog works.

Those upside down dashboard instruments will only see the V8 revving up to 4,500 rpm. In case you're wondering, peak power arrives at 4,200 rpm. Like we said, the Mulsanne's V8 is even more meticulous than the Ghost's V12.

Both serve their purposes with religious calm. Nonetheless, the V8 is a tad smoother in operation, even though we didn't think that was possible. For comfortable, long distance driving, this is the better engine.

At the same time, while the two cars have similar weights, the Mulsanne is a bit slower. Still, the BMW ownership means that the Ghost is limited to 155 mph (250 km/h), while the Mulsanne has no shame in hitting 184 mph (296 km/h).

Still, you're never going to feel the difference between the two. Comparing their pulling and delivery refinement characteristics is a bit like bragging that your Breitling diver's watch is better at being used inside the shower than the timepiece used by your associate.