ROAD TRIP BENTLEY TURBO R
LONDON TO EDINBURGH EXPRESS
Well, we could have charged up north like an express train, but we had a much more interesting plan – use the magazine’s Turbo R to visit all kinds of Rolls-Royce and Bentley people on the way. WO R D & P H OTO G R A P H Y: N I G E L B O O T H M A N
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ou’re never far from a petrol station in the Turbo R, mentally at least. Its appetite for super unleaded was daunting, but I had no real idea what MPG figure I would see.
Nigel Sandell still seems fond of our Turbo R goodness knows why!
Ten, fifteen, twenty? I might never find out unless I could get some fuel into the tank in the first place. Pressing the fuel-filler cap’s release button makes a promising ‘clonk’ from the rear nearside of the car, but when I go
round to unscrew the cap, the flap’s still shut. Try again – same result. So I jam the squashy leather fob from the keyring in the edge of the flap and then hit the button. Success! The flap flies open and the key fob falls to the deck. On the M25, there are lots of temporary speed restrictions so 60mph is about the best we can do. I’m surprised to see the rev counter turning at well over 2500 rpm. Hmm, perhaps the Turbo R is lower geared on purpose to boost acceleration. I must ask Nigel Sandell. His place is our first stop on this trip from Kelsey Publishing’s HQ in Kent to my home in Edinburgh, for an appointment to get the dicky speedo looked at. It’s been more off than on, with some odd behaviour from the other gauges to match. Nigel’s place is in Isleworth, a mile up the road from Twickenham Stadium, so a quick dodge up the M3 has us there by lunchtime. Before I dare present myself, I take the Bentley through a local car wash and it looks almost grateful, glistening in the sun.
First the fascia comes off, then the DIP unit can be removed
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J U LY/AU G U S T 2 0 2 2 R R & B D
