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M6
(Review from 'BHP Bender' GT Speed vs M6)
Some might say that having over £300,000's worth of luxury sports cars / super-cars parked on the drive means I have an amazing job. So is it a fair review, a Bentley that has a phenomenal 600bhp being compared to the BMW M6's 550bhp? The Bentley does 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, the BWM takes 4.6 seconds, so it's safe to say that within the first paragraph of this review we have established that the Bentley is quicker. Woo-hoo, I've confirmed something that both manufacturers already knew! However this isn't a verse review in the normal vein of verse reviews, here's the kicker and what this review is actually about….. is an extra 50bhp and shaving 0.1 of a second of the 0-62mph time worth an extra £70,000?
ON YOUR MARQUE'S
Firstly lets talk badges; Bentley's are expensive, very expensive. However, picture the scene, you're in a central London wine bar, the homeless and deluded city stockbrokers are all stood around, yar'ing and 'ahu ahu ahu'ing' . When the penniless and jobless bankers turn and ask you the question 'so what do you drive then?' Even as a humble journalist, the words 'a Bentley GT Speed' trips off the tongue like honey off a bee's backside. It gives you a very odd sensation. It's a mix of 'jealous much' smugness and out and out pride. You see if you say the word 'Bentley' to your average man on the street, the instant thought is that you're minted. Lets face it, you probably are, Bentley don't have a super-mini or a family hatchback in the range. If you own a Bentley, it doesn't matter which one it is, it's still a Bentley.
It's that exact thought process that's the problem with one of the most expensive BMW's money can buy. If the response to the aforementioned question is 'I drive a BMW M6' those that aren't car nuts have no idea what you've turned up in. It could be an Estate as far as they are know. Those who don't listen properly, well they just hear BWM and assume your in a 3-series (not exactly the jaw-dropping-wow-factor you were hoping for). When it comes to impressing car boffins though, an M6 is a great way to start. Its raw and brutal power never fails to impress, its handling receives praise and acclaim.
So they're both pricey motors, but the Bentley wins the 'which one's going to make people think you've got the most money' prize.
CAN YOU HANDLE IT?
Handling is another matter all together. The Bentley, considering it's a much heavier car than the BMW, handles beautifully, its graceful, elegant and when put into sport mode, an absolute monster of speed and tight corners. However it does tend to drift wide coming out of hard corners. It copes excellently well with sweeping bends and even putting your foot down mid corner doesn't faze the big GT Speed Coupe. In fact it's this style of driving really showcases what the Bentley is capable of. Then we come to the M6, press a few buttons, tweak some controls, set the car up properly for maximum power / the best suspension settings and the M6 is without shadow of a doubt the better handling of the two. Its poise in cornering under speed and its ability to hold the road regardless of how much you've just pushed your luck is absolutely breath taking. Tight right and left bends one after the other are handled without so much as the M6 breaking a light sweat. This is a car that's been designed for maximum handling.
The heavier Bentley loses the handling side of the review to the mighty German powerhouse. Both handle supremely well and are more than capable of handling almost anything you throw at them. The M6 just makes lighter work of the load.
SHIFTING OPINION
The more money the car the better the gearbox, or so you would think. The Bentley has one of the best gearboxes I've had the pleasure of driving. In Auto it shifts smoothly, quietly and without fuss, in Sport it feels like a race tuned monster, snatching gears with millisecond timing and precision, floor the Bentley in Sport mode in any gear and that wondrous box will respond by shifting you into a gear that will not only catapult you forwards, but also induce G-force strong enough to snap your neck.
This is the bit where it all goes horribly wrong for the M6 The seven-speed semi-auto SMG gearbox with DRIVELOGIC, fitted to my test car, was without question the WORST gearbox I've ever had to suffer. To say it's totally crap would be unfair, no wait it wouldn't because it is. Regardless of how you set the car up, whatever setting you have the gearbox in, be it manual, auto or sport, its not just jerky, its akin to being on a rollercoaster, it grabs gears and changes up and down for no apparent reason. Floor the Beemer and eventually the gearbox will decide to change down (if your lucky, if your not, it just wont do anything (and you'll be there looking like a right muppet). On long motorway journeys when it just sits in 7th gear without needing to change up or down its great, round town however it's so bad I nearly sent it back after the first 2 days because it wound me up so much! There is hope on the horizon though; my contact at BMW assures me that they will be fitting the outstanding seven-speed M-DCT (double clutch transmission) gearbox, available on the M3, as standard very soon.
So both these cars have outstanding performance, stunning looks, awe-inspiring road presence and both cost a fortune to buy, insure, maintain and run (combined fuel consumption for the Bentley is 17mpg and 14mpg the BMW). Both have fantastic build quality and superior technology and design. Both will do pretty much anything asked of them. So which one is the winner? At this level of motoring there is no winner or loser, I personally wouldn't buy the M6 due to the gearbox, the only place it would drive me, is to distraction. My choice would be, the GT Speed, its one of those cars that I'd never get tired of.
For many years I was a huge 7 series fan, my mum had a 745i when I was growing up. We'd fly down country lanes, me strapped into the back seat, Queen blasting out on the stereo, sunroof open wide. Its one of my fondest memories, nearly all my childhood memories features my mother and whatever car she had at the time. My mum was and still is a great motorist, she loves cars and driving and even at 63yrs old, drives a kitted up 7 seat Citroen Picasso VTRS, like a woman on a mission.
I brought my first BMW 735i when I was 22, it was about 5yrs old, and I got it for a bargain. It had leather, ac, Sat Nav (all be it a rubbish Sat Nav that couldn't navigate its way out of a paper bag) and a TV (which rarely worked and when it did it was unwatchable!). But regardless of its many idiosyncrasies I LOVED it, it was a luxury barge that sailed along, I tinted the windows, put some 19" on it and I thought it was the absolute epitome of class and style. I went everywhere in it, regardless of the absolute fortune it cost to run. I was a rep on the road and I spent every single penny of my monthly car allowance (and half my salary) on running, insuring and maintaining it. Unfortunately the gearbox fell out, shortly followed by the engine! I replaced it, with another 7 series, this time a 728i (I went for a smaller engine in the hope of lowering my running costs), this one lasted 6 months before a van passing by its parking space decided to take umbrage with a turn and piled into the side, writing it off. So again I replaced it with… another 7 series, this time an Alpina 7 (serious sports), this one lasted about 11 months before it totally disintegrated into a pile of very expense repairs and replacement parts. So much so that I replaced it with a Range Rover, whose LPG conversion blew up one month exactly to the day I brought it.
So what's the point of the long pre-ambulation? The reason I spent 30k on a crap Range Rover was because the only 7 series available in the price range I wanted to pay, at the time of replacing my 7 Series… was the last shape. I thought it was one of THE most hideous cars I've ever clapped eyes on. Imagine a fat drag queen (in lycra), Egyptian eye makeup from the corner of the eye to the hairline, bending over showing some crack. That was how I would sum up the last generation; absolutely nothing on earth would have got me to part with my money for one. I loved my old square shaped 7's and nothing was going to change my mind.
Fast forward nearly a decade, I'm 31 and I've owned about 15 cars over the last 10yrs, some bad, some good, some which will always be sat on a pedestal in a beam of sunlight hailed as the best of the best…. Cue time for BMW to radically change and release the all new 7… WOW is all I can say, its gorgeous, sleek and sexy, a land barge that has the look of an Olympian. It's still purposeful, but now it's got its poise back. If the new 7 came up behind you on the motorway you'd move over and let it through, it's got its beast inside image back, and I love it.
The huge bulbous front nose have been replaced by a slimmer more detailed face, complete with the new BMW grille that features across the range, except this grilles big enough to eat your head.
Inside it's the same story, everything has been rethought with an even more luxury focused but sporty feel and with a feeling of agility. The rear and profile have received the same 'celebrity fat club-esque' diet and fitness regime. Clean sleek lines and flowing lights streamline the 7 into a force to be reckoned with.
The quality of the finish is superb, supple leathers and beautiful woods (or if you're on the sports side of things, aluminium) trims. Passenger comfort whether your front, rear or driving it in a different league to most. Equipment-wise, if it doesn't come as standard on the 730d SE, you probably don't need it!.
So on to performance, well the 3L turbo diesel engine that powers the 730d is smoother than silk, its powerful and has plenty of acceleration in every gear. So quiet that twice I tried to start the car without actually realising I'd already done it. Coupled with the outstanding BMW 6sp automatic step-tronic gearbox, the two work better together than Ant and Dec (you can also stand to be around the Beemer for more than 5mins without wishing to cut your own ears off) and makes the overall driving experience unbelievable fun, engaging and relaxing.
Everything about the new 730d is right; it handles beautifully, soaks up bumps and lumps in the road, corners even at speed with poise and determination. It's quick (0-62mph takes just 7.2secs) it's fairly economical doing nearly 40mpg (combined). It's luxurious and demands respect, it's a bitch to park as it's still the size of a boat, but you can't have everything! Price wise, the model I tested came in at £54,160, with several cost options, most of which were safety based and worth adding, the price rose to £57,670, which for all that car, in my opinion, is a bargain!
So would I buy another 7 series now…. Without hesitation, its once again a beautiful beast, its got heart, soul and more luxury than Harrods. I'd also buy the 730d because it's got all the performance of the petrol engine with much lower running costs.