Well-Being Behind the Wheel

Bentley’s New Azure Range

Written by Andre James / Photos courtesy of Bentley Motors

To provide its customers with a curated selection of features that enhance the well-being and comfort of the vehicle’s occupants, Bentley Motors recently announced a new Azure range. It will be a permanent offering across the Bentley model line-up, including Bentayga, Bentayga EWB, Flying Spur, Continental GT, and Continental GT Convertible. More than just a specification, Azure includes tactile and visual clues designed to reduce stress and promote well-being, along with driver assistance technologies for smoother, safer journeys.

The Azure development team engaged creative neuroscientist Katherine Templar-Lewis, from Kinda Studios, whose wide-ranging research on the external factors that influence stress was vital in defining the ‘well-being behind the wheel’ concept the Azure feature suite embodies. Considering everything from light to the patterns we see around us to the impact of in-car posture and the importance and thermal comfort, Katherine’s research, paired with Bentley’s measurements, gives a science-based analysis of the relaxing experience of traveling in a Bentley. This Science-Informed Design approach uses various interdisciplinary methods to create the most positive sensation of wellness and comfort for Bentley drivers and their passengers. This approach involved designing not simply for the senses of vision, hearing, touch, and smell, but also the position of our bodies (proprioception), gravity and acceleration (vestibular), temperature, and even the body’s internal sensation (interoception).

“We know from the scientific research undertaken by our specialists that increased agency comes through choice, and we have taken a holistic approach to well-being behind the wheel, uniting technology, design, and craftsmanship to deliver driver and passengers to their destination more relaxed than when they set off,” said Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors.

Defining Azure’s focus on comfort are up to 22-way adjustable seats, enabling passengers of all heights and weights, from the 95th percentile male to the 5th percentile female, to find their ideal seating position. At the same time, the heating and ventilation functions help maintain the body’s optimum temperature for comfort and alertness. Research has shown that when we slump, our bodies take in up to thirty percent less oxygen, reducing our cognitive function and placing stress on the body. Azure features a massage function with six programmable settings to promote constant micro-adjustments in muscle and posture to combat this.

Another key element of the Azure range is Bentley Dynamic Ride, a 48V active anti-roll control system that cushions driver and passengers from excessive movement. In addition, all Azure models feature the Touring Specification of driver assistance systems. Combined, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Assist, Traffic Assist, and Bentley Safeguard offer a suite of onboard radar and camera systems that constantly monitor the surrounding traffic and roads and intervene if necessary to prevent or avoid an accident.

Of the Azure cabin accouterments, Maria Mulder, Head of Color & Trim at Bentley Motors, said, “We consulted with neuroscientists to understand the interrelationship of color, texture, tactility, and even scent to create an atmosphere of relaxed serenity. When we see pleasing forms, shapes, and colors, our brains release chemicals such as dopamine that make us feel good and are good for our body and sense of well-being. Sensory receptors convert physical stimuli into neural activity, creating changes in our brain and nervous system. Every fabric, sound, motion, color, and touch continuously impacts our nervous system, and the Azure cabin has been finessed accordingly.”

The Azure interior design specification includes ‘wellness quilting’; the fractal patterns of precisely crafted diamond quilted upholstery create an eye-pleasing interplay of light and shade and provide an irresistible invitation to explore them with one’s fingertips. And while Bentley customers will always have access to the full range of wood veneers, the Azure range offers three open pore veneers; Dark Walnut, Crown-Cut Walnut, and Koa, whose softer, satin, reflective quality evokes a mood of calm.

Azure customers also have a full range of 15 hide colors and color splits to choose from, with contrast stitching as standard and seat piping as a no-cost option. Complementing these visual pleasures are Azure illuminated treadplates, Bentley ‘B’ foot pedals, mood lighting, and a duo-tone steering wheel with heating function.

The Azure range builds on a tradition established in its early days when the Bentley Boys were racing and winning at Brooklands and Le Mans in their thunderous racing green machines, and founder W.O. Bentley was obsessive in his pursuit of smoothness and refinement. “I have put up with a lot of noise in my time, but I don’t like it,” he wrote in his autobiography, adding, “I hate noise for the sake of noise. To me, 70 mph in silence is far more creditable than a noisy 80 mph.” Today’s Bentley’s Azures are quieter at 150 miles an hour than anything W.O. Bentley would have experienced at 70.