First Drive Review
Until the new Rolls-Royce convertible becomes available next year, the Bentley Azure sits alone as the only open-top four-seater in the $300,000 class. As those who are inclined to automotive extravagance might say, "It's reassuringly expensive."
Those of us who can only look on with envy or incredulity may think the Azure looks and sounds familiar. A car of this name and type was Bentley's flagship from 1995 until 2002; 1300 were made. But although the old Azure was an elegantly cut-and-shut Continental coupe related to the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit that dates back to the 1980s, the new one is based on the current Arnage sedan.
The reborn Azure does have the same engine as its forebear, albeit developing 450 horsepower, as in the 2006 Arnage T. When it took over Bentley in 1998, Volkswagen was keen to drop the BMW turbo V-8 of the original Arnage and replace it with the antique 6.8-liter pushrod Rolls-Royce V-8 coupled to a four-speed GM autobox of similar vintage. The engine was extensively reworked with twin turbochargers in 2001.
This is also the first two-door Arnage, requiring a completely different cabin and rear-end structure from the sedan's. The vast three-layer fabric roof is raised and lowered electrically in 30 seconds and stows under a flush leather-covered deck panel.
The Azure convertible weighs 240 more pounds than the Arnage (making it nearly three tons). The inevitable loss of torsional rigidity from removing the roof is compensated to a degree by carbon-fiber stiffeners added to the underbody — a large cruciform structure at the front and a smaller one at the rear.
Bentley claims the body shell is four times stiffer than the old Azure's. True, this car doesn't suffer from cowl shake, but neither does it feel sporty on the road. It is fast, but the claimed 168-mph top speed and 0-to-60 of 5.6 seconds are not really relevant, nor is the unrelenting understeer when driven hard on a winding road. The Azure is happiest wafting along the boulevards at moderate speed, its four comfortably accommodated occupants seeing and being seen in all the right places.
