Bentley Batur is the Swansong for Bentley’s W12 – gets 740bhp

Bentley will end production of its W12 engine in 2024 with a 740bhp version fitted to the limited-run Bentley Batur.

When Bentley revealed the limited run Bantley Batur last year, it declared that it would come with ‘more than’ 730bhp. And it does.

In fact, the Batur gets 740bhp and 738lb/ft of torque, making it the most powerful engine fitted to a Bentley production car to date. And it will also be the last version of the W12 to be fitted to a Bentley, with Bentley ending production of the W12 in April 2024.

Of course, with electrification the legislated future for car makers it was always going to mean the end of engines like the glorious W12, and Bentley will turn over its W12 production to the immediate future of V8 and V6 hybrids.

Since the W12 arrived in the Continental GT in 2003, Bentley has churned out more than 100,000 units, first with the Continental GT and Flying Spur, and latterly in the Bentayga.

Since its introduction, the W12, Bentley has increased its power by 37 per cent and torque by 54 per cent – and reduced emissions by 25 per cent – as well as a complete redesign of the engine when the Bentayga debuted in 2015 with cylinder deactivation, direct and port injection and twin-scroll turbos.

Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark said:

 When we first launched the W12 back in 2003, we knew we had a mighty engine that would propel both our cars and the brand forwards at speed. 20 years and more than 100,000 W12s later, the time has come to retire this now-iconic powertrain as we take strides towards electrification – but not without giving it the best send-off possible, with the most powerful version of the engine ever created.