An EV that sounds like a 6.75 L V8: A ride in the Bentley Torcal

From the back seat, you might not have known it was an EV. “These are luxury items, an emotional purchase. So we wanted to make sure that we maintained this kind of emotional connection to the car. And sound, we felt was really important,” Page said. After benchmarking some competitors, Bentley decided to dig into its archive instead, “and we came back to the engines out of the Continental and Turbo; quite a heavy, low-revving, high-torque [engine],” he said. Torcal might be Bentley’s new entry point, but it’s anything but basic. Fitted with the same 48 V dual-valve damper active ride comfort system that we’ve enjoyed on the Porsche Panamera, from an occupant’s perspective the Torcal glides down the road with as much ride comfort as a Flying Spur sedan. But from the driver’s seat, I’m told the experience is closer to the Continental GT, the extra height of the EV compensated for by its lower center of gravity.