The Mulliner Batur, The Foundation Of Bentley’s New Design Revolution

An heir to the Bacalar, a quintessence of Bentley’s present and future, the Batur, a new two-door grand touring coupe by Mulliner unveiled at Monterey Car Week.

Serving as a new design DNA, the Mulliner Batur will in due course guide the direction of Bentley’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) that is due in 2025.

Bentley’s chairman and chief executive officer, Adrian Hallmark, expressed, “The Batur is a significant car for Bentley. Far more than the heir to the highly successful Bacalar, the Batur showcases the design direction that we’re taking in the future as we develop our range of BEVs. Andi Mindt and his team have reimagined the classic Bentley design cues into a stronger, bolder design that remains both elegant and graceful.”

Exterior-wise, the Bentley design language has been revamped, radically altering key elements while still giving nods to its past and future. 

Strong, muscular yet graceful, the ‘resting beast stance’ is what Bentley calls it, as the Batur is meant to exude a jungle feline-esque demeanour, skulking low in attack position in long grass. 

Notably, to portray that powerful silhouette, Bentley’s classic power line and haunch gets renewed, which also gives it an appeal that looks fast even when lying dormant.

Then, the long bonnet, an unmistakable Bentley design that gets a new twist, a feature the company dubbed as the ‘endless bonnet’.

Said design sees a line that stretches from the bonnet along the length of the car, linking the bonnet into the body, making the Batur long and lean, resulting with an elongated front end.

At the same time, the visual mass of the car is moved to the back, portraying an outlook that the car is sat on the rear axle, which adds further depth to the haunches.

On top of that, the signature Bentley grille has been made lower and more upright, projecting a stronger face and a more dominant stance.

The grille is flanked by a new headlight design, an evolution from the Bacalar’s. These are matched with all-new tail-lamps at the rear that sit on either side of a deployable spoiler.

Entirely, the silhouette is cleaner and simplified, with emphasis on curvaceous surfaces divided in the right places to reflect light and dark, and bring more muscle to the design.

Elsewhere, the Batur comes with an infinite paint choice, starting with the full Mulliner colour palette and travelling beyond into fully bespoke paint and even hand-painted graphics.

Plus, aerodynamic additions of front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser can be crafted in both carbon fibre or even new, sustainable Natural Fibre composite.

What’s more, the exterior brightware can be any mix of light and dark, satin or gloss or even titanium. Another option is graduated contrast colour to the front grille, for a vibrant ombre effect.

Completing the overall outlook, the Batur stands on unique 22-inch paws, with the standard option being painted in Black Crystal, and then surface bright machined and polished. 

Conversely, a darker option combines dark gloss faces with satin spokes. Also offered is an option to paint-match the wheels to the body with or without contrast finish, or to choose a totally different contrast colour.

Interior-wise, the two-seater Mulliner Batur is designed for ultimate personalisation and long-distance grand touring.

It builds on the fundamental elements of the Bacalar’s cabin design and adds new sustainable luxury features.

Every part of the cabin can be chosen from a variety of sustainable materials. E.g., low-carbon leather from Scotland that travels at a smaller distance than leather sourced from outside the UK. 

Next, sustainable tannage leather from Italy, in five different colours, and Dinamica, an alternative suede-like sustainable material to leather.

Additionally, the range of veneers available for the fascias also include a new material for Bentley, Natural Fibre composite, which is a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre. 

Available as a 2x2 twill weave and finished in satin lacquer, the Natural Fibre composite brings a new sustainable texture to the cabin. 

Regardless of the veneer chosen, the passenger fascia panel is finished with a unique etching of the audio signature of the W12 engine, while bespoke etching is also available.

In a first for Bentley, the final sustainable elements are the carpets, which are matched to the leather and made from recycled yarn.

Other than that, an option to choose between bright or dark treatments to the interior brightware and titanium, are also available.

For example, certain controls and dials like the organ stops for the ventilation system are even available in 3D-printed 18K gold.

Performance-wise, the Mulliner Batur features the most powerful engine yet fitted to a Bentley. The last to harbour the W12, the most advanced 12-cylinder engine in the world before it retires. 

Outstandingly, for the Batur, the 6.0-litre W12 gets a new intake system, upgraded turbochargers, new intercoolers and extensive recalibration to produce more than 730 HP and 1,000 Nm of torque.

Mated to the W12 is Bentley’s eight-speed double-clutch transmission, and a sports exhaust. The entire exhaust system is in titanium, while the finishers are 3D-printed in titanium.

Furthermore, the Batur will also be the most dynamically handling Bentley, as it underpins the adaptive three chamber air springs in its chassis. 

Of which, each has three switchable chambers, changing the volume of the air spring, and thus its effective stiffness.

Drivers are able to select the balance between ride comfort and body control using the four-mode Drive Dynamics Control, choosing between Sport, Bentley, Comfort and Custom.

Interconnected, the Drive Dynamics Control also changes the behaviour of the 48-V electric active anti-roll control system. 

Where it can provide up to 1,300 Nm of anti-roll torque in 0.3 seconds or completely decouple the wheels at either end of each axle. 

The anti-roll control system can also be used to adjust the roll stiffness front-to-rear, providing sharper turn-in and greater ability to balance the car on the throttle when in Sport mode.

Besides that, overall traction and cornering grip is maximised through the use of an electronic Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) that actively vectors drive torque across the chassis. 

This is complemented by torque vectoring by brake, whereby the car can lightly brake the inside rear wheel on turn-in for greater front-axle response.

Contrastingly, it can also lightly brake both inside wheels on corner exit to move power across to the outside, loaded wheels for better traction.

Braking is via Bentley’s CSiC (Carbon-Silicon-Carbide) braking system, with 440 mm front and 410 mm rear discs, matched with 10-piston front and four-piston rear callipers.

That said, the Batur is the next step in Mulliner’s expansion, demonstrating the demand for truly bespoke vehicles that combine luxury and performance in ways that only Bentley can deliver.

Limited to just 18 examples, of which all have been spoken for, each one will be handcrafted to life collaboratively with their respective clients, guided by Mulliner’s in-house design team.

Each is priced at GBP 1,650,000 (MYR 8,747,824) excluding taxes and bespoke options, with first deliveries projected in mid-2023.